My artifact that i drew in class was of a heart that was shining, and it said Red Oak at the top. My artifact was supposed to represent all of the elderly, as well as the workers of the Red Oak Community. I hope to be viewed as an outside helper, who is also a part of that heart. I hope that they all enjoy the poster that we are going to make for them, as well as the time that we have spent with them.

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The artifact I chose was a framed portrait. I recovered the item from a resident at my service-learning site, Oak Haven Assisted Living. Oak Haven facilitates men and women of various disabilities ranging from Alzheimer's disease to stroke. These families are away from their lives for months and years at a time. Therefore, items like family pictures are held very dear to the hearts of the residents there. Almost every room where someone resided at Oak Haven had some sort of family-related portrait. Mr. Carlos (where I got my artifact from) is pictured in a photo with his daughter on vacation at the mountains. The sky is fluffy and the clouds are thin, the grass is patchy, the weather isn't what Mr. Carlos and his daughter are used to back home, but they have smiles from ear to ear.
This is Mr. Carlos' favorite and most valued item in his entire room because he hasn't seen his daughter since he and his wife divorced thirteen years ago. The item was also considered extra momentous to Mr. Carlos because took part in designing the actually frame the held the photograph. At first glance, it looks Wal-Mart purchased, however, a closer look reveals evidence of glue and probably a compassionate project between family. He holds a ritual of kissing the picture every night before he goes to bed and says a small prayer in hopes that his only daughter will come and visit him one day at Oak Haven. This framed portrait just happens to be the most significant to one resident (Mr. Carlos) but nearly every other resident there has an artifact that he/she holds special value to. In this resident's situation, the photo represents his love for his family while the photo may just represent a piece of decor in their friend's room. Artifacts like the one I mud-painted are evident all throughout Oak Haven and keep the people there feeling a sense of closeness to family they don't see often and security.

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