Hanukkah Kendal-lighting

Ok, so that was a bad pun! Hanukkah at Kendal was a big success this year. On all eight nights we participated along with 15-20 others who diligently showed up with us in the main lobby. We said the blessings (one-sentence prayers giving thanks) first in Hebrew, then in English, and lit the candles in the menorah (candelabra – an electric one, actually). It was wonderful to have volunteers to read the English version and do the actual lighting.

After that my wife and I presented a mini-lesson each night lasting 5-10 minutes on some aspect of the holiday. We covered the historical aspect of the military victory of the Maccabees reclaiming the Temple in ancient Jerusalem and dedicating it to worship service once again, the rabbinical de-emphasis of the military victory and their new emphasis on the miracle of the oil lasting 8 days in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, the traditional foods we eat for the holiday, the dreidle (top) that is used in the game we teach the children to play, the menorah as an art form, Hanukkah music and songs, liturgy, and more.

It was a delightful 8 days, and the dining room staff made traditional latkes (potato pancakes) for everyone one night, and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) on another night. The Festival of Lights was fun, entertaining, educational, and uplifting. And while Kendal may have its roots in the Quaker tradition, the characteristic of diversity and inclusion certainly prevails here at Granville.

Christmas Music at Kendal

Last evening the Granville High School Chamber Singers visited Kendal to deliver a smooth and delightful performance of seasonal tunes. The residents turned out in large numbers, and the Amelia Room, decked out in seasonal colors and markers, provided an appropriate setting. Before the program began the ensemble's talented director, Kristen Snyder, explained that in recent days they had been making the pre-Christmas rounds of performance venues. Happily, we were on their schedule and in fact became the appreciative beneficiaries of their final concert before the high school and the Chamber Singers began their Christmas breaks.

The singing was marked throughout by close harmonies and precision of elocution. From the opening number – "Go Tell it on the Mountain" – to the rousing, concluding performance of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (including vocal romps on the words "figgy pudding"), the Chamber Singers proved themselves a skilled and well-trained ensemble. Along the choral way, Santa Claus came to town, chestnuts roasted on some fires, jingle bells rocked, and silver bells enchanted. An unexpected encore brought attention to a smaller ensemble, the Blue Notes, who sang a dazzling arrangement of "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies," featuring the difficulties of chromatic passages and tight harmonies.  

The residents loved the show. And once again we were all made to realize how fortunate we were to have so many exciting performance organizations in our vicinity. The holiday season is well and truly under way a Kendal.

Thanksgiving 2015 at Kendal at Granville

What a great Thanksgiving holiday we had at Kendal! Last year we were invited to join family in St. Louis, and we dutifully made the trek. This year we were again invited there, and also to relatives in New Jersey, but on November 9, I came down with a cold that quickly morphed into bronchitis, and it soon became evident that I wasn't going to be fit to travel, so we resigned ourselves to stay home and join the festive dinner here if I felt better.

I fully recovered from my illness just before the holiday so we went to dinner and we weren't disappointed at all! The dining room was decorated in colorful tablecloths and napkins, We had traditional turkey and stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie, but there were several other choices available, too. All of it was prepared perfectly and we thoroughly enjoyed the dinner. The food was fantastic.

But then, come to think of it, it's fantastic at almost EVERY meal and that was one of the reasons my wife and I moved here last year. It's not only the food but the opportunity to join other residents and engage in lively and interesting conversation. Rarely do we talk about our aches and pains, which is stuff no one else really wants to hear anyway. I call that kind of conversation an “organ recital.” “Oh, my spleen really bothered me last night...hah!”

No, we talk about current events, personal experiences, fashions, science, books, movies, sports, business, and a variety of interesting topics. And if the subject at one moment doesn't interest you, wait a few minutes and we'll be onto something else.

There are so many well-educated and knowledgeable people here in so many different areas, everyone has a story to tell, and that's what makes Kendal a special place. I've liked everyone I've met here, and I really look forward to meal time in the dining room.

Mary Poppins Pays Kendal a Visit

On Sunday, November 1, five outstanding performers from the Weathervane Young Artists Repertory Theater (WYART) came to Kendal to entertain the residents with songs from the wonderful score of Mary Poppins. They are preparing a stage performance of the musical, and they visited to Kendal to share their gifts and enthusiasm.

It's hard to imagine a happier play. Everyone from our Kendal generation has recollections of this enchanting film, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. The young singers – ranging in age from ten to thirteen – brought those happy memories back to mind even as they brought the joys of the story back to life.

The talented performers were Chris Curran, Brant McFarland, Keilan Stuart, Kayleigh Stuart, and Laine Stultz. They were introduced by Erika Wills, the woman who is directing this enterprise. Among the pieces they performed were the delightful "Spoonful of Sugar," the instructive "Perfect Nanny," and the haunting "Chim Chim Cher-ee."

It is a bromide of the stage that performers should leave their audience asking for more. That's what happened on Sunday. The sheer cheeriness of the young people, the liveliness of the music, and the skills they displayed delighted the audience. Besides, we oldsters like to have opportunities to share space with youngsters. For all these reasons Kendal residents were grateful for the visit.

