Caregivers go the extra mile to get resident to wedding

In life, there are few once in a lifetime experiences and even fewer that you want to miss. Thanks to caring and concerned caretakers at Park Centre in Newton, Bob Stanley did not have to miss one of his.
Stanley has only one granddaughter, Kayla, and she was getting married. The wedding was in Aplington and his family was hoping that he would be able to attend.
“I was in a care conference with his son and daughter when his son, Dave, inquired if his dad could handle coming to the wedding,” director of nursing Jennifer Flake said. “We briefly discussed options of what we could do to help his dad see his granddaughter in her wedding dress and her important day. We considered her coming to the facility for pictures prior to the wedding.”
After the discussion, Flake along with Sheree Esqueda began brainstorming how they could get Stanley, 89, to the wedding. Stanley has been a longtime resident at Park Centre and during his time there the staff has developed a bond with his family.
“Sheree and I developed a plan on how we could get him to the wedding with the assistance from our husbands,” Flake said.
They started to prepare him weeks in advance by discussing his granddaughter’s wedding.
“Bob would smile ear to ear talking about the wedding. The discussion helped him reminisce about his own wedding. He shared beautiful memories of his own wedding,” Flake said.
Preparations continued and finally the day, Nov. 14 had arrived.
“The trip was long but Bob was very vibrant and the best that he has been in months,” Flake said.
Flake said that Stanley was able to stay through the entire wedding and that he enjoyed the pictures and the whole experience.
“It was wonderful. I had a very good time,” Stanley said. “It was a beautiful wedding, hundreds of people, a lot of color. She is a beautiful little girl. We had a good day.”
“He was so engaged in the day,” Flake said.

This was not the first time Park Centre took the extra step and assisted their residents in attending important events. Flake said that in the past they have assisted a resident to travel to Fort Dodge to visit her dying daughter. They also helped the resident and her dear friend attend the daughter’s funeral.