Jun 21, 2010 By Jenny Susa for The 6 min read

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a life filled with quality time with family, social events and parties with your friends, and always making time to reach out and help someone else? Such is the life of Agnes Soom. While anyone would be happy to say their time is filled with all of these things, Soom’s circumstances are remarkable because she happens to be 82 years old and bound to a wheelchair.

Soom is a resident of Meadow Heights, a senior citizen’s community in Uniontown. She has lived there for seven years and has taken it upon herself to help ensure that everyone coming to live there can maintain a high quality of life. Because of her own zest for life and desire to get everyone in the community involved, she has become the events coordinator at Meadow Heights.

During her time at Meadow Heights, Soom has helped with weekly Bingo nights, ice cream socials, holiday parties, outdoor picnics, fundraisers, and is currently getting a community movie night in order. Soom is also the writer of the monthly newsletter, and she is the person that property manager, Kelly Miller said she sends all the new tenants to see when they first arrive.

“It is a group effort here and a lot of the tenants are getting involved with the activities we have,” said Miller. “It’s wonderful to see how she helps motivate other people.”

Upon entering Soom’s apartment, one can’t help but notice that the walls are covered with family photos, many that she printed out from the computer she taught herself how to use.

“I like to keep my family close,” said Soom.

Although the pictures of her loved ones are everywhere, the area behind her computer desk is dedicated only to photos of her favorite singer, Engelbert Humperdinck.

Soom has sharpened her computer skills to the point that she can navigate the Internet with ease, and even has a Facebook account and a web cam that keeps her in touch with friends she has made all over the world. She visits the website Whopopular.com hourly when she is at home, so that she can vote to make Humperdinck the world’s most popular musician.

Soom has seen her favorite international recording artist twice in concert, and while she has never met him in person, she had the privilege of receiving a phone call from him when she was in the hospital with an ailing leg. A friend had tipped off Humperdink’s manager to Soom’s endless devotion to him and his music.

“When his manger called me on the phone saying he wanted to talk to me I thought I would die,” said Soom. “He told me he was praying for me and asked me to get well and go home to my family.”

Soom said she has loved the musician all of her life and his music now reminds her of her husband, who passed away eight years ago.

“I can still see him laughing and telling me I’m crazy,” Soom said with a smile.

Soom’s leisure time on the computer might be less than some people have, since she stays so busy organizing activities for the residents of her community and showing the newcomers around.

The most recent fundraiser she conducted was creating a recipe book, for which she collected recipes from her friends at Meadow Heights as well as people outside the community. They were able to use the proceeds to buy plants and supplies for the community garden. Soom said they are considering making another recipe book containing traditional holiday recipes from the community members’ families.

Soom is also helping some of the staff to organize a car show to be held at Meadow Heights on Sept. 18. There will also be a flea market that day and the community would like to bring in other vendors for the event. Soom said she is hoping for a visit from the mayor.

The community is also about to add square-dancing to its list of activities and Soom said they are going to host a karaoke night, and perhaps have an evening for those interested in playing cards.

In addition to helping with so many activities, Soom is also known for creating greeting cards for all occasions, which have been named Granny’s Greetings.

Soom sends her cards to all of her friends for birthdays and when someone needs a card for a special occasion, they always come to her, and Soom will customize a greeting card for them on her computer. She also makes cards to give to the new residents moving in.

“I try to help with the new people,” said Soom. “I like to talk to them and see what they need because I would have loved to have someone do that for me. If I can help anyone out, that is what I want to do.”

Soom works hard at keeping up on her health and tries to help other residents do the same, by helping to schedule monthly blood pressure screenings for everyone at Meadow Heights. Albert Gallatin Health Care provides the monthly service.

Joseph Soom, Agnes Soom’s son, commented that he is proud of his mother’s active involvement in her community and how she always keeps a positive attitude.

“She is always the one who keeps everyone else’s spirits up,” said Joseph Soom. “She is always there for her family and keeps a smile on everyone’s face.”

Joseph Soom said that he believes her active lifestyle and close connection to family and friends have improved his mother’s health dramatically.

“She’s the best she has been in years,” said Joseph Soom.

“I don’t feel 82,” said Agnes Soom. “It’s about being with people and staying busy. The doctor took me off of a lot of medicines and put me on a lot of vitamins and it’s the best thing I ever did. I can’t walk but that doesn’t matter.”

Soom and her family laughed about how quickly she gets around operating her wheelchair, and she is constantly on the go.

“I can honestly say I know what happiness is,” said Soom.

She is also mindful of the hard work of her friends at Meadow Heights as every month her newsletter includes a section to honor the contributions of others to their community.

Miller said that the involvement of all the residents at Meadow Heights is what makes their enjoyable lifestyle possible.

‘We have such great tenants here,” said Miller. “Without all of their hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t have such a fulfilling quality of life. It is refreshing for me to see Agnes every day. Her enthusiasm is contagious. She has done a fantastic job at maximizing the opportunities for local residents to get out and socialize.”