A Blooming Love Story Continues For Alice and Larry. Knowing that for 59 years Larry has lovingly chosen and arranged bouquets of flowers "just because " speaks volumes about their beautiful bond. I invited Larry to create a surprise bouquet for Alice from donated flowers. Larry carefully chose the flowers and arranged the bouquet. Alice was delighted with Larry's thoughtfulness when she received the beautiful bouquet of flowers. These small, consistent acts of love, like the flowers from Larry to Alice, are the threads that weave together a lifetime of happy memories and treasured traditions.

by Terry. That is my artful name. I do mixed art media, which actually means just about anything you want it to be. You can use watercolor paint, acrylic paint, metallic paint, modeling paste, sculpt-it, canvases that are stretched, or boards, pictures, that you find on the web or photocopies that you take of someone's beautiful artwork. Then you can add just about any articles to the canvas to augment the piece. I primarily do converted bottles. Which is another word for recycle glass bottles that are turned into objects of art for decorating purposes. They can be for retirement, birthdays, events, Halloween, Christmas, Easter, etc. So enough about me and let's talk about Bickford. I was asked if I could do an adult set session with some of the residents here in Bickford. I thought about it and it was a great experience to try out a storyline that I was thinking of. A short version of a story: it's a goldfish who ends up in the ocean. After a short amount of time, with no sharks in sight, he decides to travel the world. Prior to Session 1, I put together 9 8-by-10 canvases that told the story. I painted one as an example, and was glad to meet each of the participants or a hour an hour and a half painting experience. We talked about three things to set the tone. First, the name of the goldfish is Oscar. Since he is a goldfish, I recommended that he be painted gold. Secondly, since most of these canvases pictured oceans, rivers, or seas, I suggested that water can be different colors. Consider where the sun may produce colors other than blue. Some of the can vases had objects that were important to the picture, yet should be faded in the background. Then it was time to have some fun. The paintings dried, I took them home, and as usual with texture painting, it takes more than one application of paint to cover everything. I touched up some spots that were hard to get to, and bought them back the following Tuesday for argumentation. I brought along some crushed glass, mirrored glass, seashells, greenery, and some metal decorative figures. After everyone had time to augment their paintings, I took them home to glue and then resin over the surface of each canvas. All of the articles that were used for decoration purposes were added per participants direction. Final day is today for the group to talk about their own paintings along with a storyline. I will highlight items that were discussed that the first session and how well everyone did with using more than one color for the water, and also hiding some of the background features. It was a great experience to share something I love to do, with a group of people still wanting to learn something new. Being a resident of Bickford of Tinley Park it's not a place to be, but a place where people are well cared for and continue to be active and learn new skills.

Stepping back to the Fabulous Fifties! What an fun afternoon we had, celebrating the good ol' days of the 1950s! Our residents truly embraced the spirit of the era. The day was packed with fun, starting with hula hoop exercises, which brought out everyone's teens. We indulged in a diner-style lunch, complete with chocolate milkshakes, which transported us straight to a retro diner booth. The mental exercises continued with engaging 1950s trivia, and we captured memories with photos under the balloon arch. But the highlight of our "Black to the 50's' was undoubtedly the dancing! With the incredible tunes spun by 'Music Duo Tony & Dona', our residents sang along, while a few of our gentlemen, George, Milan, and Dave, and our lovely female residents danced with such fullness in their hearts and souls, as if they were back in their teens. The dance floor was alive with energy and pure happiness. It was truly a day filled with laughter, movement, and wonderful memories. Don't forget to visit our Facebook site- Bickford of Tinley Park to more photos and videos.

We would like to welcome Danyella from Andrew High School as our newest volunteer. We are greatful for our volunteers for their willingness to dedicate their time amd talents to our community. ********************************* Hello my name is Danyella. I am an incoming freshmen at Andrew High School and would like to be an Activity Director in a Nursing home setting in the future. I enjoy helping my elderly neighbors clean their homes and I also babysit for my family. In my free time I enjoy reading, painting, crocheting taking care of others, music, play volleyball and hanging out woth my friends. I am also an active member of GODSEND Youth Ministry.

Our newest resident dog compliments of Dooloras, his owner!

Today we are not saying goodbye but see you all soon." Joan, Janet and Alejo we are all looking forward to your new adventures. We would like to extend our sincerest and warmest wishes. We have truely cherished you all as part of our family here at Bickford of Tinley Park for the past several years. Your "kindness", "sense of humor",and "contributions to our activities" have enriched our community, and you all will be greatly missed. May your new home bring you much happines, comfort and joy. You will always be in our hearts and thoughts.

Purr-fect companions have arrived here at Bickford of Tinley Park. Thank you Amy Farley from Suncrest for sponsoring an overload of cuteness! Our residents were thrilled to welcome several adorable, playful kittens from N.A.W.S. located in Mokena. Many of these kittens are only 6 weeks old.

Thank to Bob Stec (Rose's son) for leading our Men's Group today and for the past three years. The aroma of pizza filled the air, and it was quickly followed by good conversation and laughter. Moments like this make our community special here at Bickford of Tinley Park. Thank you to Janet (Milans wife) for assisting with serving the pizza and refreshments.And as always our wonderful BFM's LPN JC, RN Tim, dietary aid Eric and our volunteer Sean for joining in on the fun.

"101 and so very Fabulous!" This weekend we celebrated a very special resident. Wishing a truly wonderful and joyous 101st Birthday to our dear resident Lottie! What an extraordinary milestone to celebrate.

Spa day is for the fellas too! :)