Bouey Experience of a Lifetime - The Inauguration of Barack Obama
“I felt born again,” said Alfred Bouey, resident of Holley Court Terrace, a Brookdale Senior Living community in Oak Park, Ill., when describing experiencing the Inauguration of President Obama.
“I never dreamed this day would ever happen in American history. I have witnessed not only my greatest wish, but also the dream of my parents,” said Bouey, the grandson of slaves. “I’m still on cloud nine,” he said.
Bouey won this opportunity through Brookdale’s Experiences of a Lifetime program. Residents at selected Brookdale Senior Living communities nationwide were given the opportunity to share and submit their wishes as part of the program.
Bouey began to get excited the morning he and his family left for Washington, D.C. Once they arrived at the hotel, that’s when it hit him; he would be witnessing history in the making.
The most memorable part of the trip was seeing President Obama taking the oath. “I felt pure joy,” said Bouey. “Tears were flowing all around me, and down my cheeks as well.”
Upon returning home, Bouey joked, “I feel like a star.” He received a standing ovation from the members of his church, and everyone at Holley Court Terrace has come to visit him.
Brookdale’s Optimum Life® concept is geared toward cultivating whole-person wellness through fulfillment in six key dimensions: physical, emotional, purposeful, social, spiritual, and intellectual. The company’s Experiences of a Lifetime program provides a helping hand in making some of the dreams of its residents come true.
Bouey said all the dimensions of Optimum Life impacted his trip. Physically, he “felt he could run” like he did when he was a boy.
“I thought when you get old you get sent out to pasture like a horse,” said Bouey. “I never dreamt I would be having one of the most exciting experiences of my life at 84 years old.”
“I remember growing up in the south when everything was segregated. I can recall the days of slavery from stories my grandfather and grandmother told,” said Bouey. “When I saw Barack Obama come out to make his acceptance speech, I started crying and never stopped. I still don’t believe it to this day that he was elected President of the United States.”
Alfred Bouey was drafted into the segregated army, and served his country with a group of African-American men. Being one of the only college-educated men there, he quickly moved up the ranks and was promoted to Sergeant.
Returning to the South after serving duty, Bouey found that nothing had changed. There were no jobs for him, and segregation was still a major fact of life.
In June of 1946, Bouey couldn’t take it any longer, and moved to Chicago with $10 in his pocket and no place to go. When President Truman opened the opportunity for African-Americans to work in the government, Bouey took an administrative job with the Army Procurement Division.
In 1954, Bouey was part of the first group of African-American men to become police officers for the Chicago Police Department.
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