OHCA Spring/Summer 2019

www.ohca.com SPRING/SUMMER 2019 The Oregon Caregiver 25 PROFILE choreographer for many years, and we love staging and putting on shows. Previous dancers get that bit of nostalgia back about the glory days of getting to dance, and people who wanted to dance their whole lives can start at 80 or 90 years old. We just laugh and have fun, and there is such a magic behind performing and getting to be a part of something. Everyone gets a lot of joy out of it. Jodi: It’s her legacy. Other retirement communities where Mom has lived are still tapping using the routines she taught them. The families come to shows and see their moms, grandmas, or great-grandmas, and they bring them flowers. It’s fun for the families, too, because they never saw them perform like that before. Kaila: That is the joy that keeps me going. It’s just so fantastic, moving your body and moving together. Jodi: Mom has lived in several commu- nities and as soon as she’d move to a new one we’d say, “Let’s get the tap going, because that’s what gets mom going,” but it wasn’t always possible. Here, they said “Yes!” before she even moved in. Ethel: And we are known here as the Touchmark Tappers! So, you brought the tap here? Ethel: Yes! I felt like a queen right after I moved in here, but now I feel like a princess. I feel so much younger. I had people who knew me before I moved to Touchmark, but they didn’t even recognize me here. They said, “The Ethel I knew was an old gray-haired lady,” but now that isn’t me Photo Credit Bob Finch—Ethel Henry prepares for her tap class with some of her favorite tappers, great granddaughter Hallie, daughter Jodi, and granddaughter Kaila. anymore. And it has to do with being able to dance and being supported for who I am. Kaila: Even in terms of health, she has improved here. When she moved, without changing anything else except for the love and support and community and being seen for who she is and being treated with respect and kindness, everything changed. All of her labs changed, but her home was the only variable. It’s unbelievable what types of changes can be made by your environment. Outside of dance, what is one of your favorite memories from your life? Ethel: I have so many experiences of driving across the country. That sticks out as the biggest memory. Probably my happiest memory, though, is when my father and I used to go for a walk on Sundays. He had a beautiful voice. We would walk hand in hand and he would sing to me as we were walking. He would sing “Shine on Harvest Moon.” I can still see it now. I felt like a queen right after I moved here, but now I feel like a princess. I feel so much younger. I had people who knew me before I moved to Touchmark, but they didn’t even recognize me here.