Olive Horrell, 97, has an innate desire to learn everything she can about the world around her. Born in the rural town of Valentine, Montana, Olive grew up without electricity or indoor plumbing. She vividly remembers traveling by horse and buggy and how the only thing “floating around the sky” was the Milky Way. With all of the technological advancements that have occurred over her lifetime, Olive finds herself constantly questioning, “how does all this magic happen?” On her quest to find the answers, Olive wanted nothing more than to take a VIP tour of Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA. There, she hoped to learn just what it means to surf the net and how to send things to the ever elusive “cloud.”
Olive has lived her life dedicated to serving others. Not only does she have extensive volunteer experience, she has also been repeatedly recognized for her widespread impact. The Girls Scouts of America recognized Olive on their 75th Anniversary for being an inspiring role model to children across the nation. She was also recognized for her work in symphony productions and volunteering on various boards, including the symphony board, public library board, and family service agency board. Olive also found time to start the Northern California Arthritis Foundation. She currently resides at the Brookdale Chanate in California, where she continues to help other residents in her community and still likes to learn at least one new thing a day.
Wish of a Lifetime and Brookdale were excited to make Olive’s wish come true by sending her and her daughter, Jean, to Google Headquarters in Mountain View, CA. They had the opportunity to take a VIP Tour of the Google Facility with Wish of a Lifetime founder Jeremy Bloom. Olive’s day began with an exciting opportunity to color in her very own Google Doodle on a touchscreen computer. Afterwards, she enjoyed a campus tour and then had the opportunity to take a self-driving car to lunch. Olive also tested out some of the technology Google invented such as: Project Cardboard viewer (virtual reality headset), Liftwear spoon (designed for individuals that are living with tremors), Google Photos (face detection option), and Google Translate. Olive was in awe by the amount of creativity involved in every single product produced at Google. She said that the Google campus reminded her of a college where, “You don’t have to grow up.” When her learning adventure ended Olive stated, ” Certainly in my wildest dreams, I couldn’t conceive of what I saw today.”
Photos courtesy of Jeremy Bloom and Roya Soleimani
