Ruby Chitsey may only be 11 years old, but her heart has a capacity for love we could all take inspiration from.
Her mom Amanda is a traveling nurse who tends to multiple nursing homes in their Arkansas communities, and Ruby loves going to work with her mom.
One day, Ruby decided to start asking people if they had three wishes, what would they wish for. It started out as just a curious question to see what people would say, but none of them answered a wish for money, big houses or fancy cars.
Instead, they said they wished for smaller things, like an electric razor, a new pair of shoes, and a surprisingly large number of people wished for some Vienna sausage for some reason, and other pretty basic items.
Ruby shares, “Like, that’s all they wanted. And I really decided that I needed to do something.”
Do something she did! Ruby started her own charity called “Three Wishes for Ruby’s Residents.”
Ruby continues to tag along when her mom goes to work at the various nursing homes, and the 11 year old jots down the wishes on her notepad, working to fulfill every senior’s wish.
To cover the costs, Ruby started a GoFundMe, but her expenses are minimal as no one’s exactly asking for a sports car.
Of her efforts to help grant the wishes of others, Ruby says, “It really lifts you, it really does.”
It’s not just about the items Ruby brings back to the nursing homes, but something so much bigger. This young lady is satisfying a much more basic human need — to be remembered, thought of and cherished . . . especially by someone of a much younger generation. That’s what seniors are truly wanting and hungry for. That’s the real, unspoken wishes Ruby is granting.
(MSN)
