Rachel Gaukrodger
Wellington North, May 2018
Every Monday we take one of our clients out for a walk. She used to be very fit and adventurous, but as the years have gone on, she has lost the ability to walk very far.
One day Rachel took this client to Oriental Bay to sit on a park bench in the beautiful sun. Rachel put her feet up on the ledge, and the client copied. Then Rachel had a great idea. She had been to a movie on the weekend called “Lost in Paris” and one of the scenes showed an elderly couple using their feet to dance while sitting down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K96BGhTN9FI). Without a care in the world, laughing away, Rachel and her client sat on the park bench at Oriental Bay dancing with their feet on the ledge whilst everyone walked around them watching. A lady passer by commented, “that is the sweetest thing I’ve seen all day”
Our client has dementia and ‘dancing’ with Rachel would have bought back memories of dancing when she was younger.
It was such a beautiful thing to do. Although so simple, it brought such joy to our client and a great way to get some exercise without the risk of falling.