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Granny Grace goes to Broadway

By: Kenzie Johnson

This past fall semester, I took a Psychology of Aging class. One of the assignments in the class was an “older adult mentor assignment.” For this, we were required to find an elderly mentor to really just spend time with (10+ hours). The goal was to get an older adult’s perspective and apply what we learned in class to what we learned from our mentors. I contacted the local retirement home, Bethany Towers, and was given the location and number of a lady named Grace.

I was pretty nervous going into the assignment because I had no idea what to expect, but as soon as I met Grace we hit it off! She was so easy to talk to and had an interesting take on life. I shared with her that I don’t really have a grandma figure in my life, so she was willing to “adopt” me and within the first two hours of us hanging out I began calling her “Granny Grace.”

This assignment quickly blossomed into a great friendship! Overly exceeding the 10 originally required hours, I was able to get to know her and hear many stories from “back in the day.” I learned that she is an extremely outgoing individual which I relate well with! But the thing that I picked up on the most is her passion for theater and music. I had the opportunity to listen to her chorus perform at a senior center which was such a blessing!

After many conversations about music and theater, I learned that she had never been to Broadway. As soon as I learned this I called my mom and said that what I wanted for Christmas was to take her to Broadway! Thankfully, my mom is awesome and was all about it. So, this Christmas I got to spend an entire day in New York City with Granny Grace and my family. Grace, 89 years old, did phenomenally walking around the city, and I’m pretty sure I was more sore than her after all the walking.

My favorite thing that she said was, “You made a dream come true for me—a dream I didn’t even realize that I had.” I don’t think she realizes how special this experience has been for me as well. I’m so thankful to be a Human Development and Family Science major and benefit from all of the incredible, and even life changing opportunities it presents!

To learn more about Messiah College's Human Development and Family Science program, please click on the link !