A Grand Concert at Kendal

Last Friday, October 9, Richard Marshall offered a viola recital for the residents of Kendal at Granville. The Amelia Room was packed and the audience delighted by the performance. 

For many years Marshall has been a member of the Minnesota Symphony. He is also the son of an emeritus member of the English Department at Denison University. This local tie meant that his appearance at Kendal provided an opportunity for many of his relatives and friends to hear him perform. Since his accompanist, Philip Everingham, was also a local figure – the organist at the First Presbyterian Church – the occasion was altogether a memorable and happy get-together of music lovers and friends.

Before playing, Marshall set the stage for the evening by speaking a bit about his enterprise and his instrument. He called his diverse program the "Marshall Plan." He followed that remark by immediately referring to his imminent performance as a "Marshall Art." We had been alerted by quips. A chuckling audience was prepared for an evening of entertainment.

The program was varied. Marshall began with an unaccompanied bouree by J. S. Bach. As he proceeded through his diverse program he evoked the schmaltz of Vienna with several lush compositions or arrangements by Fritz Kreisler, shifted eras by introducing us to a lovely work by Maria de Paradis (a contemporary of Mozart's), brought the room to silence with the haunting Vocalise by Rachmaninoff, and concluded the evening with the familiar "Smile Though Your Heart is Breaking" by . . . Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin? Who knew? I sure didn't. 

A standing ovation followed the concert. No surprise there. The music was lovely, the performance splendid, the entertainment value high, and the sense that we were welcoming a local boy home gratifying. It was a memorable evening for Kendal.

Opportunities for a Lifetime of Learning

Like all Kendal affiliates, Kendal at Granville declares itself a supporter of lifelong learning. The ambition is grounded in the belief that any effort to transform the experience of aging must foreground the importance of being engaged with the world. No kind of engagement rivals education as a path toward enriched lives, widened curiosities, and enlarged hopes. So education is what Kendal encourages.

My mind was turned to these sorts of thoughts as I reflected on how so many of my friends and I are seizing upon the opportunities that are available to us by virtue of living right here in Granville.

First of all, there's Denison University. Our partner in many activities, Denison welcomes senior citizens into its classrooms and laboratories. Denison has long sought to be a welcoming neighbor to Granville residents who want to get back into the classroom after lives and careers in fields as diverse as the clergy and the military, medicine and homemaking, farming and the law. One of my friends is enrolled in a German class because he wants to visit and talk with relatives in Europe. Another took a class in classical and medieval philosophy because he was curious about natural law teaching. A third has taken so many classes in the studio art department that she has been allowed to offer a pottery course to Kendal residents, using the University's studio facility.

In the recent past I know of Denison classes taken in art history, earth science, English poetry, the history of Islam, macroeconomics, music theory, and the Old and New Testaments. So far as I know, in every instance the senior enrollee has come away from the experience of reentry into the classroom exhilarated by the subject and delighted by the chance to talk with the young women and men who attend Denison.

But Denison isn't our only source of opportunities. The Lifelong Learning Institute, operating under the sponsorship of the Central Ohio Technical College, is offering a rich array of courses this fall, and – switching completely to personal experience now – I have found four that I'm signed up for. The first, just wrapped up, was a humdinger – "The Civil Rights Movement and Black Power." Our instructor teaches at OSU, Columbus, and thanks to her well-organized presentations I now have a much better understanding of the sequence and meaning of various tumultuous events which occurred during my lifetime but which had all become rather muddled in my mind. 

I'll soon be taking a course with the provocative title of "Beethoven and Berlioz did WHAT?!?" It is designed to be a "light-hearted" classroom experience, and our instructor is a conductor, composer, and arranger affiliated with Muskingum University. Sounds good to me!

Next in line will come a course on the Cold War. It's another of these large historical moments that I lived through but need instruction on. Our guide will be an award-winning emeritus professor from Miami University, who has written widely on the subject.

Finally, in an effort to guard myself against terminal fuddy-duddiness, I've signed up for "Introduction to Facebook." Almost every week I have an occasion to feel embarrassed by what I don't know about my Facebook account, and so I hope to begin to remedy my ignorance. Our instructor is a retired trainer for JP Morgan Chase, and I'm treating this course as my "Facebook for Dummies" experience.

There's much else on offer from the Lifelong Learning Institute – a POW's story, for example, or a tour of Union Cemetery in Columbus, or the history of Columbus aviation. My point, however, is broader: Kendal takes seriously its commitment to fostering lifelong learning, and our happy proximity to Columbus and Granville – to Denison, COTC, and two branches of The Ohio State University – allows the community to connect with an array of educational opportunities. It's another of the benefits of living at Kendal.

Moving On

Moving On  - 31 August 2015

This is my final blog about life as I see it at Kendal at Granville.  No I am not moving away from Kendal at Granville.  If you have read any of my blogs written in the past five years, you know that I am indeed “a happy camper”   I still firmly believe that my decision to move to Kendal is one of the best decisions I have ever made.  It is not because there is nothing more to write about.  Kendal is ever evolving, ever changing, and ever renewing itself.  So there will always be something to write about.

