A man with a calmness about him with smoky gray- white hair, thin and frail in appearance, once stood six foot tall and full of life and adventure. One would never guess the sweet old man was once in a motorcycle “club” with a bunch of rowdy buddies and his wife. Amber Daugherty, CNA Preceptor knew they had to do something special for his approaching birthday.   

She remembered the stories about Jack’s love of motorcycles and came up with an idea. She posted a request for bikers in the area to come visit Jack for his birthday, and the response was overwhelming. A man of the name George reached out and even offered to get Jack back on the bike with an accessible side car. 

The day before his birthday, LPN Lauren Leffew asked Jack. “What do you want for your birthday?”. “A cold beer,” he jokingly replied with a grin on his face. Lauren made it happen though. She asked the doctor to put an order in, allowing him to have one! “You’ll have to sneak that in here,” he said. “Put it in your shirt or something.”  

Brittany Hurst, Regional Clinical Coordinator with NHC wheeled Jack out to one of his birthday surprises. Jacks face lit up! His smile grew as they moved closer to the bike. George also brought along his pup and the two shared a ride  in the sidecar. Jack beamed with excitement as they did a lap around the parking lot. When getting back he expressed how thankful he was and how the ride had brought back so many good memories! Little did he know, this was only part one of his birthday surprise. 

Later in the evening after dinner, they gathered outside. As the breeze shook the leaves on the trees, the roar of the bikes became more pronounced. One by one they started to pull into the parking lot making their way around the circle. As each biker passed, the smile became more visible on his face. Once the crew was all piled into the parking lot, it suddenly became quiet.  

One by one each biker made their way to him and shook his hand and shared a few words with him. One stated “Hey, you’re still riding just on four wheels now” making Jack let out a chuckle. During each interaction, Jack, and everyone around him became overtaken with such a sense of gratitude. The sense of community was evident. There were even bikers who came from out of state to be a part of this moment for Jack.  

Once the parking lot was cleared out, Jack made his way back into bed, Lauren tucked him in and said goodnight. Shortly after Amber followed, when saying her goodbyes Jack began to cry. “What’s the matter Jack? Are you okay? Why are you crying?” she asked softly. “I’m okay, I just didn’t realize how many people cared about me,” he said fighting back tears, “Of course Jackie, you’re one special guy. You have a whole bunch of people who care about you,” she said reassuring him. Jack squeezed her hand a little tighter and pulled her in for a hug, “Thank you, baby,” he said tenderly. “A once in a lifetime birthday”. He said to himself.  

Amber said her goodnights and left him resting comfortably.