Fossil Creek resident, Josie

“I try to make my residents’ dreams come true…”

Those were the words of 2016 HERO Award Winner, Lindsey Hernandez, when she accepted her award earlier this year. On Tuesday of this week, she added another completed resident dream to her list when she fulfilled resident Josie’s wish to see her favorite Tejano music band, Latin Express.

Josie adores Tejano music and has been listening and dancing to Leo Saenz’s music since he started playing with the band, Latin Express, in 1980. This well known Texas family band has performed in venues all across the country, including the White House!  In addition to following Latin Express throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Josie and her husband would travel to San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Austin to see Latin Express play. Leo said that he always enjoyed seeing Josie and her husband at shows over the years, reminiscing about the time the band drove through a snow storm to play in Las Vegas, New Mexico (a small town west of Santa Fe) and when they looked out onto the dance floor, they were completely surprised to see Josie and her husband happily dancing to their music! Those are true blue fans!

With the loss of her husband and her move to Autumn Leaves in 2014, it had been many years since Josie had been able to attend a show. She longed for the chance to take a turn (or two, or three!) on the dance floor to the sound of her beloved Latin Express. And that’s when Lindsey got to work. It was a team effort, but eventually the pieces came together and Lindsey knew that she was going to make Josie’s dream come true.

And so on August 9, 2016, Autumn Leaves of Fossil Creek was transformed into San Antonio (her favorite place to visit) and for a few hours, Josie got to live her dream, set to a soundtrack provided by none other than her favorite band, Front Porch (a smaller version of Latin Express) with Leo Saenz, live and in person! She wore a tiara and danced the day away with that trademark Josie smile that we all love! It was a day for recalling fond memories from the past, and more importantly, for making wonderful new ones.

Thank you to Lindsey and the entire Fossil Creek staff, to Josie’s family, to all the folks who worked hard on this wish, and of course, to Leo Saenz and Front Porch/Latin Express for making Josie’s dream a reality!