Lindsay Hutter, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer, GHI

Have you ever met an angel? One on earth? Someone who unfailingly sees the best in people?

For me, that person is Mary Lou Palmer, a treasured resident of Goodwin House Alexandria.

MaryLou, known to her family as Emmy and with her and their permission, I was invited to call her some ten years ago, is my adopted grandmother. Some people think she’s my real grandmother because we both have strawberry blond hair and look alike… well, that is sure letting me ride her coattails!

Aging, in many ways, is an experience of limitations. Our mobility is reduced or our vision less clear. Through Emmy, I have seen that for all aging’s limitations, it has its limitations, too. With our memory intact, we can choose to be positive, to take an interest in others and to spread goodness and encouragement. It cannot limit our choice to wear a smile, to greet others with genuine regard or to speak love with our eyes and words, as Emmy does day in and day out. There is nothing temporal in this world I would trade for Emmy’s smiles, hugs and conversations that bless.

Thank you, dear Emmy, for reimagining aging for me.