Coal Creek Meals on Wheels

​Donna spent 40 years as a pediatric medical assistant before relocating to Erie shortly after the birth of her third child. Her desire to spend time with children outside of the medical field led her to study early childhood education and serve as a preschool director in Boulder for eight years. Eventually, she returned to the medical field, working in the Mammography department at Boulder County Hospital. It was during this time that Donna’s life took a turn: her husband passed away, and less than a year later, she began experiencing double vision and dizziness. An MRI revealed a brain tumor.

With unwavering optimism, Donna underwent brain surgery. A stroke during the procedure left her unable to speak, walk, or recognize loved ones. Though she made partial progress, she required constant care. While recovering at home with her sister close by, she suffered a second stroke.

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Donna spent a year and a half in a wheelchair and underwent extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk. Today, she still faces challenges with balance and coordination, but she’s regained enough independence to drive herself to appointments and visit her sisters. “I use my left hand for everything,” she says, smiling as she lifts her five-year-old Yorkie mix, Maisie, into her lap.

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Family is Donna’s anchor. She affectionately refers to her siblings as “lemmings,” noting how they’ve followed each other across the country. Her three children are spread out—one in California, one nearby in Vista Ridge, and her youngest, Emily, lives at home and helps with cooking. “She’s really good with the spices,” Donna says proudly.

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Donna beams when she talks about her grandchildren. She met her newborn grandson while still in the hospital recovering from her stroke, wheeled into the room to greet him. “My grandchildren being born right at that time was really a help as far as giving me something to want to be around for,” she says. She got first pick of grandparent nicknames, and chose “good old-fashioned Grandma,” she said. “When they say ‘Grandma’ it just melts my heart.”

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During rehab, a friend of her sister introduced Donna to Coal Creek Meals on Wheels (CCMOW). Because of ongoing numbness in her arms, Donna can only safely prepare cold meals or use a microwave. Otherwise, she could risk burning herself without noticing. She receives a hot meal from CCMOW Monday through Friday. “The hot meal during the day sometimes is the only really good meal I get, unless [my daughter] is here to cook me dinner.” Her home delivered meals also provide essential nutrition and variety. “I don’t eat very many vegetables except what CCMOW makes.”

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Donna appreciates the emotional and safety benefits that come with receiving a daily meal delivery, too. She recounted a story of her mother-in-law who had a major stroke in her sleep: when her friends came to pick her up for a play and noticed several newspapers building up outside her door, they broke in through a window to reach her, but not until she had laid in bed in a coma for several days unnoticed. “It’s nice to know that they’re coming because it’s a check on you,” she said of the delivery drivers.

 

Beyond the safety check, Donna has built friendships with some of the regular volunteers who deliver to her home. Her Tuesday delivery driver, Reid, and her Wednesday delivery driver, Ann, went over to Donna’s house together with another friend and helped pull weeds from Donna’s garden when it had started attracting negative attention from her Home Owner’s Association. “We say: us East Coasters have to stick together,” Donna said of her first connections with Reid. When Donna’s sprinkler was broken, Reid found a friend to fix it for her. Volunteers ask Donna about her life, “how did recent appointments go,” “how was a recent birthday,” - things like that. Maisie the dog looks forward to the visits too — she gets pets from the volunteers all five days.

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Currently, Donna is working on installing a fence with a railing along her steep driveway to make walking safer. “This is my journey,” she says with a smile. “I might as well make the most of it.” Her positivity is contagious. “I’m gonna do whatever I can to keep going. Be an inspiration for other people if I could.”