Dementia ruins a person’s life in many ways. It takes away someone’s intellectual ability to think and remember things. Whoever is suffering from such a condition would have a hard time remembering beautiful memories even if they only happened a couple of hours ago.
Life isn’t easy when you always forget things, but consider yourself lucky if you have the same story as Gene McGehee. He lives in Vidalia, Louisiana, sadly, he was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago.
Unfortunately for him, his condition has already progressed to the severe type. His memory tends to reset every 15 minutes. What’s heartbreaking above all these is that he can hardly remember even his own face.
Despite the circumstance, Mr. Gene is still fortunate because he is surrounded by beautiful people who genuinely care for him and love him.
It’s not only from his family but also from his loving community.
There’s a home daycare across the street where Mr. Gene lives and whenever the 92-year-old is out to chill in his front yard every afternoon, he bonds with a group of youngsters who are always ready to spend some quality time with him.
The kids from the daycare are already used to calling him “Mr. Gene.” Despite his situation, everything changed when he met these kindhearted kids.
He doesn’t remember what happened yesterday, but every time he goes outside, deep down in his heart, he knows something great is about to happen. Yes, he has dementia, but there is something that is urging him to step out and celebrate life.
The children didn’t mind their age gap with Mr. Gene, they befriended him like he was one of them.
It may not be the usual friendship that you know, this one is between a 92-year-old man and some youngsters from daycare. But regardless of whatever, they make every outdoor activity more fun, especially with Mr. Gene included in the group.
They would play together, tell stories, and just hang out. It’s just a plain sight of genuine friendship whenever they are together.
Aside from the kids, Mr. Gene also became friends with their teacher, Megan Nunez, who moved into the neighborhood around eight years ago.
Teacher Megan was aware of the friendly man’s condition but she doesn’t mind at all even though Mr. Gene doesn’t even remember meeting her. The kind teacher is always ready to introduce herself and she doesn’t mind doing it over and over again.
“Every day I cross the street and we meet again,” she said.
Teacher Megan also makes sure the children understand why Mr. Gene is the way he is.
Kids are kind by nature, that’s why the children took in Mr. Gene’s situation as is. No buts and ifs. They are so understanding about it and they are always happy to introduce themselves to Mr. Gene like it’s also their first time meeting him.
“We always tell the kids that his brain is kind of sick, but his heart remembers us,” she said.
Every day for the past three years, Mr. Gene has been meeting teacher Megan and the kids for what he thinks is their first. Although they know he will forget them the next day, they still love creating temporary memories with the 92-year-old jolly man.
Mr. Gene might not appreciate the kind gesture because of his condition but his daughter does.
Cathy, Mr. Gene’s daughter, couldn’t be happier with the love that his father gets every day from the children, from teacher Megan, and from the entire community.
“Oh my goodness, they have been such a blessing to daddy. And he lights up,” she said.
When she was asked by Steve Hartman of CBS News if Mr. Gene knows that it’s going to be a “joyful thing” when he goes outside, she said: “Exactly. Because it’s love. And, you know, everybody responds to love.”
Mr. Gene and the children regularly play outside and it’s become a daily routine for them. Teacher Megan, on the other hand, makes it a habit to record each time they bond together and shares them on TikTok.
It’s true that they can’t cure Mr. Gene’s dementia but they are ready to do the same thing every day just to give him beautiful memories that he can keep even for just a short while.
Watch the report in the video below to know more about this beautiful story.
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