A High Flying Gift Of A Day
Inspired by the life lessons taught in Jim Stovall’s novel, “The Ultimate Gift,” we strive to offer each patient the gift of one perfect day.
At Crossroads, we call this perfect day the Gift of a Dayprogram. We ask each of our patients the ultimate question to make their dream day come true: If you only had one day to live, what would it look like?
After patients identify their perfect day, our dedicated staff members, volunteers and local businesses work together to bring that Gift of a Day to life.
One Crossroad patient, Jesse McDaniel, had a straight-forward wish for a perfect day: he wanted to fly. Although Jesse had a lot of interests from woodwork to jewelry making, it was immediately clear that a chance to fly again would be a true “Ultimate Gift” for this World War II veteran.
Crossroads reached out to Tunica Helicopters in Mississippi who offered to donate Jesse’s flight. Soon, Jesse and his granddaughter, Jennifer Irelann, were soaring high above the Mississippi River. From the air, they could see the casinos of Mississippi, Jesse’s home state of Arkansas and Memphis, TN, the city he now calls home.
“Since the ride, Mr. McDaniel has been more excited and in good spirits,”says Crossroads Social Worker Paige Reed. “He suffers from dementia, but even in the planning, this was something he always remembered and asked about. He couldn’t wait to go.”
Now, Jesse loves telling friends and family about his flight; about how he got the chance to fly again.
His family has noticed the change in Jesse’s spirits, and they were thrilled with the day. “It was so much more than they expected,” says Paige. Just as an Ultimate Gift should be.
