Surprising Aunt Wanda

My 95-year old Aunt Wanda had hip replacement surgery in Regina, Sask. on June 18th.  After successful surgery she was taken back to the hospital in Herbert.  Up until this time, Aunt Wanda had still been living in her own house on her own.  After much discussion she was finally convinced to go into the Nursing Home in Herbert in August.  Wanda's sister Lil Dahlman and niece Joanne Dales thought it would be a good idea if she had a Medi-Chair which assists people with hip problems to stand up.  They also thought that Wanda's room looked pretty drab.  Joey called me and asked if I thought our cousins would be interested in making a donation for Wanda's chair.  Between the two of us we contacted Wanda's sister Lennie Hiebert and most of Wanda's Wilzer family nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.  I was proud to see that in almost every case the answer was "Sure, just tell me how much you need."  There was not only enough money donated for the chair but also to buy some nice things for Wanda and her room at the Nursing Home.  It was decided that the chair would stay in the family.  After Wanda is finished with it, the chair will be given to the next most deserving member of the Wilzer family.

After Joey and Aunt Lil had a fun but fruitless time searching for a medi-chair in Moose Jaw, Joey and Tim Peake came to Calgary.  Brother Bing and I joined them in another fun search and we managed to buy a chair on the first day.  Tim and Joey arrived back home on September 6 with the chair and on September 8th, Joey and Lil went on a hilarious shopping trip to Moose Jaw for the other items  - including furniture (bookshelf, bed-side table), window treatments, lamp, night clothes, day clothes and a teddy bear. 

On Saturday, September 10, Lil and Joey, along with Joey's daughters Jackie Watson and Kelly Wiebe and her granddaughters Corie and Daryl Wiebe and Jenna Watson met at the Nursing Home to transform Wanda's room.  Wanda was truly surprised and overwhelmed by the gifts and the changes to her room.  As she sat in her new chair with her new teddy bear and tiara, her face just beamed.  Later Daryl said "I think that this was the best day of Auntie Wanda's life." Corie replied, "And how fortunate we were to be able to be there to share it with her." 

Thanks Joey - you and your 'crew' turned Auntie Wanda's room into a Home.

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