The best time machine

Posted 2/21/17

The best time machine Take some colored streamers, blend in some music from the '40s and '50s and add a bunch of young people in uniforms, and suddenly you not only have a party but a resurgence of memories. That's just what Aleksandra Alekhina, director

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The best time machine

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Take some colored streamers, blend in some music from the ’40s and ’50s and add a bunch of young people in uniforms, and suddenly you not only have a party but a resurgence of memories. That’s just what Aleksandra Alekhina, director at the Harbor or memory care unit at Greenwich Farms, sought to accomplish with a Valentine’s dance Saturday. The 19 people in uniforms were members of the Rhode Island Young Marines based in Cranston. One of the group’s mothers, Ashley Roberts, works at Greenwich Farms, which provided a convenient connection. Sgt. Laurelei Codere, who commanded the group, said the Young Marines saw the party as an opportunity to interact with seniors who otherwise might not have family or friends of that age. The Young Marines danced with residents of the unit as well as sat and talked with them. Alekhina said some unit residents, who suffer from dementia, believe they are 39 years old and in one sense see themselves as eternally young. “It’s the best time machine,” she said. (Text and photos by John Howell) 

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