XPost: can.politics, pei.general, ont.politics   
   XPost: bc.politics, ab.politics   
   From: ConsRCons@govt.cda   
      
   Friday, December 06, 2013 10:57 PM   
      
   Son trying to create 'Miracle on 34th Street' moment for ailing parents   
      
   Mark Enman is asking Canadians to help him and his siblings give their   
   ailing parents a "Miracle on 34th Street moment" for Christmas.   
      
   He's collecting Christmas cards -- as many as possible -- from all over   
   Canada and beyond, for his parents, Bev and Don Enman, who've both   
   recently developed dementia and been placed in a long-term care home.   
      
   "I was on Facebook last Monday just chatting with my sister Dawn who   
   lives in Germany and discussing how our mother loved this time of year   
   and how right now is such a tough time for both of our parents, and   
   wouldn't it be nice if we could do something to bring a little bit of   
   that joy back?"   
      
   So he made a post on Facebook calling for Christmas cards and it quickly   
   "spread like wildfire."   
      
   The Grade 4 teacher from Summerside, P.E.I., has already received more   
   than 60 cards, some from as far away as Fort McMurray, Alta., and "it's   
   only been two days, so it's just the tip of the iceberg."   
      
   Enman said his mom was always the source of Christmas spirit in their   
   home. Her favourite things about the season were exchanging Christmas   
   cards and watching Miracle on 34th Street.   
      
   When Enman was growing up, she'd hang Christmas cards on strings all   
   over the house. Others, she'd tape around the door frames, a tradition   
   he has continued with his family.   
      
   "They were things that my mother kept from year to year. When Christmas   
   was over, she wouldn't discard them. The next year they'd be out and a   
   part of the Christmas   
   decor," Enman said.   
      
   Enman and his siblings Dawn, Brian and Barry hope to surprise their   
   parents on Dec. 20 with a scene reminiscent of the famous moment in a   
   Miracle of 34th Street where, to prove a man claiming to be Santa Claus   
   is the real deal, huge bags of letters addressed to Santa are delivered   
   to the courtroom.   
      
   "I'd love to say that its gonna be this moment of pure joy and   
   happiness, but I don't know that, because they have good days and bad   
   days, as most dementia patients have. I'm under no illusion that that   
   day is going to be a good day, but I'm hoping it will."   
      
   If not, Enman said, he'll just go back the next day, or the next, until   
   they're both lucid.   
      
   Then, he'll sit down with them, open the cards, and "share the message   
   that are inside."   
      
   "I think that would be a special time to share with my parents," he said.   
      
   If you want to participate, you can send a card to:   
      
   Don and Bev Enman,   
   C/O Summerset Manor   
   15 Frank Mellish Street   
   Summerside, P.E.I.   
   C1N 0H3   
      
      
   http://www.torontosun.com/2013/12/06/son-trying-to-create-miracl   
   -on-24th-street-moment-for-ailing-parents#   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)