Silver Bells

Mr. Joe holding his gift and laughing.

It’s one thing to know that many seniors aren’t able to get together with their loved ones over the holidays. It’s another to see the joy that bringing someone an unexpected gift can bring. This week, our Home and Community Based Services staff has been busy bringing holiday gifts to our clients - some of whome weren’t expecting it. One of our clients told us that it would be the only present he’d be receiving this Christmas. After we left, he followed up with thank you text, telling us how much it meant to him that we had thought to bring him a gift.

When we visited Mr. Joe on our Santa circuit, he also wasn’t expecting a present. Mr. Joe is a newer client and hadn’t known that we bring our HCBS clients holiday gifts as part of our Silver Bells program. He gracefully allowed me to take a picture of him with his present and raised his arm up in the air, jokingly asking, “should I pose?” We stayed and spent a few minutes with Mr. Joe, talking about where he used to live in Hawaii. He told us about vog, a kind of air pollution that comes from volcanoes, and cracked a few more jokes. It’s moments like these that remind us why it’s so important to connect with people. We weren’t just bringing gifts. More than just our holiday program, this is why our services are so important. We’re never just bringing a gift or helping someone with their laundry. We’re connecting, sharing a moment, and sometimes even a laugh.