Someday Happens

Someday Happens

"Someday" dreams followed Maurece Hunzeker as she worked on a farm in Humboldt, Nebraska, with her husband, James. 

"I have wanted to ride a hot air balloon since I was a little girl," she said. "I saw pictures of the balloons, and thought that it looked like such a thrill."

To help her fulfill that dream, Legacy Retirement Communities arranged a ride for Maurece. As she anticipated the ride of a lifetime, she told the Enrichment Team that this was actually a dream she had shared for years with her husband, James, but that the life of a farmer never allowed them the time to do it together. So they suggested that she bring a photo of James along with her on the ride so that he might take the ride with her after all. 

On the day of the ride, Maurece watched the rainbow-colored balloon being unloaded from the trailer and filled with hot air.

So with the photograph in hand, she climbed in the basket, which slowly rose above highways, homes and cornfields near Omaha's Lake Zorinsky.

"We were up there for an hour and it was beautiful," Maurece said.

Maurece's daughter and son-in-law followerd in their car, white-knuckeled as she left and uncorking champagne when she landed. 

"I didn't tell anyone else ahead of time in case I got scared and backed out," said the mother of five, grandmother of 11, and great-grandmother of 18. "But it turns out, I wasn't afraid at all. There's no experience quite like that."