THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 2, 1995 TAG: 9505020260
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A Big Mac. Fresh flowers. A fried shrimp dinner. A hug.
When senior activities director Deborah Freeman decided to grant the wishes of the 132 residents at Sentara Nursing Center Portsmouth to celebrate the center's sixth birthday, she was struck by how simple, yet poignant, their wishes were.
A Coke. A pair of slippers. A strawberry milkshake.
``You would think they'd want something very elaborate,'' said Freeman. ``Instead, they'd say `fruit.' That's basic. I can do that.''
And a berry bush. And a song sung to them. Even a visit from Billy Graham - via a videotape.
Monday, Freeman, wearing a glimmering pink chiffon gown, white lace gloves and a gold crown, flitted around the nursing home, waving her sparkling wand, sprinkling fairy dust and delivering wishes.
For John Grove, 75, it was a bird feeder and bag of birdseed so he could follow his passion of feeding the birds and ducks that frequent the nursing home grounds.
For Arthur Dunston, 64, it was five lottery tickets and a chance at $25,000.
And for George Grantland, 87, a pint of plump, ruby strawberries. Freeman wasn't even out the door before Grantland had popped one in his mouth.
Later in the day, there would be a visit from a Little League baseball team for a baseball fan and one from a day-care center for several residents who wished to see children.
A resident who asked for $1,000 received, instead, a money tree festooned with one-dollar bills and lottery tickets.
But it was Kermit Jackson's wish, spoken by his wife, Virginia, that brought the most obvious joy.
Kermit, 58, a retired Navy pilot critically injured in an automobile accident, wanted a visit from a pilot dressed in what he always called ``their monkey suits,'' Virginia explained.
``He gets everything he needs here,'' she said, referring to the nursing home where her husband, who suffered severe head injuries in the accident, has spent the past two years. ``But the one thing he could never really get was a Navy pilot to come back and talk to him for a while and connect him with some memory of his past.''
Monday, that wish came true.
Navy Lts. Grant Kowalchick and Brent Phillips, from Attack Squadron 34 at Oceana Naval Air Station, volunteered to visit Kermit dressed in olive green jumpsuits.
``This is payback to someone who's served his country for so long,'' said Kowalchick.
They brought Kermit a picture of the A-6 Intruder they fly, signed by the entire squadron, several skeleton head ``zappers'' (stick-on decals depicting the squadron's mascot) and a bounty of good spirits.
``It's meant more than they'll ever begin to realize,'' said Virginia, watching her husband give the pilots a thumbs-up sign to show his approval.
The visit was the most complex wish Freeman had to grant, but it was also the one she was most determined to fulfill.
``His family said it would be a miracle if it happened.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by BILL TIERNAN
Activity director Deborah Freeman celebrated Sentara Nursing Center
Portsmouth's sixth birthday by granting John Grove's wish to feed
the birds.
Photo
Ex-flier Kermit Jackson gets a ``briefing'' from Lts. Grant
Kowalchick and Brent Phillips on their A-6 exploits.
by CNB