So why is this blog my final blog?  It’s because I have reached a point n my life’s journey not unlike when I retired from nursing. It is time for me to move on. It is a time for me to do something different.  A   compelling factor pushing me to make this decision has been my ongoing struggle to adjust my life to my increasing blindness.

Everything I do now takes more time so I am finding it necessary to prioritize my activities.  As a result I have dropped out of some where either my blindness precludes participation or others can carry on without me.   From my point of view blogging is one of the things others can do as well, if not better than I can. 

In addition I have been finding it increasingly difficult as well as more and more time consuming – thus my decision to “move on.” 

 

And so, dear reader,  if you are reading this to help you decide whether or not you want to “move on” to Kendal at Granville, I encourage you to make the “move” and join us here.  It’s a great “forever” home.

I strongly urge you to do it sooner than later. I am glad I cane when I could be fully independent.  I learned my way around when I had no problems with my sight.  I learned to know the other residents and staff as well as routines when it was easy to do so.  This I do know – there are many avenues for me to explore as I move on and lots of people here who will support me as I move on.

 

 

Why I Chose Cendal at Granville

Both personal and professional factors entered into my decision to choose Kendal at Granville as my “retirement” home.  It was the professional factors which made me choose Kendal and the personal factors that made me choose the Kendal at Granville.

The professional factors affecting my choice were intertwined with my career as a nurse educator.   Teaching geriatric nursing was a part of my practice as a nurse.  Living in a Philadelphia suburb as I did, I couldn’t help being aware of the fine reputation of the nearby Kendal communities and what they were doing to transform the care of the aging.  I was familiar with what they were doing to free people from restraints, both physical and chemical – something I had advocated for some time.  I also was aware that Kendal was working to improve the quality of care by setting standards and establishing accreditation of institutions caring for the aged. Parallel experience in nursing gave me first hand experience of the role of accreditation initiatives in bringing about improvements in nursing education. 

Knowing the reputation for the quality of life as a Kendal resident, Kendal efforts to free patients from restraints, and what they were doing to improve standards of care of the aging convinced me Kendal would be a good choice.  Having made that choice I had to decide which Kendal.

After my husband died in1995 the trip back to my home state of Ohio grew longer and longer each time I made it to visit my son and his family in Lancaster, Ohio and my stepson and his family in Lima, Ohio.  As my young granddaughter in Lima told me, “Grandma, I like to visit you, but I don’t like making the long trip.”   I could see the writing on the wall.  If I wanted to be closer to family so I could be a part of their lives, I would need to find a Kendal or something akin to it in Ohio.  I   could scarcely believe it when I learned there was a Kendal being built in Granville, Ohio which was only a thirty minute drive from my son’s home in Lancaster.           

Looking back over my life here since July 2005   I believe my choice of Kendal at Granville was one of the best decisions I have made in my 88 years.  I have no regrets and I should add that my family members are thankful not only that I am nearby but also in a place where they don’t have to worry about me.  My grandsons have loved coming to visit me and take advantage of our wonderful pool.  They also have enjoyed eating here with me frequently.  Now that they have gone off to college and so no longer visit me frequently I am grateful that for the past ten years I have been close enough to have been more involved in their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kendal Throws a Party

In case you hadn't heard, Kendal at Granville had a gala party last month. A Tenth Anniversary Party!! A party to make everyone happy! A party to remember!  I've been late in commenting on it because I wanted to give myself time to get my mind around what we'd done. I'm not sure I've accomplished that goal, but the clock keeps ticking and I don't want to be hopelessly late in posting this entry. So. . . .

The official birthday of Kendal at Granville was Wednesday, June 15. But preparations began much earlier, allowing expectations  slowly to spread. A planning committee was formed. Announcements started to appear, reminding residents to save the dates. Notices were emblazoned in issues of Tower Lines, the monthly newsletter. The Kendaliers began weekly rehearsals for a new Kendal anthem. A schedule of events was distributed. A videographer visited the campus, recording various activities. Gradually residents began to realize that something big was afoot and to talk ever more widely about the coming celebration.

On June 1 the first mark of the celebration burst on the scene when the gallery opened a month-long display of photos. They showed early residents and staff members struggling with the challenges of creating a new community amid mud and partially constructed housing units, organizing themselves into operational committees, enjoying their time together in parties, celebrating national holidays, and pausing to pose proudly as they settled in to their new lives with their many new friends in their new community. Some of those in the pictures have died over the past decade; but many still live at Kendal. All these faces reminded us in 2015 of the debt we owe to those who, in 2005, had the optimism and courage to sign on to the new venture. Nor surprisingly, the exhibit was popular with everyone, and almost any time you passed through the gallery you found people – residents and guests – viewing the display.

The next major event was held in the Amelia Room on the evening of Monday, June 13. It was a kind of preparatory moment, and because it was the occasion for the official group photo of all current residents, virtually everyone attended, some of them sporting Kendal gear of various shapes and colors. Amid laughter, chatting, and brief breaks for sobriety, we lined ourselves up and posed en masse for a three-part photo that, by the magic of photographic coordination, will be converted into a single horizontally extended picture of about 170 people.  

