The Great Depression made Virginia Reichel, 102, a veteran of World War II, have a small creative when it comes to her gown when she wed. In the present, the clothing was portion of a show of bridal gowns at, Windsor, CO.
Residents of the Good Samaritan Society-Water Valley Senior Living Resort display their wedding dresses at the neighborhood. ( Photo courtesy of Good Samaritan Society–Water Valley Senior Living Resort )
“The oldest clothing there was, according to me. There was a lack of cloth, whatever except making things for clothes. My mother was a seamstress, and we did shopping in Sioux City, IA,” Reichel said. And my mother discovered this cloth called drape scrim while browsing the fabric section. I’m not sure how many yards she got, but I would guess in 1945, she probably paid $4 or $5 for the entire fabric. My husband was in England for three years [during ] the war, and he came home Dec. 8. After three times, we were married on the Dec. 16 with Reichel wearing “that wonderful outfit. ”
Jennifer French, the activities director for GSS Water Valley, was the inspiration for the display at the top living community, which was based on a quick scroll through Facebook. From there, the initiative began to flourish, and French discovered six dresses worn by locals in the neighborhood.
“I’m in a few organizations with some other activity executives, and everyone just shares different concepts that they’ve had or items that they have done in their services,” French said. “So I decided to try something unique for our people to do this, and we went with it. ”
Everyone had a chance to see the companions’ past life as their neighbors were shown a wedding photo with a identifying name tag on each show. People fond memories of the past, in the opinion of European, were recalled. She likewise embraced the chance to strengthen the bonds she has made with her substitute “grandmas.”
“Nearly everyone on our payroll spends more time with our citizens than our personal home around at work. We simply share a special relationship with a large number of people. We want to dive deeper in with them,” French said. “For some of the residents, they view us more highly than their families, but I really think that this has been such a wonderful opportunity to be so close. I don’t have any relatives again; they’ve all passed, so it’s good to have all these ‘grandmas’ here. I enjoy hearing all of their tales, how they came from, and any guidance they can give. We’re usually so glad to just listen. ”