She will not be eligible to live there for several decades, but 7-year-old Maggie Kuznia already is a fixture at Good Samaritan Society – Heritage Grove in East Grand Forks, MN.
Her mother, Tiffany, is the activities director at the assisted living community and, as a result, she’s made a few new friends, including resident Patti Griggs. Together, they enjoy sharing quiet time with a nice book.
“I used to teach first grade. I did that for quite a while,” Griggs said. “So I love children’s books, and I had these books, and thought it would be a nice little gift for her. So when she came one day, I gave her these little books, and she was so excited about it.”
One to two times a week, Maggie fills her backpack with books and joins her mother at work. Around the campus, she is affectionately known as Tiffany’s “sidekick.”
She likes to read not only with Patti but with other residents in the community. Oftentimes, she will go door to door seeing who would like to read with her. As her story gained more publicity, people even began to send Maggie some more books through the mail. She now has a few thank-you notes to write, Tiffany says.
“She goes, ‘Mom, why are people just sending me stuff all the time? All I’m doing is reading to my friends,’ ” Tiffany said. “And I was like, ‘Honey, it’s because they’re seeing the love. You don’t know how much the world needs love right now.’ ”
The unexpected publicity also has served as a nice stroll down memory lane for Griggs. She may not teach anymore, but it is clear that her soft spot for children never went away.
“Because it was publicized, I’ve heard from some of my own students that I had when they were in first grade and people that I hadn’t seen for a long time,” Griggs said. “So it’s brought a lot of joy to me personally.”
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