A fountain for Clara

By Patty Mintz

The Advertiser/NovaNewsNow.com

A large outdoor fountain is a welcome new addition at Evergreen Home for Special Care.

How it came to be there is a story worth telling, says Joan Robicheau, whose 97-year-old mother, Clara Thurber, suffers from dementia and is a resident at the home.

“The first week mother came here we went for a walk in the garden. When we got on the bridge, she said, ‘Joan, this place needs a water fountain. When I die, I want people to remember me. I have a headstone; I want a water fountain.”

Robicheau, who lives in Coldbrook, says it seemed like an unusual request, especially considering her mother’s condition, and she soon let it pass. Her mother, however, did not.

“She never forgot it. At least once a month, she’d ask, ‘where’s the water fountain’? She would tell me, ‘I don’t want it when I’m dead, I want it now’.”

Eventually, Joan and her brother Roy Thurber, who lives in Weymouth, began to seriously consider their mother’s request. They pooled their finances to pay for the fountain and began to plan how to make their mother’s wish become a reality.

The facility’s administrator, Fred Houghton, was very supportive, they say.

In August, the fountain was installed along with a surrounding paved courtyard complete with seating and plants, which was paid for by Evergreen.

For weeks, Clara was in her glory.

“We’d go out there and sit for hours,” says Joan. “She’d say, ‘Joan, close your eyes and listen (to the water).”

Clara, who was born in Weymouth, Digby County and lived her whole life there, found comfort in the sounds of trickling water.

She told us we’d given her a little bit of home. She’d say, ‘can’t you hear the water in the Weymouth River?’”

Her happiness was cut short after a serious, life-threatening fall in September, which prevented her from visiting the fountain again until the beginning of October. The fountain’s official dedication was postponed until recently. Evergreen’s chaplain, Rev. Mary Anne Doherty-Fleet, presided over the special ceremony.

Afterward, Joan remarked, “Today is her day. She’s got her dream.”

Joan says the beauty of the story is that her mother’s wish has had a positive effect on nearly everyone who lives and works at Evergreen.

“One woman who wouldn’t come out of her room was drawn outside to sit by the fountain. Everyone enjoys it.”

Other families might learn from their experience, she adds.

“Families should do for their parents while they’re alive. If they have wishes and dreams, give it to them.”

Houghton says the courtyard and fountain provide a soothing place for residents and their family members to relax and read.

Houghton said the facility had already been considering building a courtyard and the fountain helped provide a push to get the project going.

“It worked out wonderfully,” he says.

Joan says one of her mother’s LPNs reports a difference in Clara.

“She said she’s a totally different person since the dedication. She’s happy and at peace.”