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Houston woman makes Christmas ornaments for nursing home residents

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Photo courtesy of Mary Brubaker

Mary Brubaker made these ornaments and delivered them to residents at Premier Washington Health Center.

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Photo courtesy of Mary Brubaker

The ornaments Mary Brubaker made for residents at Premier Washington Health Center include materials to create what she called “touchable love.”

Editor’s note: This story is part of an occasional series in which the Observer-Reporter will highlight acts of kindness by community members throughout December.

A Houston artist decided to use her talent to bring smiles to residents of a nursing home in Chartiers Township.

Mary Brubaker, a 67-year-old mixed media artist, made about 60 Christmas ornaments, and delivered them this week to residents at Premier Washington Health Center.

“I tried to think of what it would be like to be there right now and to open a gift like this,” Brubaker said in a Thursday interview. “I know eventually, that could be my outcome, and I have a lot of empathy for them.”

She started making the small green ornaments Nov. 18, after seeing a post on Facebook asking for people to send the facility small gifts for the residents. Brubaker made them with the thought in mind – they could be the only gift someone receives this year.

“Even if they don’t have their sight, I wanted to make something they’d be able to feel too,” she said.

Brubaker used paint, buttons and glitter to decorate them. Each one had a little star on top with “keywords,” she said, like “care, peace, love, joy and hope.” In the 1970s, Brubaker attended college for fine arts.

“Now I have a place and the time for it,” she said. “I enjoy my art. I have so much fun with it.”

Brubaker delivered the ornaments to the facility Wednesday.

“It’s something for them to enjoy and put on their wall,” she said. “You look at it and know that somebody cares. It’s a touchable love.”

Premier’s director, Tim Kimmel, said they are very appreciative of Brubaker’s ornaments and any generosity from the community that’s gifted to their residents.

“Because of COVID, our residents are pretty much confined to the building, and deliveries from outside have to go into three-day quarantine,” he said. “Things that we had typically done for residents around Christmas, like secret Santa, we can’t do this year because it required large groups.”

Kimmel said they set up an “Angel tree” in the lobby of the facility with names of every resident on it, so the staff member can purchase gifts for them.

“We don’t want to have any resident go through Christmas without receiving a gift,” he said.

To share a story about an act of kindness, email staff writer Katie Anderson at kanderson@observer-reporter.com.

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