More Musings by ewq

More Musings
As I contemplate my life here at Kendal I can’t help thinking how lucky I am to live in such a rich environment - rich that is in terms of diversity. All sorts of diversity abound here. Our recent celebration of International Day quickly revealed our diversity of national heritages as we put pins in a world map to show the land of our family origins. At the end of the day we had pins in almost every European Country and even some in far off Australia. At that same festival people brought foods representing their native lands. There was an abundance of wonderful tasty delights spread out on our table.

The residents here have many talents. Our Gallery Committee just hung a new art show made up entirely of paintings by artists who live here. These paintings represent the work of artists who have been painting for years, artists who are now engaged in teaching others, and those who have learned to paint in the art studio here. Subject matter ranges from abstracts to pets and wild animals to landscapes to still lifes and more.

Our glass display cabinet also arranged by our Gallery Committee is currently filled by bits and pieces on loan by residents. Items drawing ooh’s and aah’s and compliments include a set of sculptured glass jade animals from China copied from those of the Ming Dynasty; selections from a collection of hand blown glass paper weights from various parts of the United States and Scotland; china boxes including Wedgewood and Spode from England, cloisonné from Japan and earthenware from Ohio; pieces of antique vaseline glassware going back three generations; several Cat’s Meow collectibles from Granville; and figures of Confucius with students from China. All exemplify the rich diversity of interests of those who live here.

Not only do we have a variety of international heritages here but we also enjoy the richness that comes from the fact that many of us have lived in many different states of the United States. So it is that dinner conversations often elicit memories of homes in other states. Although I’ve lived here since the opening five years ago I’m still discovering new facets of the lives of those who live here. For example just last week I discovered that someone I had talked with frequently had spent a part of her life in the same part of Pennsylvania wheremy great grandparentsonce lived. My great grandmother had written a poem about the beauty of the Alleghany Mountains, a place this friend remembered also with fondness for its beauty.

My life in general has been enhanced by my contacts with diverse new friends including among others one who came from Australia with her American GI husband and another who tells us what it was like to live in England during WW II. I also had the good fortune to get to know a woman who served in the Navy in the northwestern US and broke Japanese codes in WWII.

Once I discovered that the couple I was eating with had lived in the same community in northwest Ohio where I lived when I was in nursing school and after I was married. The wife turned out to be the graduate of another school of nursing there. We quickly found out that we knew many of the same people. Then I just happened to ask if she went to a particular high school where my husband’s cousin was the principal. It turned out that she knew him well but had lost touch over the years as they moved about. She was delighted to know that he and his wife were still alive and well. So I shared some of our last correspondence. That’s diversity plus - making new friends here and finding out that it’s a small world we live in after all.