Franciscan Health Center, Duluth, MN (04/17/09)

April 17, 2009 Outreach Visit to Franciscan Health Center

All of a sudden staff and residents with aides made a mad dash out the front door to suddenly take a cigarette break. They had been waiting and were timing their cigarette break for when the truck and trailer pulled into the parking lot. There was no doubt in my mind that the Cowboy and Magic had arrived.

As I walked into the building 30 minutes before the outreach began, the people I met were so excited about Magic coming. They were so thankful and appreciative even before Magic came into the building. Several ladies were waiting excitedly and so were the staff.

Magic went all over the facility. There was always one more person who wanted to see her. It was fun to see the people, who were in their rooms, suddenly light up the minute Magic walked into their rooms. They could not believe their eyes. They said no one would believe them, “so hurry and get a picture.” Jeff said, “Yeah they might think they have to readjust your meds.” That got a great laugh from the staff.

Some of the residents thought Magic was a dog. Everyone remarked about her hair. One nurse took a pink beret from the hair of another nurse and put it in Magic’s hair. We all went AAH and the cowboy rolled his eyes. Jeff was glad when the nurse asked for her beret back. Magic even wore a green hat that belonged to a resident. She is such a versatile fashionable mini.

Everyone was taking pictures. Staff cell phones came out and they were busy comparing who got the best shots. Magic even grinned in one. It was a great shot.

Jeff went toe to toe humor wise with a staff member who was scared to death of Magic. She shook all over. She got over her fear and finally fed Magic a carrot. She was very funny as she got up the courage to pet Magic and feed her. Whenever she made a funny remark, Jeff countered. She would put her hands on her hip and just give him THE COLD STARE. We all enjoyed hearing them spar. I got into the act when I told her it took forever this morning to put eyeliner around Magic’s eyes. She bent down to look at Magic’s face and asked why we would do such a thing. (Magic has naturally black circles around each eye. It is such a beautiful accent to those big eyes.)When she found out I was joking I also got THE COLD STARE.

The staff could not get enough of Magic. They were so inquisitive and playful with her. They had a great sense of awe which was very humorous. We had a lot of laughs. They kept on thanking us and telling us what a great thing we were doing in WindChill’s memory.

The activity director, Linda, was so excited. She worked nonstop to give every resident an opportunity to pet Magic. A young teen volunteer followed us the whole time saying, “I wish I had a horse like Magic.” Every time we came out of a room, she would bend down and give Magic a wrap around hug.

It is amazing how Magic lets some people just put both their hands on the side of her face for them to stare into her eyes and tell her how much they love her. They kiss her nose, asking, “Do you love me?”

One woman waited an hour to have a smoke with the cowboy and Magic but we took too long. She went out and had a smoke with an aide 10 minutes before we were done. Jeff said he had really been looking forward to that. I tried to make it happen but also feel bad that it did not happen.

Finally it was time to leave but we had one more visit. This resident was a laugh a minute. She took Magic’s face in both her hands and gave her several kisses. She had stories to tell and the way she told them made us all laugh. She told Magic she had a nice butt. She followed Magic and Jeff all the way down the long, long hallway and right up to the door entertaining us the whole way with her humor. A staff member stopped her just as the door opened for Jeff, Magic, Trish, and myself to leave.