The Monday gathering provided an opportunity for other activities too. The new Kendal video was premiered, to wide approval. The new anthem was debuted and encored. The special commemorative issue of Tower Tales was distributed to all residents. It featured pieces by residents and staff who were present at the founding and color photos of many of the events and people from those founding days. A questionnaire about Kendal trivia was distributed, and residents were given two days – until 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday – to decide upon their answers. [Sample questions: how many pianos may be found at Kendal? Name the resident who was a Rhodes Scholar? Which staff member was once an employee of the Columbus Blue Jackets?] Cheating was encouraged!

The big day, of course, was Wednesday, the 15th –  the All-Day Anniversary Celebration. It began with a continental breakfast, attended by both residents and guests. A panel discussion (the Founders Reflection Coffee) followed, featuring a few individuals who had played determinative roles in the founding of Kendal at Granville. Above all, there was Jack Heller, Jane Heller, and Dave Richards, three members of the quartet (with Dave's late wife Dee) who first had the vision of creating a CCRC in Granville and the salesmanship to persuade the Kendal Corporation to buy into that vision. Also on the panel were Harriett Stone, the very first resident to move in; Bobbi Thios, popular director of marketing and cheerleader of the early enterprise; and Tom Mitchell, clerk of the works as Kendal at Granville rose from a field of ground southwest of the town. Interest in the panel was so great that the overflow from the Heller Room filled almost all of the Richards Room.

The mid-day meal was a community pot luck and luncheon, served in the Amelia Room and offering delicious options and surprises and a startling array of scrumptious-looking desserts. The crowd was so large that it spread out through hallways and public rooms. But wherever you went it seemed, there were instrumentalists providing lovely music. 

At 1:30 the Anniversary Tree was dedicated. A gift from KAGRA to the community, it was a sour gum or black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), a tree native to Ohio that flowers in the spring and provides breathtaking foliage in the fall. A slow drizzle did not discourage a crowd from gathering for the event.

At 3:00 the the trivia challenge awards were conferred, and against a background of giggles, chortles, and gasps as answers were announced, a variety of hard-researching or maybe just plain lucky residents won well-earned recognition as those among us who were most knowledgeable about our community.

The major gathering of the day – the moment for Celebration Remarks – drew a large gathering back to the Amelia Room at 4:00. Doug Helman, Executive Director of Kendal at Granville, honored the Hellers and the Richards and told the audience that Kendal at Granville's story was a tale of "self-determination, perseverance, generosity, and community outreach." [His full remarks were printed in the July edition of Tower Lines.] Mike Rapp, Chair of Kendal at Granville's Board, spoke of the importance of Kendal. Seth Patton, Chief Financial Officer of Denison University, our invaluable partner in the Kendal story, talked of Denison's role and commitment to Kendal at Granville. Finally, John Diffey, Chief Executive Officer of Kendal Corporation, spoke warmly of the happy months he had spent in Granville prior to the opening of Kendal, working with public officials and private individuals to help smooth the path toward eventual success. Since John has recently announced his coming retirement, and since for many of us he represents the values that undergird the Kendal project and mission, he was warmly received.

The speakers' remarks were followed by the public recognition of two important groups: staff members who have served here for ten years, and staff members who had recently graduated from degree programs.

Even after the meeting ended, many who had attended stuck around for some important photo opportunities. The first – the most significant of all – was of the more than fifty current residents who are classified as "founders" [defined as people who moved in during the first year of Kendal at Granville's existence]. Then photos were taken of the staff and of all Board members, past and present. Future historians should have no trouble finding images for any study of Kendal's glorious Tenth.

Credit for this unforgettable celebration is owed to many people. My own perspective is no doubt incomplete, but it seemed to me that the person who led the organizing of the celebration and oversaw the skein of events that constituted it was Ashley Wade, Director of Marketing. Many thanks should go to her. 

In retrospect I have been struck by how moved I was by the unfolding of the celebration. We were all having fun and didn';t care that the weather was disobliging. We learned about our history and the debt we owe to the vision and determination of the founders. We felt the power of the sense of community that knits us together. We gained a richer sense of the promise of the future as we thought about our role in the Kendal universe. We came together. It all left a nice, warm feeling.

And one thing is for sure: Kendal at Granville knows how to throw a helluva party!

Kendal at Granville Tenth Anniversary Reflections

June 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of the opening of Kendal at Granville.  Residents and staff have been preparing for months to observe this occasion with a celebration indicative of the significance of this date.

A variety of activities are on the agenda.  As a prelude on June first members of the Gallery Committee   installed a Photo History Exhibit  entitled “From Conception to Reality” in our Art Gallery.

