This will warm your heart! Pictured right in the photo above is 13-year-old Nick Thor who traveled all the way from Simi Valley, CA to meet up with Edna and George, who he has been exchanging letters with since Lakeview Terrace started up a Pen Pal campaign in the early days of the pandemic shutdown.
Nick is the nephew of the Lakeview Terrace Maintenance Director, and his mom suggested that he write a letter to the residents. And then Edna Komada and George Hammer both separately wrote him back, and a friendship was born!
Nick traveled out here to see these folks as a surprise on October 16th, and it was the first time they have met in person. Nick’s mom Lisa, says the letter exchange was so good for him and his self-esteem, “his eyes would light up every time he saw a hand-written note in the mailbox for him. Nick has a hard time reading the cursive writing he says because they really don’t teach you that in school anymore, only for 5 minutes.”
(Sidebar – SEE, cursive writing is a dying art! Something our generation can keep a secret and have our own private language like when we were young passing notes in class…just sayin’!)
When Nick was asked how the letters and communication with the Edna and George affect him, and he said he got a lot of joy and happiness from it, as he was locked down too. Nick says of their in-person meeting, “It is really awesome to meet them, I want to give them a hug and I can’t.”
That sentiment was echoed by both Edna and George as well. Edna made Nick doilies and he has enjoyed learning how they are made and adding them to his room. From George, he and Nick learned that they have the Boy Scouts in common as Nick is a Patrol Leader for the Scouts currently and enjoys the volunteer work and earning badges. He also learned a lot from George about the print company he used to own.
Mary Rush, the Administrator at Lakeview Terrace said, “This was truly an amazing experience for me because it brought so much joy to all these people. It really brightened up our Residents being able to see the enthusiasm in Nick to talk with them and really enjoy their stories and learn from them. I hope we are able to invite them back soon so they can enjoy a nice Pen Pal reunion and Nick can meet some of their neighbors at Lakeview Terrace. He is really anxious to get in a real hug.”
What an amazing young man Nick is, and we’re so glad to learn about this lovely story and hear that something so simple can still bring great joy to folks!
