UT majorettes grant alum's "second-wind dream"

An assisted living facility in Knoxville granted one former UT majorette her "second-wind dream." Current majorettes visited Elmcroft Assisted Living to relive the glory days with her.

Jamie Brody insisted she couldn't twirl like she used to, but her muscle memory begged to differ.

Back in 1951, during one of UT's national championship seasons, Jamie was a majorette.

"She still loves UT," her daughter, Pam, told Local 8 News. "She still loves UT football so much."

More than 65 years later, not much has changed in that respect. Kari Christopher, who works at Elmcroft, arranged for the current majorettes to visit Jamie. They had a party for her and her family. One thing surprised them all.

"She was twirling! When she wasn't thinking about it, she could really twirl still," her daughter exclaimed.

Christopher added, the feat was impressive because Jamie suffers from dementia.

"Someone mentioned earlier, it's like riding a bike. So to see her pick that baton up and start twirling was an emotional moment, to see her revisit that part of her life. That was unexpected," said Christopher.

Head Majorette Kari Summers wasn't surprised to see Jamie still twirling because of the impact the sport has had on her life.

"Her family was giggling with us too, saying her muscle memory hasn't left her, and it won't. It's so funny seeing how much things have changed, but that it's going to be all of us one day. Sitting here one day, we hope we get visits from the current UT majorettes when we're old looking back. It's such a special piece of your life that you carry with you forever," said Summers.