Dear Friends:

You may recognize Maggie as that frail woman you sometimes see standing with her cane and wearing her bright red coat as she waits for the senior citizen bus to transport her to the Bingo game. There is so much more to Maggie than that. Did you know that she was born in the Bronx into a family of eight children? Did you know that she lived in five different places in New York, Georgia, and California during her adult life or that she traveled throughout Europe with her late husband Joe, and spoke French well enough to pass as a native?

Perhaps you ran into Maggie at a garage sale this past summer when she was buying her latest household treasure or heading home with a dozen new mystery novels. You may not know that Maggie successfully raised four children, has six grandchildren and took care of dozens of dogs and cats over the past 50 years. She was also a licensed Real Estate Broker in New York State. She turned 10 the year the Great Depression hit, and watched her parents struggle to support their family. She left home to join the Women's Army Corps when World War II started, and married her childhood sweetheart before the war was over.

Today Maggie lives many miles from her children and grandchildren. But she wants to stay in the home where she has spent most of her life, surrounded by happy memories.

What you may not know about Maggie is that she sometimes needs a helping hand. She has arthritis and diabetes. She sometimes gets lonely and would appreciate some company to share experiences with and talk about the news of the day. Some days it would be nice to have someone bring dinner and stay awhile. Occasionally she would welcome a ride to the doctors instead of taking a taxi by her self.

As her children, we are trying to honor her wishes to stay in her home. We are looking to find ways to create a loving community for Maggie perhaps made up of her friends, neighbors and community members who have expressed interest in helping. There are things that we can do long distance to help but sometimes there are small things that local community members can do better. While we’ve arranged to make sure her bills are paid and her snow is shoveled, we can’t drop by on a snowy day or make sure her trash gets taken out on time, or her window box flowers get pinched back.

If you are interested in joining the “A Hand for Maggie” support team please add your name and email address on this page, review the How You Can Help section and the Calendar for some specific “helping opportunities” that would help Maggie keep her dream of independence as long as possible. As Mother Theresa once said, “We can do no great things only small things with great love.”

Thanks for giving a helping hand,

Maggie’s Kids: Tom, Jennifer, Peter & Lucy