MORRISON, Ill. — Growing old doesn't mean you have to grow up.
Resthave is a nursing home and assisted living center on the outskirts of Morrison, Illinois. And every time it snows, angels appear all around it.
It's all thanks to 82-year-old Sondra Horn.
Of course, they say seeing is believing. Perhaps that's why, when News 8 rolled up to Resthave, many of its residents were already crowded around the center's front doors and windows. They jostled for position as Horn, bundled up in long johns and an ankle-length winter coat, headed outside for her favorite winter routine.
With the help of a few Resthave attendants, Horn waded through the deep snow of Resthave's courtyard. Once she reached the center, she smiled, and then laid down on her back.
After all, there's nothing Sondra Horn loves more than making snow angels.
"When you get the new coating of snow, she disappears! And then next thing you hear, she's been outside," laughed Donald VanDerleest. The 91-year-old is one of Horn's neighbors at Resthave. "She really enjoys it."
Every time it snows, no matter how cold it may be, Horn straps on her boots and heads outside to make some snow angels.
"I'm very thankful that I'm still able to go outside and play in the snow," Horn said. "It's just fun to be outside and get some fresh air and sunshine. That's good for us! Keeps us healthy!"
The cold, she says, feels good on her spine as she battles MS. But if you ask Horn, that's not the true reason why she does it.
"Snow is to play in," Horn laughed. "And I've been doing it probably since I was five years old! It feels wonderful. And the cold is good for my back, so that's a good excuse for making snow angels."
And nowadays, when Horn makes her angels, she also thinks of her own angel watching from above.
"This is my husband, Dick," she said, pointing to a framed photo of her partner of nearly six decades. "I still miss him a lot. Because he was a good husband and a wonderful dad."
The two met in church when Horn was just 17 years old. They were married two years later and went on to have seven children together.
Over the years, Horn says the whole family always made time to play in the snow. Often, they raced to see who could be the first one outside.
"We all went out together and made snow forts, snow angels and snowmen. We went sledding, tobogganing, skiing and ice skating," she said. "Dick's the one who taught me how to ice skate. So we did that as often as possible."
Dick passed away five years ago. That same year, Horn moved into Resthave.
Still, she never lost her passion for her snow angels.
"You gotta have a little fun! She maybe can't do everything she used to do, but it's not going to stop her from enjoying the winter and enjoying the day that God gave us," Joel Horn, Sondra and Dick's son, said. "I hope I have that energy and zest for life when I'm that age!"
Oftentimes, Horn forms her snow angels right outside the window of her Resthave neighbor, 103-year-old Alice Bordner.
"She's very special. Very special to me," Bordner smiled. "She shows love to everybody. She emits a lot of love. She's our live angel."
Horn says she plans on making snow angels for as long as her body will allow. And, of course, like the true midwestern woman she is, Horn says the cold doesn't bother her. After all, it's the wind that makes all the difference.