Vanice Wells, retired teacher, still at the head of the class

By Cynthia Henry Hoopla Publisher

Vanice Wells is a resident at Grandview of Chisholm Trail, but she works as hard as any staff member.

“I do a little bit of everything,” she said, which includes bingo calling, leading arts and crafts, assisting on group outings, and more.

“They depend on me a lot, and I don’t mind that because I like to stay busy.”

Vanice has lived at the southern Fort Worth senior community for over a year. She moved in shortly after losing her husband to cancer.

“It was really overwhelming to live in such a large home, so that’s when I decided to come here.”

She likes the apartment, but mostly, Vanice likes the staff and the residents at the Grandview.

“I like the people. The nurses aides are very kind. They would do anything for me. I love them very much,” she said. “I don’t have any enemies here. They’re all friends.”

Vanice retired from Lewisville ISD as chief financial officer but she started her career as an elementary school teacher.

The day we met her, she was on her way to call bingo.

“If I can’t call bingo, then there is no bingo,” she said, “because they don’t like doing it if I don’t call it.”

Her biggest challenge is working with those with severe dementia.

“I try to tell them, don’t worry about getting it perfect. Just place it someplace (on the board). It may not be right, but at least you’re playing.”

She said playing bingo reguarly has helped one dementia patient improve her cognitive abilities.

“The cells are there, and sometimes they can be refurbished,” she explained.

Some residents who show up in the ac- tivities room struggle with other issues.

“They can be a little angry about where they are in life. And just because they’re here doesn’t mean they don’t have lives,” she said. “They know when someone in their family has died or that someone doesn’t come to see them anymore.They will adjust, but some do it with a little bit of anger.”

She has struggled with that herself and offers insight.

“You can’t change some things in life, but you can change yourself to fit into that life, and that’s what I’ve done,” she said.

You may think that Vanice’s ability to lead comes naturally, but she’s not so sure. She said her life could have turned out much differently had her father not given her up for adoption when she was 1 year old.

Vanice was born in Arlington. Her parents split when she was very young.

“My dad said my mom wasn’t good for me,” she said. “He took me to Kermit, where the oil field was booming.”

Shortly thereafter, he interviewed for a job in the oil fields. The business owner said he could teach him everything he needed to know about the job, “But what are you gonna do with that baby?” he asked.

Her father said he wasn’t sure -- that he couldn’t put her back in her mother’s care.

The businessman said he and his wife weren’t able to have children and they’d be happy to adopt her.

“You want to take my baby?” her father asked, taken aback.

“No, we want to adopt her,” said the businessman.

As per the law at that time, Vanice’s father was not allowed to see her for two years as she was adjusting to her new family. So, Vanice had little to no recollection of her father when he was finally able to visit, but she did recall a nice man who dropped by the house once or twice when she was very young.

She recalled him placing a piece of Juicy Fruit gum in his front shirt pocket and signaling for her to come to him. She would run over to grab the gum and run back to her adopted parents.

When Vanice had a grown daughter of her own, she tracked her dad down and wrote him a letter.

“I want to meet you, Dad,” the letter read. “I want to thank you for what you did for me. I will be at the Barnes and Noble book store in Arlington, Texas on Labor Day.“

She didn’t think he’d show. She waited a long time and was ready to leave when she got a tap on the shoulder. She jumped up in excitement.

“Are you my dad?”

“I sure am!”

He said when he read about the Juicy Fruit gum, he knew she had remembered him.

“He said, ‘You’re never leaving me again. I may leave you, but you’ll never leave me.’”

“He was so proud of me,” Vanice said. “He said, ‘Had I not done what I did, you wouldn’t be the person you are today. They did a beautiful job raising you and I could not have done that.’”

One year later, she buried him with her letter in his suit pocket.

“I just love him so much,” she said.