Elsie Taylor
Elsie Taylor is semi-famous in Edmonson County, Kentucky, thanks to her legendary salsa. However, Elsie’s life is way bigger than salsa. Elsie and her late husband had three children, who blessed them with three granddaughters. Though now a widow, Elsie recalls the “many years of happiness” they shared.
Elsie has been a very active, mobile, and busy woman for her entire life. She raised her three children, was a homemaker, loves canning and gardening, and is a member of Union Light Missionary Baptist Church. “I’ve endured a lot of life’s challenges and many deaths,” Elsie shared. She’s also a breast cancer survivor. “Ten years, still fabulous!”
Since beating cancer, Elsie has been a healthy lady. But after some time, she began to notice a decline in her activities of daily living. For example, Elsie could no longer cook or stand for long periods of time, putting her canning on hold. As a result, Elsie would wind up undergoing a double knee replacement. Having previously recovered from a hip replacement at SKY Rehab Hospital, Elsie knew where to go for inpatient rehabilitation.
Elsie had a private room for her first few days at SKY before moving to another room. This time, Elsie would have a roommate. And while most prefer a private room, Elsie can’t imagine if things had been different. Elsie’s new roommate, Rosemary, greeted her with “the biggest smile and the biggest heart.” Rosemary welcomed Elsie right in. “She reached for my hand, but she touched my heart,” Elsie shared.
“It was an immediate connection between the two of them,” said Elise’s daughter, Tyra. “Rosemary welcomed us all, just like family.” The Taylor family felt blessed to have met her.
Rosemary and Elsie encouraged each other in their therapy. They worried about leaving SKY without each other and discussed this every day. But, after two weeks of motivating and supporting each other, these new best friends discharged home on the same day.
But that’s not the end of this story.
Rosemary and Elsie remained “friends forever,” speaking on the phone daily. They were pen pals and checked on each other constantly. This continued for four years until Rosemary passed away. “We are still friends,” Elsie said. “We are just on different schedules. Rosemary is on Heaven’s time.”
Elsie thinks back to her time at SKY and how things turned out so much different than anticipated. “It’s a difficult situation where you are dreading surgery, and an inpatient rehab stay. But sometimes, it’s not a bad thing. This dreaded situation turned into a positive situation through SKY Rehab, and for that, I’m so grateful.”
Elsie is back in her garden again, making her famous salsa, and singing at church and funeral services. With her independence restored, Elise is thankful for the therapy team at SKY Rehab for getting her back to better again.
