Judy Bruce
I have been writing articles recently to show art’s benefits to our community and individuals. Recently, I was thrilled to read an article by Lin Sue Flood for Hospice of the Valley in the Arizona Republic about how a painting preserved a cherished memory for a 92-year-old dementia patient. Mary Alice Warsco would no longer remember how to dress, make coffee, or tell you what she had for lunch. But when reminiscing with her Hospice of the Valley nurse, Emily Irvin, she vividly described her family.
One summer, when she was just a young girl, her father and brother were seriously hurt in a car accident and unable to harvest their fields of ripened crops. Suddenly, Warsco and her mother heard a distant rumble growing ever louder. They raced to the front porch to discover a long line of tractors slowly approaching them. “I had never seen so many tractors in my whole life,” Warsco recalled.
The small town had banded together to do the harvesting. Warsco and her father were so grateful that they sat on the porch and wept as the kind neighbors worked their fields. In a matter of hours, they finished the job and returned to their own farms.
“I instantly pictured in my head what this memory might have looked like for her,” Irvine said. “And I thought—a painting! So I reached out to our volunteer department, and they found an amazing Hospice of the Valley volunteer to preserve this special memory on canvas.”
The eager artist was Mandy Richards, a Scottsdale resident who loves volunteering her time to visit patients and families.
“I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get started!” she exclaimed. “One of my favorite things about art is how it evokes a feeling. I was honored to create a way for Mary to visualize this touching memory”
The artwork was framed with a descriptive label on the back so future generations would know the story behind it. When Irvine and Richards went to Warsco’s Peoria home to present the painting, they saw her eyes light up…and then shine with tears of remembrance. To everyone’s delight, she immediately began telling the story again, this time holding Richards’ precious painting tightly in her arms.
“It felt almost sacred,” Irvine reflected. “Mary had lost so much of her memory, but she still had that one. Those are the moments that make life and art very rewarding.”
Art can preserve memories! You gotta have art!
After reading this beautiful story, I emailed Hospice and Lin Sue and they gave me persmission to reprint the article. My family used hospice in Illinois for both my mother and father and we were so thankful for the outstanding end of life care they provided. Hospice of the Valley is a remarkable organization. To volunteer, or to find out more, visit hov.org./volunteer or call 602-6336-6336. I am sure we have artists in the Sonoran Arts League that would be thrilled to do an artwork for a community member in need! Go to: Sonoran Arts League.org.
