Windmill Manor resident Gertrude Gibson, 88, of Williamsburg (center) watches her bobber with the help of physical therapist assistant Melissa Spores of Cedar Rapids (right) and CNA Kyleigh Defauw of Cedar Rapids (left) while fishing in the lake at Kent State Park Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 near Tiffin. Employees of Windmill Manor and Consonus, a therapy company, had asked Gibson what she would do if there was one thing that she could do again and she said it would be fishing since she used to fish a lot with her late husband. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

An 88-year-old Williamsburg woman’s wish to go fishing was granted Thursday morning.

Gertrude Gibson had not been fishing since her husband passed away years ago.  When staff at Windmill Manor, a nursing home in Coralville, learned of Gibson’s past, they decided to take her fishing to help her heal.

“It was the one thing she’s wanted to do,” said Stacey Cremeens, an employee at Windmill Manor. “We asked her, and that was it.”

Gibson recently checked in to Windmill Manor after suffering a fall.  She hopes to return home to Williamsburg within the next month.

“They have dreams too. Even as they age they keep dreaming,” said Jacquiline Cripe, a therapist with Consonus Therapy, who helped with the fishing trip.  “This is pretty special.”

Staff at Windmill Manor plans to continue helping seniors by “making their wishes come true.”

Cremeens compared the idea to the “Make-a-Wish Foundation,” which grants wishes to ill children.

“We can do this with (seniors) too,” she said.