Oprah, you've a big fan in Norwood who wants to meet you -- September 24, 2003

Photo by Mark Hoult

Pleasant Meadow Manor resident Grace Patterson, administrator Connie Garden and staff member Kathy Herron pose with the wishing well from which Grace drew her wish: to meet Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah, you've a big fan
in Norwood who wants
to meet you
By Mark Hoult, Community Press
ASPHODEL-NORWOOD ON—Grace Patterson has a wish. The 80-year-old resident of Pleasant Meadow Manor in Norwood wants to meet American talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. And if the operators of the nursing home and the owners of OMNI long-term care have anything to do with it, her wish will come true.

“I think its going to happen,” says administrator Connie Garden, who believes the community will be moved enough by Grace’s special wish that area residents will rally behind a campaign to draw Oprah’s attention to a tiny town in southern Ontario.

The campaign was launched after Grace’s wish was drawn from the Pleasant Meadow wishing well. The nursing home’s year-old Make A Wish program gives residents a chance to make an unfulfilled dream come true by putting their wish in the Make a Wish wishing well. A wish is drawn each month by the resident who drew the wish the previous month.

“Anyone can put a wish in on behalf of a resident, or the residents can put the wish in themselves,” says Garden.

The goal of staff is to complete the resident’s wish within a month, if possible, says Garden, noting that wishes range from a simple request for a Chinese Food meal, to, well, a request to meet Oprah Winfrey.

“No wish is too big, and no wish is too small,” Garden says.

One resident got her wish to be a public school teacher for a day; she even gave a spelling test and taught students some crafts. Another resident, who had always wanted to be a nurse, worked for a day with one of Pleasant Meadow’s nurses. And another resident got his wish for a reunion with his family.

One Pleasant Meadow resident wanted to fulfill his dream of coaching the Peterborough Petes. Unfortunately, that wish was a little beyond the capabilities of nursing home staff. However, the resident did get a chance to visit the Petes dressing room, and took home a genuine Peterborough Petes sweater.

Garden says that if a resident’s wish cannot be realized literally, then it will be simulated. “Somehow, someplace, we make it happen,” she says.

In Grace’s case, Pleasant Meadow felt the wish was so unique that every effort should be made to make it come true. The home has contacted local media, and plan to make Grace’s wish known to a wider area. A form letter to Oprah Winfrey that community members can sign to express their support for Grace has been written by Pleasant Meadow staff. The letter describes the Make A Wish program, saying it “provides the residents with hope, a reason to get up in the morning.” It also provides residents with “a sense of individuality” and “the feeling of belonging.” The letter also stresses that Grace is an avid fan of Oprah’s show, which she watches every day. “She believes in you and the good work you do,” the letter to Oprah concludes.

Grace, who lived on a farm near Westwood for 50 years and raised four children, says she likes Oprah because “she’s always quite natural in her shows; she knows how to talk about things quite naturally.” Oprah also does a lot of good by drawing attention to and discussing people’s problems, Grace adds.

Grace says she is surprised by all the attention she has been getting since making her wish, stressing that she’s “not looking for all this publicity.” But she admits that it would be quite an experience to meet a celebrity with the status of Oprah Winfrey.
Grace says that if Oprah doesn’t come to Norwood, she is perfectly willing to board a plane and fly to Chicago to meet her. And there are probably 50 or 100 people willing to join her, laughs Garden. She says the community will have two weeks to sign the letters to Oprah. Then staff will collect and compile them and send them Chicago. And they are optimistic that Oprah will respond, she says. “Sometimes if you have a wish or a dream, you have to go to great lengths to make it come true.”

That is exactly what the parent company, OMNI, is doing, she says, noting that the company newsletter, OMNIway, is creating a feature piece online at www.omni-way.com. The piece will contain an editorial, a feature article on Pleasant Meadow’s wishing well and a profile on Grace. The website will also have an online form so that readers can write a letter in support of Grace’s wish.

Garden says the campaign will be taken to other OMNI homes, and the company will even attempt to catch the attention of the national media. A package, containing information on the program, Grace’s wish and the nursing home, has already been sent to Oprah, she says. And on September 24, Pleasant Meadow is holding a community picnic that will have as its theme: “Grace’s Wish.”

This article was originally published in the Community Press and is reprinted here with permission.

In an effort to bring you independent news about the OMNI community, this story was prepared by a third party news provider, Axiom News Services. It has not been subject to prior editorial approval by OMNI Health Care.

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