Making Dreams Come True for Older Americans

Edwin Glaser, 77, paused in front of a black granite panel at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Then he turned to his 17-year-old granddaughter, who had accompanied him to this spot he considers sacred.

“I think the monument shows what we paid,” said Glaser as the two regarded the wall engraved with the names of more than 58,000 service members who died in the war. “It’s amazing how many people didn’t get to have a 17-year-old granddaughter.”

Glaser was one of 16 Vietnam-era veterans from Wyoming invited in May by Wish of a Lifetime From AARP to fulfill a long-held desire to visit the memorial.

Since its founding in 2008, Wish of a Lifetime has helped thousands of older Americans achieve their dreams—including sending a veteran to Nashville to record his original song, reuniting a 100-year-old Holocaust survivor with her sister and helping a Pearl Harbor survivor return to Hawaii to honor his crew members who lost their lives in the attack. Others have experienced thrills like parachuting out of an airplane, scuba diving and driving a NASCAR race car.

“Everybody can relate to dreams fulfilled but also dreams that go unfulfilled,” says Tom Wagenlander, Wish of a Lifetime’s vice president and executive director. “We believe that dreams shouldn’t have an expiration date.”

This year, the AARP affiliate will have granted its 3,000th wish since its creation. “I think we granted three wishes the first year, and we’re now granting close to 300 [annually],” Wagenlander says.

The hope for these experiences is to renew a sense of purpose in older adults and inspire them. “These are desires that may have been held on to for the majority of someone’s life, so they tend to be really impactful, meaningful and also unique,” Wagenlander says.

Most wishes are about renewing and celebrating passions, connecting or reconnecting with loved ones, commemorating service and fulfilling lifelong dreams.

Ophelia Lee’s wish was something she’d held on to for most of her life: honoring her father for his service during World War II and all the sacrifices he made for her and her siblings. “He wanted the best for us, even if he didn’t get it,” Lee, 74, says.

In October 2022, Wish of a Lifetime hosted Lee’s visit to Washington, D.C., to pay tribute to her father at the World War II Memorial. When she returned home, she started volunteering with Wish of a Lifetime. She gives presentations in the Atlanta area and leads a Cupid Crew every year that distributes Valentine’s Day roses to older adults who might otherwise have been forgotten on that day. Volunteers delivered about 300,000 roses and cards across America in February.

Visit wishofalifetime.org to read more inspirational stories and find out how you can help someone realize their special wish.