'The Song of Sadie Sparrow' bucks conventional wisdom, shows nursing homes as a doorway to elderly joy

Contact: Kitty Foth-Regner, 262-786-9202

BROOKFIELD, Wis., Dec. 6, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- The elderly have so very much to give, even if they're tucked safely away from "real" life, according to Kitty Foth-Regner, a nursing-home volunteer and author of a new novel underscoring this premise.

Set in a fictional five-star nursing home called The Hickories, "The Song of Sadie Sparrow" (FaithHappenings, 2017) introduces readers to a group of wonderful and wise old people, and the staffers and volunteers who love them.

"For those with a soft heart and open mind, a nursing home doesn't have to be life's dreaded last stop," Foth-Regner said. "It can instead be the doorway to meaningful friendships, unleashed creativity and unprecedented peace and joy."
 
"The Song of Sadie Sparrow" is a reflection of Foth-Regner's nearly two decades as a volunteer at Care-age of Brookfield, the southeastern Wisconsin nursing home where her mother lived and died.

Here, Foth-Regner has seen the same story play out time after time: A new resident complains bitterly about being "dumped" in this old-folks warehouse by ungrateful children. "This normally goes on for a week or two," she said, "until she begins making friends and sampling the facility's amazing activities calendar, whereupon she becomes an ardent promoter of nursing-home life."

That's precisely what happens with Sadie Sparrow, the 86-year-old protagonist of Foth-Regner's novel. Within weeks of being installed in The Hickories, she has befriended a coterie of fellow residents, several staff members and a young volunteer who leads a tiny Bible study. In fact, Sadie soon feels closer to these new friends than she does to her oh-so-busy daughter.

Although these characters differ dramatically in everything from age and worldview to sorrows and hopes, the bonds they form with each other are unbreakable – and quite possibly eternal.

"The Song of Sadie Sparrow" is available at online retailers, including Amazon, and in quantity direct from the author. For details and to read an excerpt, visit her website.