Cindy Scott has tears in her eyes as she says goodbye to her visitor, Merle Wright, at Mission Carmichael Healthcare Center. One week, Scott was losing hope she would ever go home again. The next week was more encouraging. Wright gives her a kiss and tells her she loves her. "It's like I'm home again, Scott says. "She brings hope to me."
Wright was dying of Scarlett fever as a child when her mother said: "No. I know a Man and he has something for this little girl to do." She soaked her in a bath of chamomile infused water and Wright was healed. That powerful experience gave purpose to her life. At 84, Wright helps others with religious conviction, playing piano at church and visiting the sick. She wants to follow Jesus' path. "He went about doing good things. He went about helping the sick. I want to be more like Him."
Wright is elegant in her black high heels as she floats through the halls of the Healthcare Center, pausing to gently greet other patients as her time allows. Her presence is glowing and serene bringing a smile to those she meets.
"I like to encourage people that there is a brighter side and not to give up" Wright says.
Wright was raised in a spiritual home, with her father being a minister and her mother full of faith and giving. Wright began volunteering when she was in her 20s by cooking or washing for those who needed it. Later in life she would use her music to inspire by playing piano at a hospice. She and her late husband helped a struggling neighbor get on her feet by watching her children while she found work.
"As I grew in Christ I learned the more I helped someone else the more I would be blessed," she says.
To suggest a community hero you know to appear in the I Care column please email acruz@sacbee.com
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.