Bayport senior living residents receive love letters from kids and WCCO staff
BAYPORT, Minn. — At Croixdale Senior Living, residents are savoring life.
And on this Valentine's Day, love that's passed, but never gone.
One resident, Dorothy Tipple, shared precious memories of the love of her life.
"He was our paper boy, he delivered our newspaper and I thought he was so cute," said Tipple. "He was kind and thoughtful and thank God he came home from World War II."
Bud Vadner, on the other hand, another resident at Croixdale, had a crush on his wife, Rose.
When asked what he loved about Rose, Vadner said, "Dancing. We used to dance every week. Be good and love your wife. That's all I can say 'cause that's all we've done and we had a great life."
Gloria Morin, on the other hand, spoke about the early days of her marriage with her Swedish husband.
"I'm German and he's Swede," said Morin. "He said, 'I hope you let me go hunting.' I said, 'I hope you can go hunting/fishing, anytime. I would never stop you.'
Their partners may be gone, but on they did not go without love on this Valentine's Day.
Colleen Smith works with Senior Helpers, a group that helps seniors with daily tasks, and she knows better than anyone how isolating the holidays can feel for seniors.
"Their world shrinks down, they've lost so many loved ones, so many friends, the mobility is not there for them to get around and see people," said Smith.
But on this day, they can see that people care — thanks to a card drive that was organized by Senior Helpers.
Some of the cards had elegant and uplifting messages in them like, "Valentine's is about love, also chocolate," while others embraced simplicity, simply saying "HI" with a heart.
When we heard about this mission at WCCO, we wanted to cover this story and we also wanted to get involved.
Because love never gets old.