The schedule for the official Kickoff of Anniversary Week Activities set for Monday, June 15 follows:        
          4:30  Group Resident Photo Shoot
          5:00  Official Opening of Photo History Exhibit
                   Ice Cream Social (Always a big favorite here)
          7:15  Premiere of Kendal at Granville Video
                   Introduction of “Mound and Tower”, a   Kendal Anthem
                   Distribution of Anniversary Edition of "Tower Tales"

            
The schedule for Wednesday, June 17 includes:
         8:00 Continental Breakfast
         9:00 Founder’s Reflections
       10:30 Guided Hike to The  Pond
       11:30 Community Luncheon
         1:30  Tree Planting and Dedication
         4:00 Anniversary Program with Speakers,
                 Trivia Prizes and Service Awards
                 Appetizers and Cocktails
          9:00 Release of Luminaria

 

The fact that an anniversary is by definition an observance of a past event of significance inevitably leads to reflections on the past.  

As I look back over my ten years here I recall how when those of us who were early arrivals found ourselves with what seemed to be a sea of mud. The recently sown grass had not yet taken hold and there had been a lot rain.  We discovered in short order that the ground was very hard since the top soil had been removed during the construction phase and the heavy equipment had compacted the soil until it seemed to be as hard as concrete. We tackled the task of transforming our grounds with hard work, mulch, more hard work, (sometimes resorting to pick axes) and finally flowers.

The dinner hour was a great time to take a break from unpacking and spend timer getting to know each other – where we came from, what we did before coming to KAG, details about our families, etc.  We shared stories about progress or problems with unpacking.  I remember one couple couldn’t find their toaster for several weeks.  Finally when they got to the last box which was left to last because it was labeled “pictures” they found the missing toaster.  (Wonder what genius of a mover packed it there!) I wasn’t so lucky.  I discovered that the movers had managed to lose a drawer from one of my small stands.  Fortunately I can still use it with the opening for the missing drawer facing the wall.  (Ever so often I wonder what the movers did with that drawer.   Of what use is an orphan drawer to anyone?)  Many of us discovered that we had more downsizing to do when everything was unpacked and arranged.  So we organized a garage sale to dispose of our excess and improve the treasury  of our Residents’ Association.

As we settled in we grew to appreciate some of the distinct advantages of life at Kendal. Some of the great conveniences and joys we uncovered here are 1. grass mowing done by summer temporary help, 2. a maintenance crew on hand to change light bulbs, handle plumbing emergencies, shovel snow,  and all that sort of thing, 3. a housekeeping staff who appeared every two weeks to relieve us of the household chores that have to be done over and over as a part of life, 4.  a dining staff who made meal planning, food shopping and preparation and KP a thing of the past for the most part, and 5. drivers to take us to medical appointments.  Best of all the people who provided us with all of these services were and still are a group of understanding caring people who manage to always make us feel that they wouldn’t want to do anything else but be there.

 

 

Together these five groups have seen us through several very trying times with ingenuity and hard work.  Two electric power outages that lasted for days not just hours and one water line break.  You would have thought they rehearsed what to do in advance.  Actually, as I look back, I realize they had prepared by learning to work together for the good of  all us here at Kendal.  It seems to be the Kendal Way.  It certainly is true here at Kendal at Granville.

One of the things I have come to truly appreciate is the diversity of residents.  Many come from Granville.  They help orient newcomers to the area. We have a goodly number of retired college faculty members representing diverse fields of study. e.g. anatomy, athletics, chemistry,computer science, history,  literature. philosophy. Other persons here have retired from careers in accounting, administration, architecture, banking, business, ministry, nursing, and  teaching – to name just a few of the occupations in our pasts.

Reading the biographies of our residents or better yet talking with them about their lives in person reveals fascinating information often unexpected.  I remember well Mary H. who

ho came from a small farm community in southern Michigan.  As I got to know Mary better I discovered that this apparently quiet unassuming woman was active in civic affairs back in Michigan and served on the Board of Education.  I was amazed to learn that during WWII she served as a WAVE and helped decipher Japanese code while stationed in the state of Washington.

Having taken a look back to ten years ago when I arrived here at Kendal and looking at Kendal as I experience it in my daily life now I can see how Kendal has grown with grace to fulfill its vision of transforming the lives of seniors.  I have come to appreciate what it means to live in a community where my joys are multiplied and my sorrows divided because I am able to share  them with friends and neighbors. Looking ahead I am thankful I chose Kendal at Granville for my “forever home.”

 

 

 

  

 

"Deepening the Conversation on Aging"

Have you ever wanted to have a chance to contribute to a conversation aimed at providing guidance for national policy discussions? Kendal at Granville had the opportunity to host such an occasion on Thursday, May 28, when it became the site of an intergenerational  discussion on aging. The event was called "Deepening the Discussion on Aging." It was part of a schedule of discussions held all around the country, focusing on the problems facing aging Americans and designed to provide streams of advice to the The White House Conference on Aging, which will hold its national gathering in July. Kendal Corporation was invited to play a major role in this enterprise, and it in turn invited four affiliates, including Granville, to host discussions.

Seventeen panelists – including four Kendal residents, high school and college-age students from Licking County and Columbus, attorneys, a local judge, and social service professionals – participated in a sharing of views. David Skeen, a Kendal at Granville resident, was the facilitator and reporter for our event, and everything was coordinated by leaders in Philadelphia. Because the sprawling event was streamed, the various participating panels had opportunities to receive reports from one another.

