Some days just exist to make you realize why you love what you do.
Meet Florus Schumacher, an 86-year old resident of Touchmark in Appleton’s memory care unit. Several weeks ago, Florus was touring the history museum with her caregiver when she saw a Model T Ford and said riding in one was on her bucket list. That’s when her Touchmark caregiver launched into action. The residence is having a car show this weekend, so one of the exhibitors agreed to bring his Model T in a day early to make her bucket list wish come true.
Florus’ family, grand children, great-grandson, friends and caregivers were on hand for the surprise—as were photographers from WBAY-TV and WLUK-TV. She walked out to a total surprise and got in the restored 1927 Ford with hobbyist Richard Strebel. I asked Florus if she remembered saying the ride was on her bucket list and she said, “Did I? I must have been drunk.” That’s my kind of gal!
Richard built this car from scratch and has been tinkering with it for 20 years. He started when he sold his boat to a guy in Finland, but kept the motor. What else do you do with a boat motor but build a Model T around it? You see, restoring a Model T was on hisbucket list.
How did this all happen? Because a bunch of people who love Florus and a bunch of people who loved the idea of Florus all took time out of their day to make one woman’s wish come true. As for the media, they set aside the bad news of the day to tell the story of how one woman’s wish came true.
It’s easy to target the media for all the bad news of the day because news outlets are the messengers. But when the media takes the time to tell the good news of the day, the heartwarming stories that knit a community together, that’s when the power of the fourth estate is magnified.
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