I had the privilege of making Christmas cards with the residents at Rockwood on Hawthorne this morning. There were about five seniors up for participating at various skill levels and degrees of fine motor control. This made for a diverse experience, even within the same age group. After assessing their skill set I made efforts to allow them to make as much of the card on their own as they were able. They loved picking out their own colors and patterns and deciding what they wanted me to write for them inside their card. The nature of this project opened up conversation about the loved ones they wanted to make their card out to. It was so fun to get to chat with them about their kids, grandkids and even great grand kids.
This project was just as uplifting and encouraging for me as it obviously was for the seniors. It was incredible to get a chance to practice the kind of work I would love to do long term as an art therapist. They were fun and silly and opened up more and more as our time together went on. I plan on continuing my relationship with the center and the people who live there. It was honestly too much fun not to go again and develop deeper connections with those lovely individuals.
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