David Keller, Sally’s son, said he grew up going sailing with his mother because it was a long-standing family tradition; Sally’s uncle had a 46-foot sailboat and her husband had a 17-foot sailboat that they often sailed on the Potomac River, the Chesapeake Bay and the Patuxent River.
“Mom would see the boat in the background and always said, ‘I want to go on your boat,'” David recalled. “[It was] probably not the world’s safest idea.”
David said he and his sister had reservations about taking her out on another boat as she grew older and her dementia progressed. But, that’s when Marie Garner, the Inspiritás — or memory care program — coordinator at The Wellington, approached the family with the facility’s “WOW Moment” initiative.
The initiative aims to provide “residents with a personalized experience that reminisces on times past, checks something off a bucket list or honors them in some way,” a press release states. These occur once a quarter for the memory care residents.
Even with this proposition, David and his sister were hesitant.
“We had to wait to find a big enough boat that was safe enough, had walls and … [we] thought we could get her on and off of,” David said. “My mother [can still walk], sort of, but she’s stubborn enough to not want to ride in a wheelchair or use a walker. There were some challenges, but I think she actually had a good time.”
Sally is minimally verbal, but according to David, she spoke some words during their trip across the Potomac. She was able to see some ducks following the boat and verbalized “ducks” in recognition of the group.
David said it was evident through her facial expressions that she recognized she was on a boat and wasn’t afraid.
“She wasn’t afraid of anything, which was another concern of mine,” he said. “I didn’t know how she was going to react [to the movement], but she was totally fine with all of that.”
The family even took her to the outside section of the boat on the way back so she could feel the breeze on the water.
“Other than being afraid of losing her hat, she seemed to enjoy that,” David said.
David said despite his initial reservations, he would encourage others to not be afraid to try an experience like this for their loved ones.
“If the activities director calls you up with a crazy idea, just go for it.”
Author
Recent Stories
Drivers on Kings Highway may wonder what happened to the long-standing sign for Fredericksburg Motor Sports.
Heathers: The Musical will be performed at Castaways Theatre on August 9-11 and August 16-18, featuring a cast from across the DMV.
A 225-year-old family-run farm in Spotsylvania will open a winery.
A new ramp from Opitz Boulevard to the Interstate 95 E-ZPass Express Lanes is scheduled to open in November, following a delay from the initially planned summer 2024 opening.
Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious? Our dedicated team of mental health professionals is here to help you navigate life’s challenges and achieve emotional balance from the comfort of your home. We offer a wide range of services tailored to meet your unique needs, including individual therapy, couples counseling, group therapy, and specialized programs for anxiety, depression, addiction and trauma.
At Peaceful Mind Solutions we have a team of therapists ready to help you with your mental health needs. We offer a free 15-minute consultation to ensure our services fit your goals. We used an evidence-based approach to work on the root of your problem so we can help you get the mental clarity you need.
At our practice, we use Cognitive behavioral therapy. (CBT) is a great way to identify negative thought patterns and then change them with the help of a therapist working through them each week. We will give you the tools to make lasting changes in your life so you can get back to living without roadblocks.
On June 22, 2024, the Ira Dorsey Scholarship Ball, hosted by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Xi Alpha Lambda Chapter, seated in Prince William County, VA, awarded $73,000 in scholarships to 17 students through the chapter’s foundation, the Ira Dorsey Scholarship Endowment Fund. These scholarships will support their college journeys at prestigious universities such as Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, Purdue University, Howard University, Shenandoah University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Virginia, Cornell University, Spelman College, North Carolina A&T State University, and Norfolk State University. The event highlighted the commitment of the Ira Dorsey Scholarship Endowment Fund to fostering academic excellence and supporting the educational aspirations of young scholars in our community.
