Every other Tuesday, 6-year-old Catherine Gulan visits her best friend.
They sit and talk and perhaps sing or work on crafts projects. And it’s always a bittersweet goodbye, after just an hour at play.
“I love my best friend, Mrs. Pauline,” beams Catherine, a kindergartner at Fairview Elementary School.
At 90, Pauline Cummins might seem like an unlikely best friend for Catherine. But the multi-generation gap doesn’t faze either of them.
“She’s nice and sweet, and she’s real funny and pretty,” Catherine said of “Mrs. Pauline.”
And though the pairing is part of a special-friends program through Fairview and the Trinity Personal Care Center, the friendship is real, said Courtnee Graham, Trinity Personal Care Center activities director.
“It really is very odd, but at the same time it does fit perfectly,” Graham said. “They’re able to get on the same level somehow. They just manage to communicate. Kids are so understanding, and the elders are so understanding. The kids don’t mind if the elders forget, and the elders look forward to teaching the kids something. So it’s a perfect match.”
“It’s such a sweet thing to be able to do,” Mildred Ward, 89, said. “Arts and crafts is always my thing. I can’t sing, so I can use my hands.”
“I like just talking to them,” said Katie Huerkamp, 81. “I like to hear (the kids) tell me about what they’re doing.”
Twenty-seven classmates make the trip to Trinity every two weeks at 10 a.m., and around 20-25 seniors are waiting anxiously. The seniors excitedly pack the dining room minutes earlier, telling others to get ready because “the children are coming.”
And for that one hour, the smiles of senior citizens and Fairview Elementary School kindergartners light up the Trinity Personal Care Center.
The children are welcomed with hugs; then they take their seats next to their designated special friends.
And for many, it doesn’t begin and end with scheduled visits. The seniors also enjoy surprise visits from the children, Graham said.
“All of our elders have their own families and have great kids, but a lot of the families are scattered and very busy. When the kids come across the street on a random day, it’s such a surprise for them,” she said.
But it’s not just a service to the seniors. When the children arrive, the seniors put on the teaching caps, ready to offer wisdom and insight on the future.
“They like feeling as if they’re helping someone out. They don’t look at it like they’re being visited,” Graham said. “I’m pretty sure that is the way the kids feel too, so it’s win-win for everybody.”
And “sometimes if there’s too many of the elders, they will shoo one another away so more of the kids can sit by them,” Graham said.
The children likewise can get a little greedy with their special friends; they outnumber the seniors and sometimes have to share friends.
At around 11 a.m., the 5- and 6-year-olds re-enter their single-file line, preparing to leave but not yet ready to go.
Small hands reach up to their mouths to blow goodbye kisses
And before the children left this week, one senior made a request to the children’s teacher, Jean Ann Evans.
“He’s just the sweetest child I’ve seen in a long time,” Frances Bell, 78, said about 5-year-old Kenyen Hairston.
Turning to Evans, Bell said, “Just give him a big old ‘A’ for the day.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.