Grace, 85, has always enjoyed traveling and being on sailboats. Grace lived near Wolf Lake throughout most of her life and loved watching the wind fill the sails of boats on the water. Throughout her travels, Grace sailed on boats around world, including in South America, Egypt, China, Japan and Korea. However, despite all of these boating experiences, she had never sailed one herself. Grace wished to relive all of her cherished boating memories by sailing a sailboat.
Grace was an art teacher for 42 years and worked with a wide range of students, including mentally disabled children. Grace taught elementary students and then high school students in the east part of Chicago. Grace would take money out of her own pocket to buy the needed materials for her classroom. She felt that it was important for everyone to feel accomplished and knew the students needed the materials to complete their goals. After retirement, Grace returned to the schools she worked at to help with after-school functions.
“It was wonderful. It was my one wish, and I’ve never had a wish granted. I got to control the sailboat and move it in different directions…I looked up, up, up, up at the sail. It was very high. I felt wonderful during the wish. It was an all-new experience. I never thought I would be able to do that…It will be something I remember always,” said Grace.
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