June 21, 2009

New Friends at the Seniors' Home

I said I'd write about fibre in the next entry but I can't wait to share Serena's visit to the seniors at The Brant Centre LTC. As usual she hated leaving her buddies in the herd, but she enjoyed being in the van (and prefers talk radio to music!) and made a memorable first impression.
My parents have lived here for two years and I promised that Serena would make this her first visit. The pictures aren't very good as I had to be the photographer and the handler. Serena did very well, even when some children from the on-site daycare came out to see her - and one of the little girls was named Serena!

Everyone had a chance to touch her and see her up close. There were lots of questions: "What is it?" being the most common. It was moving to take her up to a blind lady whose daughter guided her hands up and down Serena's neck. I was surprised when Serena leaned into her and brushed her ears on the lady's face - she seemed to know that she had to get extra close.

We stayed outside for about an hour and made sure everyone got a chance to get up close with her. It was a very rewarding experience for me and I hope to make this a career for Serena now that I know how much the residents enjoyed being with her.

I received a lovely thank you letter from the staff and I hope they can arrange for an outing with the residents to Serena's farm - they'll enjoy the store and seeing the other alpacas in the pasture.

Here's a picture of my parents with Serena:

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 15, 2009 at 11:00 AM

    I love the pictures!!! We have four llamas and we take two of them to a Nursing Home for our annual garden walk where I do my Master Gardner volunteer work. It is now called The Garden Walk with the Llamas. This year we walked them all around the building outside so everyone was looking out their windows. We stopped at the Hospice wing and visited on their patio. It was quite crowded but the boys were great. They new they couldn't get antsy and just stood still. Flash, the one I was leading, put his head on my shoulder and
    leaned into me as if giving me a hug. Everyone thought that was "cool." We have also had other N.H.'s come to our little farm. It just makes these special people smile. It's all worth it.

    Kudos to you for taking Serena. What a doll.

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  2. LyndaJuly 27, 2009 at 10:05 PM

    That sounds like a wonderful experience. I never met a llama I didn't like and the residents must have really enjoyed seeing them walk around. Where are you located?

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