RANDOLPH - Separated by decades, yet bonded for life by a similar past.
One special lady reached out and changed the life of a 16-year-old girl from the Randolph Children's Home. Nellie, a 91-year-old resident of the Randolph Manor gets a weekly visit from her new friend, Danica, a student in Susan Jackson's cosmetology class at the Randolph Academy.
As part of the program, Mrs. Jackson brings six students from her class to the Randolph Manor to pamper the ladies there with manicures.
Jackson never knew the impact that the outreach would have on Danica and Nellie.
"There was just something when Danica was doing my nails," Nellie said. "We just became one person in a way because I think Danica is such a beautiful girl and I can see beauty within her and I can see she can have such a wonderful future."
AN INSTANT BOND
Nellie said Danica had brown eyes like her own daughter, who died of cancer at 54.
The bond was instant between the two. Nellie shared a painful story from her past that mirrored that of Danica's.
"So many things happen that hurt us - but those are just circumstances," Nellie told Danica. "It's what we do right now that's important."
Jackson said that both Nellie and Danica have been through a lot in their childhood that was painful.
"Nellie helped Danica realize she needs to forgive," Jackson said.
Nellie said she didn't think she could forgive for what was done to her, but attributes overcoming her past to putting her trust in God.
"There is a God that cares about us," Nellie told Danica, bringing tears to both of their eyes.
FINDING A MENTOR
Before Danica met Nellie, she said that she never listened to the staff at the Children's Home. She also got into fights with the other girls there. She struggled in school and was a hard girl to get along with, Danica admits.
But after meeting Nellie, she said her life has changed. She said she wondered why she could love someone so fast. Nellie said that the love is there between them and she doesn't know how to explain it.
In order for Danica to meet with Nellie each week, she was told that she had to exhibit good behavior and keep her grades up.
"It's like you're her little angel that helps her through the days," Jackson told Nellie.
In a situation where Danica might have gone against the rules, she remembers her outings with Nellie and handles the situation differently than in the past.
Danica hopes to finish her education so that she can be a nurse. She is already studying anatomy, physiology and a nursing manual brought to her by the school nurse.
As fate would have it, Nellie was a nurse before she retired.
"I wondered why God kept me here for 91 years. Now I know it was to help you," Nellie told Danica.
Jackson told Nellie that she has been a mentor for Danica and the change in her has been profound since their meeting. Nellie says she sees potential in Danica.
"Your knowledge is something that you can always use. It always helps you," Nellie said.
Nellie wanted Danica to know that even when she's gone, she will be with her and she wants her to continue her education and succeed.
When Nellie was young, she was sent to California to live with her aunt and uncle who saw good in her and helped her when she was a child.
"I can't help the way my father treated me. I knew there had to be a better life," she recalls.
Her aunt and uncle brought hope to Nellie's life and now she is giving back to a young girl she met only three weeks ago.
"You're giving her help and bringing her healing," Jackson told Nellie.
"I feel blessed that she's come to me," Nellie said. "I'm real proud of her and I want to help her if I can."
Nellie was sent to live in the nursing home after her stroke. It wasn't what she wanted to do, but now she believes that she was sent to the home for a reason - to meet Danica.
''We've had some similar experiences and I can understand what her life is like,'' Nellie said. "I'm thankful that the Lord believed in me enough to reach out to Danica."
''Even though it's hard at the Children's Home, I'm grateful that I have a roof over my head, food to eat, a place to sleep and people who love me,'' Danica said.
She hopes to finish her education at the Randolph Academy and get into a nursing program after graduation. But, the judge may send her back to live with her father next year, she said.
"You came out of the clear blue sky to me," Nellie said. "I needed someone to love me like you do. I want everything to be great for you and I feel like it can be."
Danica wrote "Grandma Nellie" a letter which Nellie said was the nicest letter she'd ever received.
She told Nellie in the letter, "I've become this great girl on the inside and a monster on the outside. When I was a young girl I never understood the meaning of why I was alive, who put me here, or even if I was here because of a mistake."
Danica said that at first she didn't want to participate in the program at the home because it made her think of her sick grandmother.
But after meeting, Danica said "I cried meeting you because every word you said it went right to my heart."
She also said, "I also know that God brought you here to heal my soul and you have changed my life a lot. My life has been a little easier since you came into my life and you showed me that life is worth so much. I thank you so much for supporting me and teaching me that there is much more to life than complaining and fighting and wishing we had more." Danica also thanked Nellie for putting some hope in her heart. "You taught me that violence is not the option in life and we have to take it for what it is worth."
She also told Nellie "You taught me the word trust and I will take that to the grave with me."
Danica took Nellie out for dinner at Oregano's after her manicure, then stopped off to buy Nellie her favorite candy - chocolate.
