DETROIT – The Detroit Opera House opened their doors for a Saline woman with the hope of helping her in her journey with Alzheimer’s disease.
Lauren Wagner traveled all over the world as an opera singer and in May 2019 she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband, Geoffery Jacquez, said her memory is fading.
“Driving here, we were going over the music and this morning I just came dressed up and she was having breakfast . . . and I said, ‘well, we’re going to the opera,’” Geoffery Jacquez said.
Lauren Wagner is a memory care resident at StoryPoint Saline senior living facility and staff there thought this trip could really be comforting for her.
“She can be found in our halls always stopping staff asking us to sing. So, I reached out to Mike, the marketing director at the Detroit Opera House and asked if we can do a private tour, give her some stage time, and just let her connect to those memories,” StoryPoint Life Enrichment director Sydney Stites said.
To Lauren Wagner’s daughter, Katie Jacquez, the performance is bittersweet.
“I think we tried to put all the conditions in place so that mom could step into her voice and to see her in her kind of full expression of herself and I think we saw some glimmers of that, but that light is fading,” Katie Jacquez said.
Between the music, laughs, smiles, and tears that were tough to hold back -- it was clear that the moment wasn’t just for Lauren Wagner.
“Today is a heart opener, actually, I think for all of us,” Geoffery Jacquez said.
“There’s still life left to live and that is something I’m passionate about in making sure that our older adults and residents still live their life, so just being able to be here and give her that experience it gives me goosebumps. I’m going to get emotional,” Sydney Stites said.