Charles Mangee had wanted an airplane since childhood. He never owned one, but staff at his Palo Alto senior living community built an aircraft costume around his walker for Halloween, according to Palo Alto Daily Post.
Mangee is a retired U.S. Air Force captain who has carried that childhood dream of owning his own airplane for decades, according to Palo Alto Daily Post. Two staff members at Palo Alto Commons, identified only as Vanessa and Guillermo, took that detail and ran with it, spending weeks designing and crafting a custom airplane costume that transformed Mangee's walker into something closer to the plane he'd always wanted.
Building the Walker Costume
Vanessa and Guillermo spent weeks designing and building the costume, the Daily Post reported. The account does not describe further details of the planning process.
The Daily Post account does not say whether the costume was part of a formal care plan.
How resident interests shape activities
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services survey guidance for nursing homes says activities should reflect residents’ assessments, care plans, interests and preferences, and support their well-being. That guidance does not establish whether Palo Alto Commons is a nursing home or how it met the standard, according to CMS. Palo Alto Commons says its Journey memory-care program tailors activities to residents’ social and cognitive levels and takes individual needs and interests into account. The community’s description does not establish that Mangee was in that program or explain how his costume was planned, according to Palo Alto Commons.
Honoring Service That Doesn't Expire
The Daily Post's account closes on a simple point about veterans like Mangee: no matter how many years have passed, the gratitude owed to those who served never fades. For Palo Alto Commons, that gratitude showed up this year in fabric, wire, and weeks of after-hours labor — all so one resident could finally see himself at the controls of his own plane, even if only for a night.