Each of the four host Kendals had been assigned a specific topic to discuss. Granville's subject was "Elder Justice." After receiving encouragement from a prosecutor in San Diego – ah, the wonders of streaming! – we plunged into our work, and even though our guide may have wanted us to focus on crimes of violence against seniors, we found ourselves returning again and again to discussion of the types of scams that, when successful, rob the elderly of their wealth, dignity, and ability to sustain an independent life. Perhaps the gravitational power of this subject was provided by the poignancy of the tales that many panelists shared of friends or relatives who had been tricked by criminals. 

And the subject turned out to have complexities. As those versed in the law explained, there is nothing illegal about an elderly individual whom society deems competent to make whatever decisions he or she wishes about the disposal of personal wealth. So among the themes that emerged from our conversations were these: the need for people – children, friends, doctors, clergy, bankers, social service professionals, and neighbors – to remain unintrusively attentive to what seniors are doing; the value of having adult children maintain lines of communication with their elderly parents; and the importance of social organizations' working assiduously to keep an awareness of the dangers posed by those who prey upon the elderly before the eyes of the community.

The Granville participants felt that the conversations had been eye-opening. And so, no matter what happens nationally, there is already talk of organizing follow-up activities here at Kendal. The protection of seniors in our society against those who would target, rob, and cheat them seems an eminently appropriate task for a community like Kendal at Granville to undertake.

CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

CONTINUING CARE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

                              (CCRC)
                       ADVANTAGES

Several weeks ago at our Sunday afternoon worship service I happened to be seated with Rodney on my left in his special wheelchair adjusted to accommodate his tall, lanky frame and infirmities and Clara seated in her wheelchair on my right. I sat in between them with my rollator in front of me.  As I contemplated our circumstances I thought to myself that they clearly illustrated the advantages of having chosen a CCRC for our retirement home.   

Rodney signed up to come to Kendal at Granville as a founder fully expecting to move into a cottage upon his arrival.  But as in the words of Bobbie Burns, “The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley,” Rodney’s plans went astray.  Instead of moving into his cottage he entered Kendal via the health Center due to an unfortunate accident which caused injuries necessitating an extended period of rehabilitation.   After months of perseverance he was able to move to his cottage and join in community activities as he had anticipated.  Before long he became a familiar figure zooming around our campus on his bicycle.  With the passage of time changes in his life led him to move to an apartment in the community building where access to all community facilities and activities was easier for him. More recently increasing health issues have resulted in his transfer to the Health Center.

Clara came to our community in 2008.  In spite of eyesight problems she was able to live alone in a cottage for several years.  She took an active part in a variety of community activities.  Then she, like Rodney decided it would be to her advantage to move into an apartment in our community building.  So it was she became my next door neighbor. But alas and alack not too long ago she suffered a fall leaving her with injuries resulting in her transfer to our Health Center.

When I moved to Kendal I chose an apartment because I wanted no more of going out in all kinds of weather to get to community activities and frequently used services.  In 2007 following two weeks in the hospital for emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix I needed a few days in assisted living when I was discharged to help me make the transition back to independent living.  Then in 2009 following open chest surgery to remove a large substernal goiter I needed skilled nursing care and physical therapy during my recovery.  So I was admitted to the Health Center where I spent approximately one month. 

Fortunately all of these moves were relatively simple for all three of us because we lived in a CCRC where movement between levels of care is done with comparative ease.  Had we been living in a community without these component parts we would have had to make arrangements to enter a facility that has them – all of this at a time when due to our situation we would not have been at our best.

People comparing retirement communities often fail to see the differences between those limited to independent living and those with more comprehensive programs i.e.  physical therapy, assisted living, hospice, and skilled nursing (services commonly needed as we grow older).  For example I have a friend who now lives in an assisted living community.  If/when the time comes when she needs skilled nursing or hospice care, she and/or her family will have to go through the process of locating another facility that will accept her and make arrangements for her to be admitted there.  Not knowing in advance when this time will come and what the exact circumstances will be at that time, they cannot make advance arrangements.  Thus they are likely to find themselves with limited time to carry out the search for a suitable facility.  How much easier it would be if she lived in a CCRC where the philosophy of health care incorporates a continuum which includes a wellness program, assisted living, and a health center which provides skilled nursing.

This I do know my son and daughter-in-law have often told me how relieved they are that  I chose a CCRC.  They know that they won’t get a call someday telling them that something has happened to me necessitating my leaving Kendal and moving somewhere else to spend my last days.  Also it is comforting for me to know that they don’t have to worry about finding another place for me.

Refreshing Winds at Kendal

Last Monday evening a group of talented student wind players from Denison University (complemented by a handful of Lakewood High School students and full-fledged adults) came to Kendal to entertain us. They succeeded. Performing in a variety of ensembles, they gave us pieces by Verdi, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Reicha, Praetorius, a number of contemporary composers whose names I didn't recognize, and that constant concert favorite, anon.

The variety in sonorities was startling. The concert opened with a French horn horn duet, and then, as other horn players joined for subsequent numbers, we were finally confronted with a horn quintet, playing that quintessential horn piece, a summons to hunting, and setting the metaphorical rafters of the Amelia Room ringing.

