We volunteered in the memory care today, and while I massaged his hands he said, "This feels like home." He smiled and then started to my massage my hands in return.

At a local independent living facility, we were offering lotion to the hands of the residents. I had a gentleman come down, and we offered him the service. In a grumpy voice he asked, "Now why would I want to do that?" I replied, "Because it feels good! You can try, and if you like it we will continue, but if you don't we will stop." He agreed and I massaged his hands for no more than five minutes. When I finished, he took my hands in his and raised our hands to his face, and he kissed them. He looked me in the eyes and said, "Thank you." He got up and danced away. I will never forget that interaction as it was a moment of joy for the both of us. This is what Heartfelt Community does. We bring moments of joy to people whether they think they need it or not.

Going through the dementia live experience truly showed me the power of compassionate touch when a body is completely over stimulated. I was fortunate enough to be able to remove the stimuli, but I cannot imagine the daily life of those that must live with that constantly. The compassionate touch I received during the experience made all the difference in the world. I'm so grateful for Heartfelt Community and what they're bringing.

A time we were at Heron Cove, there was a woman passing us as we were leaving that I had met a few weeks before at our first visit. As I went to greet her and say hello, she looked up and asked, "Are you the person that gave me that hand massage a few weeks ago?" She looked a little down, and when I said yes, she lit up and asked if I could do it again. Of course I said yes and went back inside with her. As we talked, she indicated that she was having a bad day and feeling down and anxious. She had enjoyed the hand massage so much the first time and said she just knew it would make her feel better. By the time we were done, she was laughing and smiling! I asked her if she felt better and she said, "Oh yes. You have no idea how much of a difference this made in my day." During my volunteer time, I have had so many of the elderly residents tell me how much they appreciate us coming and doing what we are doing and what it means to them. The visits, along with the compassionate touch of the hand massages, elevate their spirits so much and I am so happy and blessed to be a part of this!