{"id":147331,"date":"2019-12-13T02:45:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T08:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2thenewsleaders.com\/?p=147331"},"modified":"2019-12-12T10:36:16","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T16:36:16","slug":"jaxson-the-elf-eager-to-visit-manor-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenewsleaders.com\/jaxson-the-elf-eager-to-visit-manor-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaxson ‘the Elf\u2019 eager to visit Manor residents"},"content":{"rendered":"
by Dennis Dalman<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n news@thenewsleaders.com<\/span><\/p>\n Five-year-old Jaxson Yager is eagerly counting the days until Christmas so he can dress up like an elf and once again bring hugs, kisses and holiday cheer to the elderly residents of Country Manor in Sartell.<\/span><\/p>\n In recent years, Jaxson has become something of a beloved \u201cmascot\u201d for residents and staff at the senior-living facility. Like a pint-sized emissary of happiness, Jaxson loves to visit Country Manor where he knows just about everyone. The faces of people there bloom with big wide grins when they see Jaxson scurrying down hallways, peeking into rooms, giving happy greetings, hugs and kisses.<\/span><\/p>\n One woman resident at Country Manor was nonverbal \u2013 that is, until she met Jaxson. He visited her, gave her a hug, and she brightened up. Jaxson said goodbye to her. She looked at the boy, smiled sweetly and said \u201cBye!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat just made mommy\u2019s heart so happy,\u201d said Jaxson\u2019s mother.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt makes my heart happy, too, mommy!\u201d he told her.<\/span><\/p>\n Jaxson is the son of Nicholas and Amber Yager of Sartell and is a kindergartner at St. Catherine Drexel Catholic School in St. Cloud. Father Nicholas, a former U.S. Marine, is in the construction business. For the time being anyway, Amber is a stay-at-home mom with Jaxson\u2019s new sister, 6-month-old Aryanna. In the recent past, Amber worked in the activities department of Country Manor. Her grandmother, Delphine Bialke, was a resident there, and that is how Jaxson got to know so many residents \u2013 during his many visits to his great-grandmother \u201cDel.\u201d Delphine, Amber\u2019s mother\u2019s mother, died Oct. 6 at age 98 after six months in hospice care.<\/span><\/p>\n Jaxson, of course, was heartbroken. At her wake, he walked up to her casket and placed a smiley face pin on her blouse. Then he knelt down, said a prayer and rubbed Del\u2019s hand.<\/span><\/p>\n Later, he told his mother they must keep going to Country Manor, even though Del is no longer there. He said there are lots more \u201cgrammas\u201d there he loves, that he still wants to visit. He and his mother have been going to Country Manor just about every week for several years, even when Jaxson was just a baby.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSome of those grammas don\u2019t have grandkids any more,\u201d he said. \u201cI still have so much love for gramma, and I want to share that with the other ones there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Hugging comes natural to Jaxson; it\u2019s a family trait.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHugging was a big part of our family,\u201d Amber said. \u201cMy grandparents loved to give hugs. I do too. And so does Jaxson.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When Jaxson grows up, he wants to be \u201ca Marine and a farmer.\u201d He is very proud of his father having served in the Marines, and during some of his visits to Country Manor he would wear a small Marine uniform with cap that made him look like a little toy soldier. His visit as a \u201cMarine\u201d caused waves of joy and delight among residents and staff.<\/span><\/p>\n His role as an elf was also a big hit with residents as he hopped down the hallways, grinning with his elfin dimples, pointy elf\u2013shoe bells making a jingling ring.<\/span><\/p>\n Jaxson, said his mother, is a normal little boy who can, like other kids, be a \u201clittle smarty pants\u201d sometimes. When he balks at doing a task and wants \u201cmommy\u201d to do it for him, she tells him,\u201dWell, you\u2019ve got two arms and legs.\u201d It\u2019s a saying Jaxson quickly adopted, one that he now uses on adults.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe loves Legos and can play with them all day, and he loves playing cards,\u201d said Amber, adding some of the card games take place at Country Manor with its residents.<\/span><\/p>\n Jaxson also loves music and loves to sing \u201cYou Are My Sunshine\u201d to his baby sister. His favorite song, though, is \u201cSixteen Tons,\u201d an old song from the 1950s sung by Tennessee Ernie Ford.<\/span><\/p>\n When Jaxson now visits Country Manor with his mommy, he walks past the doorway to his great-grandma\u2019s room. She is no longer there. He sometimes pauses, remembering, looks sad, but then he hurries on down the hallway to all the other \u201cgrammas\u201d and \u201cgrandpas\u201d to share hugs, kisses and lots of love.<\/span><\/p>\n