Seniors and eighth graders share companionship, advice and dance

Intermountain Catholic

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St. Vincent de Paul eighth-graders come to the Valentine dance prepared to ballroom dance but mostly used their skills to dance gently with those wheelchairs. The seniors enjoyed visiting students and celebrating Valentine's Day.

SALT LAKE CITY — ‘Stay in school and get an education,’ was the most common advice given by seniors for the young people of today. Some seniors from Trinity Care Center in Salt Lake City traveled to Willow Wood Care Center South Salt Lake to celebrate Valentine’s Day with the eighth-graders from Saint Vincent de Paul Middle School Feb. 8.

Fawn Williams, Trinity Care Center recreation director and Jaimie Post, Willow Wood activity director planned the Valentine dance.

"We thought it would be a good opportunity for the seniors to interact with the youth because they really enjoy the young kids," said Post. "I also think it is important for the youth to get to know the seniors because they have a lot to offer to the world today in terms of life lessons and experience."

Each Saint Vincent de Paul Middle School class visits a care center once a month as a service project.

"We do this in following the charism of St. Vincent de Paul, who reached out to those in need," said Gary Green, St. Vincent de Paul vice principal. "The eighth-graders visit the seniors at Willow Wood Care Center. The seniors there don’t seem to have many visitors."

Shelly Dalton has been a resident at Willow Wood for eight years and enjoys the kids. "I love to have them come and visit us," she said. "My advice would be for them to be honest and keep their integrity."

Jackie Paton, a senior from Willow Wood, said it’s good for the kids to realize seniors need entertainment. "We have activities here, but it’s nice to see the young people because their smiles brighten our day," she said.

Judy Familiar enjoys the students coming to sing and play bingo. "I think it helps them to see how people get when they get old," she said. "Maybe they will go into the field of geriatrics to help older people, and see that older people aren’t to blame, it’s just life. They should stay in school and get an education because that is how they will succeed in life, and they should be nice to everybody because it’s getting to be a mean old world out there. The more they work together the better it will be." Familiar is a retired bank teller and moved into Willow Wood in November of 2010.

Karen Buckley agrees the students should get an education, follow all the rules and grow up and make something of themselves.

Evelyn Gillmore’s advice would be for the youth not to start a family as young as she did. She had the first of her six children when she was 16.

Although not a senior, Cori Bunnell-Brown, 43, is at Willow Wood. She has end-stage liver disease and she continues to drink, so her advice to the youth is that it’s OK to just say ‘No,’ she said. "My 14-year-old son told me he recently went to a party and said ‘No’ when he was offered a beer. He was proud to tell his friends he refused the beer because his mother is dying of liver disease. I would also tell them to always be honest with their parents because I find the honesty I have with my kids allows us to have trust between us."

"The students recognized the value in interacting with the seniors," said Green. "In this particular care setting there was a wide spectrum of severity, but the students did very well."