My late mother spent her final years in a wonderful assisted living facility. Pricey (private pay, no Medicare) but they ran the place like a resort, not a nursing home.

Very near the facility is a daycare. With parental permission, the daycare would make “field trips” around each major holiday to visit with the residents.

So for example, at Halloween, costumed children would go door to door to trick or treat, and the facility provided stickers or other non-candy treats for the residents to give out. All age-appropriate of course.

At Christmas, the daycare would have the children sing a few carols in the dining room then cookies and milk would be served.

It was a great tradition and benefitted both the elderly and the children. My mother looked forward to the visits and would even remind us not to schedule family events on those dates so she wouldn’t miss them.

The facility also would have pet rescue centers bring in dogs or cats to interact with the residents and ended up with a facility cat named Mr. Max. He was a big old tiger tomcat who would often pick my mother’s room for his afternoon naps, as the sun came through her window just right.

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