The Mission is Joy

Every time we start a new program, we give residents a pile of bird stickers to wade through. We encourage them to pick the stickers of all their favorite birds. Some take handfuls; others just one. I have learned that there is no correlation between quantity and enthusiasm. We were recently at Berkley Park Care Manor, and a lovely woman (name protected by HIPAA) spent a long time hunting for a cardinal sticker. She almost left out of her wheelchair when she found it. I wish you could have seen her face. She demanded that I put it on the arm of her wheelchair then and there!

We then ask if they’d like to share which stickers they picked and why. Almost everyone participates, even those who find speaking difficult.

They all have a story to tell. It might be about a person they loved who loved one special bird, time spent with family in nature, or even a mystical-like experience with a bird, often a red-tailed hawk, an owl, or an eagle.

It is amazing how something as simple as a bird sticker can unlock a joyful memory and get people talking. It’s the best part of any day for me. I love kneeling down and listening. We all want to be heard after all, don’t we? These days remind me that our impact isn't counted in how many bird feeders we maintain or how many games of bird trivia we play; it's in the people, and the people are our mission.