Sandy Stroud looked up from her Kindle when she heard car horns honking outside her window.

“I wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about at first,” the 88-year-old woman said.

Outside the entrance of Rittenhouse Village of Portage, she saw a string of vehicles decorated like Christmas trees or wrapped like gifts. A few Santas waved from their personal cars, shuttle vans or ambulances. Elves passed out candy. “Jingle Bell Rock” blared in the parking lot.

“Ho ho ho!” one of the Santas yelled from his driver’s seat.

Stroud was surprised to see the “Healthcare Heroes Christmas Parade” making a stop at her senior living complex on its way to a handful of other residential facilities.

“Our goal is to spread cheer to the residents and staff at the senior living communities, physician offices and skilled nursing facilities that have been working so hard during the pandemic,” said Judith Kukelka, community education representative at Heart to Heart Hospice of Northern Indiana.

“This pandemic has been really sad for residents of these communities, as well as for the health care workers,” said Danielle Balek, senior lifestyle counselor at Rittenhouse Village. “We wanted to bring some cheer to people who need it and who deserve it.”

More than 100,000 long-term care residents in our country have died from COVID-19 and its complications, according to the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living. For too many others living in these facilities, loneliness and feelings of isolation have crippled their emotions.

“I think everybody is in the dumps,” Stroud told me. “We’ve been sitting in our rooms for, well, too long.”

Stroud’s life dramatically changed last year when she stepped into a hole while picking flowers. She broke her hip. Her former home in Crown Point, a city where she lived for 40 years, had too many stairs to navigate each day while rehabbing her hip.

“So I’m here now … mostly just sitting around,” she said.

Like many older residents of long-term care communities, she’s eager to receive the new vaccine for COVID-19 that will soon be available for this demographic of Americans. Stroud is ready and willing to roll up her sleeve.

“Now all I have to do is talk my daughter and her husband into getting the vaccine,” Stroud said. “But they’re old enough to make their own decision.”

The American Health Care Association is “extremely hopeful” that this vaccine will be a lifesaver, literally, for thousands of residents. And that it will expedite the reopening of these long-term facilities to family members and loved ones.

While standing outside Rittenhouse Village that day, I tried looking inside a few of the residents’ windows. I couldn’t tell if they were watching the “parade.” The social disconnect that’s always been a factor with these places is so much more significant this year. And more dramatic.

“Most people in here are old people who don’t like to talk to others,” Stroud said.

She’s 88. But she wasn’t making a joke.

“They just look at me like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” she said.

Sometimes when I meet senior citizens, I look into their eyes and wonder what they used to be like in their younger days. Or what they did for a living, who they loved, who they lost. And if they have many regrets, knowing there’s not much they can do about it at this point.

Stroud, who was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois, is a former surgical nurse at Franciscan Health Crown Point, otherwise known as St. Anthony Hospital. Her late husband was transferred to Northwest Indiana through his job. He died from cancer at 51. “He was so young,” she said. “Too young.”

Stroud has two sons and one daughter. Her grandsons are graduating from college, getting married or marking other milestones without her in attendance this year. And there are no guarantees of such traditional family reunions as we head into 2021.

“Everything is just so different,” Stroud said with a sigh.

Next week, “indoor-outdoor” visitation begins again, with visitors separated by just a window, yet so much space.

Kukelka, Balek and the others who hosted that drive-by parade did so in hopes that the lonely hearts inside those facilities grew a little larger from their efforts.

“We just want to make it a happy day for these people,” Balek said before driving away.

Stroud said she appreciated their time and efforts to share a bit of Christmas cheer. Watch a video on my Facebook or Instagram pages.

“It was very sweet,” Stroud said.

Stroud posed for a photo next to the Christmas tree in her building before heading back to her room. A golden angel looked over her shoulder from the top of the tree.

“When you’re younger, they tell you these are your golden years,” Stroud said. “Well, they’re not. Especially during a pandemic.”