Nebraskaland

32 Nebraskaland • May 2025 Both women had fi shed creeks or ponds growing up and relived experiences, including McIntosh's dad stocking fi sh in the three ponds built on their farm, and Schoenrock catching bullheads for breakfast. As an adult, Schoenrock couldn't ski, so she drove the boat when her family went to the lake on Sundays. She's driven the boat nearly every time she's been out with the Live Well. Go Fish. crew. They presented her with two awards on the same trip last year: One was for Honorary Captain. The other was for Ornery Captain. Joking around and friendly banter are part of each trip. Saunders residents and staff were quick to point out that Dorothy Sorensen was a noted cheat at bingo. "This is a new experience," she said with a wry smile. "Cheating at fi shing, it's a little diffi cult." She had a plan, though. While she didn't catch a fi sh, she already knew what she would tell others back at the center. "I got several," she said. "They weren't too big, but there were 5 or 6. I'll explain it when we get back." Water Therapy The value of the recreational therapy for participants, whether they are residents in assisted living homes, under memory care for Alzheimer's or dementia, or at a home for a short time for rehabilitation, can't be understated. "It's hard," said Kayla Massa, life enrichment coordinator at Saunders. "A lot of them lose a lot of freedom the second they walk in here. Just being able to get them out there just to kind of feel alive again, honestly, it's one of the best things that I've ever been able to do for them." Some residents simply go out and take a nap in the sun. Some are eager to go every time. They all talk about their trips for days. Laura Eivins, another enrichment coordinator at the center, was on one of the fi rst Live Well. Go Fish. voyages. She has many memories of those who have participated, but one sticks with her of a couple who were regulars on the boat. The husband was a lifelong angler living on his own, but joined his wife, a resident at the center, who simply enjoyed sitting back and watching her husband fi sh. When he died, she was reluctant to get back on the boat. "I told her she needed to do that as a tribute to her husband," Eivins said. "The fi rst time back I held her, and we shed a lot of tears. It was very emotional but, at the same time, very healing for her." The Last Fish Live Well. Go Fish. grew to accommodate patients in hospice care. That led to a partnership with the Dreamweaver Foundation, an Omaha-based group that, among other things, helps make bucket-list wishes come true for older adults and others with life-limiting illnesses. Initially, Rudder wasn't sure whether volunteers would want to work with hospice patients. Those trips "kind of tore your heart out," he said, but are some the most rewarding for the volunteers because of what it means for the patients and their families. Together, they came up with a motto: "Everybody remembers their fi rst fi sh. We try to make sure nobody forgets their last." Some participants include a young man who was an avid hunter and angler but is now confi ned to a wheelchair by illness; he wanted to spend a day fi shing with friends. A 74-year-old woman simply wanted to go on a boat ride with her family. A 95-year-old man wanted to fi sh with his great- Laura Eivins, enrichment coordinator at Saunders Medical Center, chats with resident Dorothy Sorensen during a game of Bobber Bingo. Shirley Schoenrock, a resident at Saunders Medical Center, smiles as she drives the Live Well. Go Fish. boat on Lake Wanahoo.

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