A brass quartet came next, with a concert tuba extending the range of rumbling sound downward at least another two octaves. Then came a flute trio, with a flighty piccolo extending the range at the other end, almost (it seemed) to the limits of human hearing. 

This group was followed by Denison's newest performance association, the Early Music Ensemble. The musicians were performing on fascinating instruments that are really the forebears of most of the orchestral instruments of today. As befit their title, they played sixteenth- and seventeenth-century music for us. The concert concluded with a flute nonet performing transcriptions of some lively, dance-worthy contemporary works.

When the students introduced themselves, we learned that they came from around the country, that their academic interests were arrayed across a number of majors (though mentions of Biology recurred frequently), and that some were already enjoying academic distinction – one, for example, had recently delivered a scholarly presentation at a national conference, and another has been awarded a Fulbright.

The cooperation between Kendal and Denison exists on many fronts and serves the interests of both institutions. But the occasions that bring the greatest joy to Kendal residents are those when Denison musicians and dancers perform at Kendal. There's nothing like youthful talent to delight our hearts and souls.

"A Fair to Remember" Remembered

    On April 15 the Kendal Institute presented “A Fair to Remember,” a program focused on giving Kendal residents some sense of the wide array of opportunities available to us to engage with the educational institutions serving our wider community. The fourth special event sponsored by the institute this year, the "Fair to Remember" was truly well-named.

    Display desks ringed the Amelia Room, and their colorful installations gave a festive appearance to the occasion. A student from Lakewood High School was at the keyboard. For over an hour curious residents bustled, shuffled, and ambled their way around the room, either with or against the traffic, visiting the displays that interested them. They talked with the invariably cheerful representatives who sat behind the desks and examined the brochures and hand-outs and sign-up lists that lay before them. When residents wanted to take a break, they moved toward the center of the room, where clusters of chairs invited resting, chatting, observing, and enjoying of snacks, including some wonderful ice cream bars that kept mysteriously appearing – thanks to Ye Olde Mill and the Velvet Ice Cream Company.

    The focus of the event was EDUCATION, but the planners had no intention of construing that word in any narrower sense. They saw the goal of the event to be to demonstrate how residents of Kendal could become both (and often simultaneously) senior learners and volunteers in the task of educating others.

    Institutions of formal education – the public schools, Denison University, and Central Ohio Technical College – were of course represented, offering information about both volunteering and learning opportunities. So too were the Lifelong Learning Institute and the Licking County Genealogical Society, organizations that aim at providing educational experiences to seniors. Also present were representatives of the libraries of our area, central players in the education of the citizenry of the wider community.

    Area museums had their desks. Some of these institutions were town-focused museums, repositories for the documents and artifacts that are the foundation for the work of students of local history. Others were topical in character, featuring the glass-making past of the area or the costumes and attire of earlier eras. All offered chances to learn and to volunteer.

    Finally, two major outdoor opportunities were represented: the glorious Dawes Arboretum, with one of the country’s finest public gardens; and the spectacular Newark Earthworks site, which (in conjunction with the Flint Ridge State Park site) is testimony to the impressive artistic, theological, commercial, and organizational vigor of the pre-Columbian Hopewell culture.

    Printed on the program for the event was a marvelous call to action – “Learn, Join, Volunteer, Sign Up.” There is already much evidence that many residents who visited “A Fair to Remember” accepted the invitation. We have grounds to hope therefore that the effects of the event will ripple through Kendal at Granville for years to come.

   

The Florence Wellness Center

The Kendal at Granville health philosophy states that ‘the Kendal approach helps residents stay well, remain independent,  and maintain the  highest possible level of  involvement in their care.”  In keeping with this philosophy a part of the continuum of health care here at Kendal at Granville is the Florence Wellness Center which provides outpatient services for residents.  The Florence Wellness Center is located in the Community Center.  It is open Monday through Friday.

Services in the Florence Wellness Center are provided by Central Ohio Geriatrics, a provider of Geriatric Medicine, Family Medicine, Hospice and Palliative Medicine under the direction of John M. Weigand, M. D.  “Central Ohio Geriatrics (COG) provides dedicated, comprehensive, evidence-based care with a focus on achieving the highest level of independence possible and improving the quality of life for seniors.  Our continuum of services to seniors includes home care, assisted living, wellness programs, skilled rehabilitation, and long term care.  We specialize in medical direction and are committed to educating future physicians and geriatricians through medical education.” This quote from the COG website illustrates the synchronicity between the philosophies of COG andKAG  as to the care of seniors.

I personally, like many other residents here, have found it a distinct advantage to have the services of COG on our campus.  Not only is it convenient but more importantly it saved me the daunting task of finding a new primary physician when I moved here from Philadelphia.  What a relief it was to discover the Wellness Canter was staffed by a well qualified doctor who was accepting patients.

Our COG staff   includes a receptionist, two licensed practical nurses, a registered nurse, two nurse practitioners, and a psychologist all under the direction of Dr. J. Weigand.

