BIDDEFORD — Christmas is supposed to be a magical time that inspires the imagination, no matter how old a person might be. And recognizing that, VNA Home Health Hospice has helped make a patient’s Christmas dream come true.

Beverlea Patten of Limerick, 87, has always considered the Christmas season to be her favorite time of the year, but wasn’t doing much celebrating after entering hospice care this fall and being in declining health.

Her VNA Home Health Hospice caregivers arranged for Patten to stay for several days at St. Andre’s Rehabilitation Center in Biddeford and that’s when a longtime dream of hers was finally realized.

Patten’s hospice nurse, Liz Patterson, was aware that she always has dreamed of celebrating the holidays with a “Christmas Tea.”

The nurse reached out to the Twilight Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, that honors and enriches the lives of deserving seniors through wish-granting celebrations that connect generations.

While Patten was at St. Andre’s on Dec. 14, the Twilight Wish Foundation, made Patten’s Christmas dream come true at last.

St. Andre’s was transformed into a magical Christmas land and Patten was joined by her friends and caregivers from VNA, a Twilight Wish Foundation representative, and the staff at St Andre’s in a special “Christmas Tea” celebration.

“Hospice is about, creating meaningful memories, sharing love and enjoying the time you have,” Patterson said. “Bev is a spunky, charismatic lady, it was a great pleasure to make her wish come true.”

Actitivites at the “Christmas Tea” at St. Andre’s included carols sung to Patten by the Harbour Singers, a sparkling Christmas tree decorated for Patten’s room, sampling delicious home-baked goodies, a gift of a sassy leopard print robe presented to Patten and a lot of Christmas spirit.

“Our seniors spend their lives pouring their magic into future generations,” said Amanda Carr, the director of Maine’s Twilight Wish Foundation. “Having a chapter of Twilight Wish here in Maine gives us an opportunity to give a little of that magic back and connect people across generations as we make dreams come true.”

Carr said that the foundation granted this Chstirmas dream wish for Patten because granting wishes for seniors,with community partners, is what the organziation does.

The Twilight Wish Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that grants wishes to low-income seniors who are over the age of 65 years and have an income of less than 200 percent of poverty level or who are a permanent resident of a nursing facility. Its mission is to make the world a nicer place to age, one wish at a time. 

VNA Home Health Hospice provides home health, telehealth, and hospice care in Cumberland, York, Kennebec, Somerset, Hancock, Penobscot, and Aroostook counties. Besides those services, VNA provides private duty care in York County, Cumberland County, greater Waterville area, and greater Bangor area. 

To learn more about Twilight Wish Foundation, email Maine@TwilightWish.org or call 318-5993. To learn more about VNA, call 866-591-8843 or visit VNAhomehealth.org

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 ext. 326 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com  

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