I came across this photo from a few years ago, and it made me smile.  This is Larry from Iowa, visiting us with his 92-year old mom back in 2022.

Larry has been a Sensory Soothers customer for more than five years. His wife had dementia, and after losing her, he continued supporting the dementia community to help bring comfort to others. Over the years, he has purchased many of our weighted cats for local dementia homes and for people involved in dementia awareness and education.

Larry has also done some pretty amazing things for the dementia community. One of them is the V. Carole Martin Alzheimer's and Dementia Education Fund, which he established in his wife's name.

In 2024, his community hosted a two-day dementia conference with Teepa Snow. Larry came up with the idea of having a table where people could “adopt” a companion pet. The animal would then be donated in that person's name to a residence, school or hospital in the Cedar Valley, while the money raised went back into the education fund.

Before the conference, Larry had asked for 10 cats. After the conference, I got an email from him telling me they had 650 people attend over the two days and had far exceeded their goal. They ended up with 33 companion-pet adoptions and had adopted out every one of our cats and needed more sent because people were still waiting for theirs!

One of the things Larry does that I absolutely love is that he saves old greeting cards and gives them a second life. He cuts off the fronts and writes a few kind words on the blank backs, individually addresses each one, and gives them to residents with dementia in the memory units.

He told me they can be especially helpful if someone becomes upset, anxious, or agitated, as giving them a colorful card with something kind written on it can help redirect their attention and settle them down. I love that it doesn't cost a thing, but a few kind words on an old greeting card can change someone's entire day.

That's Larry. He is always thinking of ways to encourage people and make them smile.

Somewhere along the way, Larry became much more than a customer. In 2022, while visiting his 92-year-old mom here in Florida, he brought her over to meet us and see our workshop. We showed him where all the animals were made, and then sat around the table together and shared a meal. It is one of those memories that reminds me how special the relationships I've made through Sensory Soothers have become. Today, at 96, his mom now lives in Assisted Living on the same campus as Larry in Iowa. ❤️

For years, I tried to convince Larry to branch out and try some of our other animals, but his answer was always the same: “These are cat people.” He finally let me choose an animal for a speaker at one of their dementia awareness events, Samuel Simon, also known as Dementia Man. After watching some of Simon's YouTube videos and seeing his lively, fun personality, I knew I had to send a sloth. It was a huge hit with everyone, and I can now happily say that Larry is no longer a cats-only customer!

Samuel Simon kissing his sloth ❤️

The sloth ended up being such a hit that it started a little chain reaction. One woman in the video really touched our hearts by the way she held him and patted his back. I told Larry that I thought she needed an animal of her own, too, so we sent a couple of our favorite penguins to Iowa, and they were also a hit!  The woman in this photo snatched up the 2nd one before anyone else could.

This is one of my favorite parts of owning a small business. I may make and sell weighted stuffed animals, but Sensory Soothers has always been about so much more than that. It's about the people we meet along the way, the stories they share, and knowing that something made at our little workshop can bring comfort, calm, a smile, or sometimes just a little bit of joy when someone needs it.

Thank you, Larry, for being part of the Sensory Soothers family all these years, and for finally letting me send you something other than a cat. 😊

About the Author

Teresa is the founder of Sensory Soothers. As a parent raising a child with autism, she started creating weighted plush in 2019 to help families find a little calm when life feels overwhelming. Since then, she's hand weighted thousands of stuffed animals for children, teens, adults, and seniors, and personally helps customers choose the companion that's right for them.