Senator Santarsiero Secures $500,000 for Pine Run for Renovation and Expansion of Craft Barn

  • Careers
  • Get Involved
800.992.8992 Schedule an On-Site Tour
  • Home
  • Residential Options
    • Residential Options Overview
    • Independent Living
      • Apartments
      • Cottages
      • Active Living & Services
      • Companion Services
      • Wellness Overview
      • Special Care
      • Dining
      • Meet Your Neighbors
      • The Village: Monthly Calendars
    • Personal Care / Assisted Living
      • Lakeview - A Personal Care Community
      • Club Dining
      • Wellness Center
      • Alzheimer’s Support Group
      • Lakeview: Monthly Calendars
    • Memory Care
      • The Garden
      • Video Tour of The Garden
      • The Garden: Life Enrichment Calendar
      • Life Enrichment and Activities
      • Art Without Boundaries
    • Pricing & Brochures
  • Health Center
    • Health Center Overview
    • Long Term Care
    • Palliative Care
    • Skilled Nursing
    • Physicians
    • Rehabilitation
    • Health Center: Life Enrichment Calendar
  • Community Life
    • Life at Pine Run
    • Programs & Support Groups
      • Alzheimer’s Support Group
      • Bereavement Support Group
      • Caregiver Support Group
      • Meditation Support Group
      • Newcomers Group
    • Events
    • Facility Rentals
    • Monthly Calendars
    • Weekly Menus
    • Villager Blog
    • About Bucks County
  • Resources
    • Articles & News
    • Press Releases
    • Events
    • Villager Blog
    • Alerts
  • About Pine Run
    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Why Pine Run?
    • Vision and Mission
    • Leadership
    • Our Service Philosophy
    • Our Doylestown Hospital Affiliation
    • History
  • Contact
    • Contact Us
    • Map/Directions
    • Associate Recognition
  • Get Involved

Ocean City Beach Trip

Trip to the beach

sparks memories in

dementia patients


Excerpted from The Intelligencer article by Marion Callahan




Photos by Art Gentile

Odette Swan smiles in delight to be on the beach. The trip helped Swan recapture memories of her youth.
The wheelchair only made it so far along Ocean City’s sandy beach, but Odette Swan inhaled the salty air, fixed her gaze on the ocean and stood up, insisting she’d walk to get closer.

Guided by granddaughter Samantha Jonsson, Swan inched her way toward the ocean, stopping at one point to raise her arms and, as if she were conducting a symphony, moved them to the rhythm of the crashing waves. Then the 89-year-old woman – who sometimes forgets her name, how to get dressed and even what country she’s in – couldn’t stop recalling her life.

Odette Swan is helped onto the beach by granddaughter Samantha Jonsson and nurse Laura Watson.
It was as if a window was opened and memories were flooding in. She talked of her childhood, growing up in a small coastal town in France and how her father was a fisherman. She talked of the days she spent collecting shells to make necklaces to sell to tourists. And she recalled swimming in the ocean, likening it to a feeling of flying.

“If I were young, I’d jump in and swim as far as I could,” said Swan, as her voice cracked with emotion. She then dipped her hand in a plastic cup Jonsson filled with sand and ocean water, rubbing the mixture on her hands like it was lotion. It was as close as she would get to the ocean, but it was enough.

Drew Sterner keeps a hand on the shoulder of his father, Gene, as he orders ice cream.
The journey that recent day to Ocean City, New Jersey, revived Swan’s memories in ways that brought Jonsson to tears. But she knew that within hours, those memories would fade like the setting sun. Like about a dozen others from Doylestown Township’s Pine Run Retirement Community on the bus trip that day, Swan suffers from dementia – a condition that affects more than 5.5 million Americans today.

Drew Sterner, walks with his dad, Gene, on the Boardwalk.

Alzheimer's Support Group

Pine Run Lakeview

2nd floor TV lounge

2425 Lower State Road

Doylestown, PA 18901

Contact Maureen Riley

215.489.5872

Posted on January 9, 2018August 16, 2019

Post navigation

← A Life to Love
Associate Recognition Dinner 2018 →

Search

Archives

  • October 2022 (1)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • February 2020 (2)
  • January 2020 (2)
  • December 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (2)
  • May 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • January 2018 (2)
  • December 2017 (3)
  • November 2017 (4)
  • October 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • February 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (1)
  • November 2016 (1)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (2)
  • July 2016 (1)
  • June 2016 (1)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • October 2015 (3)
  • September 2015 (4)
  • August 2015 (4)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (1)
  • April 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • November 2014 (2)
  • October 2014 (3)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (2)
  • July 2014 (1)
  • December 2013 (2)
  • November 2013 (6)
  • October 2013 (5)
  • September 2013 (6)
  • August 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (20)
  • Home
  • Residential Options
  • Health Center
  • Community Life
  • Resources
  • About Pine Run
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Get Involved
  • Disclaimer/Privacy Policy
777 Ferry Road, Doylestown, PA 18901
800.992.8992

Uniquely Doylestown,
Definitely Pine Run.
You're Well Connected.

Join Our Team See Current Job Listings
Equal Housing Opportunity LeadingAge Voted The Intellegencer's Best of 2022 Voted Best Long Term Care by US News & World Report Voted Best Short Term Rehabilitation by US News & World Report
Copyright © 2023 Pine Run Retirement Community
Website Design by IQnection - A Digital Marketing Agency