Pats’ cheerleader cheers elderly fan
Telegraph Neighbors
December 12, 2011
What do you want to do before you die? It is a timeless question filled with obscure fascinations, dreams and goals people want to accomplish before we pass away. Nashua native Brittney-Lynne Stanley, 20, a captain of the New England Patriots Cheerleaders, drew a line through one man’s goal.
“One of the interns at Holy Trinity Nursing Home wrote a letter to the team. He found out that it was on one of the resident’s bucket list to meet a Patriots cheerleader. The Patriots were willing to have me come and visit him,” Stanley said.
Richard Henrickson, who passed away Oct. 1 at age 84, was able to erase his pinnacle “bucket list” goal to meet a New England Patriots cheerleader. Henrickson was born and raised in Worcester, Mass., before retiring and moving to Cape Cod from 1986-2007. Later, he moved back to Worcester to live with his daughter, Linda, until he became a resident of Holy Trinity in August 2010.
Stanley visited Holy Trinity in Worcester, Mass., on Sept. 7 and surprised the super fan while having dinner with his family and residents.
“He came down to the dining hall for dinner for the first time in a while. He didn’t come out of his room much. The family got him to come down and eat in the dining hall with all the other residents, and he didn’t know I was coming. It was a complete surprise. I came in the dining hall and his face just lit up, and he was covered in Patriots gear,” Stanley said.
Henrickson and his family wasted no time getting to know the second-year Patriots cheerleader.
“I was his date for the day. I sat with him when he was eating. His family was so thankful. He had so much fun and just wanted to talk football and about myself,” Stanley said.
Henrickson was extremely proud to show off his room, which closely resembles that of a young adolescent due to all the Patriots memorabilia.
“He had clips cut out, and he used to get Patriots Football Weekly, and he had posters of the team and players up. His bed spread was even Patriots! Everything in the room was Patriots stuff. He had this little Tom Brady doll that walked and sang that he showed me. He was pretty proud of that and thought it was the coolest thing,” Stanley said.
The visit brought back great memories for Henrickson and resonated deeply with Stanley, who jumped at the opportunity when she heard about the nature of the visit, due to her personal relationship with her great-grandfather.
“I wanted to do this visit because my great-grandfather was in the hospital at the exact same time, and he passed around the same time too. It was a similar experience for me, and I just wanted to make a difference in their lives. I wanted to make a difference just like people did for my great-grandfather during that time,” Stanley said.
