At 90 years old, Lucille C. is a lively woman full of kindness and faith. She is a resident of Heritage of Raleigh, a Brookdale Community in North Carolina.
Lucille believes that the most important thing she or anyone else can do is to help others. For the past 20 years she has been a prominent advocate for people with Parkinson’s disease, as well as their caregivers. She continues to uphold this ideal at her older adult living community by making sure all of the other residents know that they can come to her any time if they need anything at all. She says that nothing makes her feel as good as helping others.
Lucille is an avid reader of a religious advice column called “The God Squad”. She is Jewish herself, but respects all religions and strives to learn as much as she can about them. Every week, Lucille and two of her friends, each representing a different religion, meet to pray and discuss the most recent column. Lucille’s biggest wish in the world was to meet Rabbi Marc Gellman, the writer of “The God Squad” to thank him for writing the words that have inspired her time after time.
On April 5th, 2014, Wish of a Lifetime and Brookdale, brought Lucille and Rabbi Gellman together at Temple Beth Torah in Long Island, NY. The two immediately shared a connection and spent two hours talking and touring the synagogue. Rabbi Gellman signed copies of his books for Lucille and her friends and even gave Lucille the honor of touching his personal Torah. They then shared lunch with Lucille’s daughter Betsy, Rabbi Susie, Cantor Sarene, and Kathy, the temple bookkeeper. After lunch, the temple cantor led them in singing Happy Birthday to Lucille over cake for her 91st birthday the following week! Lucille said that her experience with Rabbi Gellman was more than a wish of a lifetime, it truly touched her soul.
