Helen Smith has been a cowgirl her entire life. Her wish, at nearly 91 years of age, was to ride a horse again. On Jan. 24, 2018 her wish came true thanks to ‘Wish of a Lifetime’, ‘Brookdale Senior Living’ and ‘Hoofbeats To Healing’
Wish of a Lifetime genuinely believes that wisdom, accomplishment and sacrifice should not go hand-in-hand with isolation and the feelings of being left behind. Instead, we believe that wisdom, accomplishment and sacrifice, coupled with appreciation through wish granting – will help to create a society in which we all want to age. However, our mission is much larger than simply granting wishes.
Our society and culture tend to disregard our older populations, even though ageing is one of the few truly universal experiences. We want to make ageing a purposeful experience for all, and our organization uses wishes as a means to do just that. Wishes are a catalyst to share our recipients incredible and inspiring stories that we believe break down generational boundaries and empower our recipients to once again discover their purpose and passion in life.
Wish of a Lifetime was founded in 2008 by local-to-Colorado celebrity Jeremy Bloom, in living honor of his grandmother. Since our origination, we’ve granted over 1,800 Wishes in our path to forming a society in which we all want to age.
About Helen’s Wish:
90-year-old Helen of Brookdale N Ogden has been described as a woman with “a lot of spunk and fire.” She embodies a cowgirl spirit that she got from growing up in rural Nevada. Helen’s Wish of a Lifetime is to get back on a horse for the first time in over a decade.
Helen has always loved animals. She has owned everything from a monkey to a skunk, but her greatest joy has always been horses. The recent loss of her son, who like her, had a passion for horses has reignited her pursuit to ride a horse again. Most of the horses that Helen has owned throughout her life have been rescues that she took in, because they were set to be slaughtered. She has owned Arabians, mustangs, racehorses and even a Shetland pony that she used to put in the back of her 4-door sedan and bring grocery shopping with her. As Helen claimed, “I would look back and he would be eating celery out of the grocery bag.”
There has always been a special place in Helen’s heart for horses. When she was a teenager she used to go to the pens where they rounded up wild mustangs and would open up the gates to free the horses and watch them run into the hills. Horses were more than just pets to Helen. As she says, “A horse can read your thoughts better than you can.” Wish of a Lifetime and Brookdale were so happy to give Helen the chance to get back in the saddle.
On January 24th, just days before her 91st birthday, Helen had quite the equine experience. Thanks to Hoofbeats for Healing, Helen was able to share her experience with her community. The day started off with a visit to Brookdale N Ogden by the good people at Hoofbeats. They brought along a miniature horse named Starlight to visit with Helen and her friends. Following Starlight’s visit, Helen was finally able to get back up in the saddle after years being grounded. It was a great experience for everyone involved.
