Thank You for Being There

Plum Senior Community Center

The following letter was written by Bonnie Goff, a very grateful member of the Plum Senior Center.

Plum Senior Center,

The purpose of this letter is to express my gratitude for my community’s Senior Center and all it has to offer.

First of all, I think it should be more properly named ‘Plum Recreation and Senior Center’.  I retired at age 64 one and one half years ago and found myself wondering what to do with all that free time.  I decided to check into the local Senior Center and see what it had to offer.  I was quite surprised.  The activities offered were endless.  There are bus trips for shopping, shows and many other destinations.  Bingo, line dancing, country music bands, Silver Sneakers exercise classes, computer classes, safe driving programs, self-defense classes, tax preparation, blood pressure checks and lunches, many of which include speakers covering a wide variety of informative topics.  Help for most anything is available at the Center.  The list goes on and on.

I was especially impressed with the monthly birthday celebrations.  As we all know, “every birthday is a celebration”.  I saw groups of people, all ages, knitting crocheting, crafting, playing cards and just enjoying socializing.  You can stop in to play, have lunch, meet people or just have a cup of coffee and a donut.  Everyone greets you with a smile and a “glad to meet you” hello.  I chose to participate in the Tai Chi class.

I was diagnosed with lung cancer eight months ago.  Two months later, another cancer site was diagnosed.  My Tai Chi instructor has been extremely helpful in teaching me to get in touch with my inner self and learning to focus.  With each deep breath I take, my mind says, “This is a cleansing breath gathering up debris in my lungs and expelling it with every exhale”.  I can’t tell you how beneficial this is to my mind, soul, body and well being.  I am winning the war against this terrible disease and Plum Senior Center is a factor in helping me to maintain my positive upbeat attitude.  I give lots of smiles and I get many more back.  I also walk in the Take a Wise Walk Program and have met many new friends through the Center.  I think I offered my services as a volunteer on my first visit.  I take great pleasure in giving back for all that the Center had given me.

It is very exciting to know that there are future expansion plans in the works at present.  I see the happiness the Center brings to people much older than and not nearly as active as me.  They are always happy when arriving by the transportation buses provided.  I feel proud of them when I see them working so hard in an exercise class or participating in the walking class perhaps only walking a short distance.  That short distance is often much more than they would have walked if they were at home.

Meals are offered to be delivered for home bound seniors so they can enjoy a balanced diet and hopefully gain strength which would allow them to also join in at the Center.  This social gathering place in our community is vitally important to our aging population.

Our seniors that visit the Center are happier, healthier and much more mentally alert due to the many opportunities offered at the Center.  My only regret is that I knew it was there but never knew how important it was in our community until I stopped in.  Now, I will never stop stopping in.  I would like to see more people not only from our community but also surrounding communities to just stop in, say hello and see what the Center has to offer to enrich their lives.  I have no doubt they’d be quite surprised as I was.

Thank you for being there not only for me but for many others who have found comfort in this home away from home.  Keep up the excellent work.  We can all recall the motel ad that states, “We’ll leave the lights on for you.”  The light is always on at Plum Senior Center.

Written from the heart of,

Bonnie L. Goff