Arrangements have been made with Licking Memorial Hospital to come here daily to draw blood for required blood work -  a big time saver

The local CVS makes deliveries here of medications which is another big time saver for residents – another big time saver.

Blood pressure checks are done routinely twice weekly.

At regular intervals a podiatrist comes in  to provide foot care for those who need it.

Flu shots are given annually.

From time to time Dr. J. Weigand gives presentations in the evening on health care topics concerning the health problems faced by seniors.

During my ten years’ residence here I have had occasion at one time or another to call upon the services of each staff member.  Individually and collectively they have been there for me.  They have given me wise counsel, beneficial referrals,helpful advice, careful instructions, sympathetic listening ears, and treatments as needed.

No matter how impatient or disgruntled I may have been they have treated me with respect, patience, and understanding.  As a retired nurse educator who taught geriatric nursing including the pros and cons of selecting facilities for the care of the aging, I came with high expectations and can honestly say that I have not been disappointed that I chose Kendal at Granville.  Kendal’s philosophy of health care springs from the written page into action daily thanks to our caring Wellness Center staff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Choruses Come to Kendal

Choral singing is one of the great joys of life. The sound of a choir is moving precisely because it can reflect the full range of human experience; and when the piece being performed is well-conceived, it achieves its effect by capturing the proper balance of the emotional freight of the lyrics: reverence perhaps, or joy, or excitement, or weariness, or love, or tenderness, or even rage. And that's speaking only from a listener's perspective. If you're lucky enough to be a member of such an ensemble, then you not only have the pleasure of sharing in creating the rich aural effects, but you know the joy of learning the music "from the inside" – of learning, that is, through your rehearsals, how the lines and sections and movements and harmonies fit together into an organic musical whole.

This week Kendal at Granville has been doubly blessed. On Sunday the Vintage Voices performed here. They are a Granville singing group that draws chiefly from seniors in the community, including of course some who are residents of Kendal. Their presentation was a musical narration of the Passion story, appropriate as Easter approaches. The pieces that comprised the tale were both familiar and unfamiliar, all lovely, and all demonstrating how the Vintage Voices continues to improve with each passing year. Happily, Kendal at Granville is a performance venue for this group two or three times annually.

Then on Tuesday evening the choir from St. Luke's Episcopal Church visited Kendal to perform Gabriel Fauré's Requiem. With its trimmed-down proportions, simplicity, and humanity, Fauré's Requiem is an ever-popular and stunningly beautiful work, and the audience of residents and guests received the presentation with even fuller applause than is customary for Kendal. As with the Vintage Voices, we were all pleased to see that there were some Kendal residents among the ranks of the choristers.

Each resident will doubtless have drawn his or her own lessons from the juxtaposition of the two singing ensembles. What sticks in my mind, beyond the sheer loveliness of the music, is the way in which the addition of the Amelia Gathering Room has opened Kendal to the talents of performance ensembles representing  a variety of art forms. As a consequence of the inclusion of this facility in our Phase II expansion, our community life is far richer today than it was just two years ago.

The Kendal Institute Engages with the Arts

Two weeks ago the Kendal Institute for Community Engagement sponsored two events that gave residents of Kendal at Granville opportunities to enjoy a taste of the artistic richness of Licking County. On Wednesday, March 11, the chamber strings of the Newark-Granville Symphony performed a concert for a delighted crowd in the Amelia Room. Comprised of boys and girls from the sixth through the tenth grades, the chamber strings demonstrated how the schools, with the support of the arts community, afford aspiring young musicians chances to perform in ensembles before live and enthusiastic audiences. In addition to playing four numbers composed for youth orchestras, they took the time to introduce themselves to the audience. When, at the end, the conductor asked if there were any questions, the residents had plenty! And all testified to the happiness, enthusiasm, and excitement that the sight and sound of the young musicians had generated. No one could doubt that the concert had been an event that successfully engaged Kendal residents with the community.

Two days late, on Friday, March 13, forty-five residents journeyed by bus and car to The Works, the spectacular museum  of art, crafts, and local history that is one of the crown jewels of the cultural life of Newark, Ohio. The Works offers many attractions, but the two that stood on the residents' agenda for the day were a visit to the exhibition about Licking County in World War I, and the glass-blowing studio. With artifacts and pictures, the former reminded viewers of the way life was abruptly altered for county residents when the United States went to war in April of 1917. Then, with demonstrations – and active participation by five bold residents – the Kendal gang received instruction in how to create glass works with a combination of heat, breath control, and a little luck.

Credit for organizing the activities of this week rests chiefly with Jane Heller, one of Kendal's splendid resident artists. The evidence so far is largely anecdotal, but it suggests that the Kendal Institute is having the effect it sought: widening resident awareness of, and readiness to participate in, the fostering of artistic activities in the county.

An Evening to Remember

On March fourth as  I arrived at our Amelia Gathering Room for the evening program  it was apparent that there was going to be a crowd as workers were scurrying about to bring in more chairs/

 

When I thought about the fact that our speaker, Leo, was a member of our own dining staff, I realized that both residents and staff members would want to hear his life story.   We knew that he came from Senegal in Africa to live in Chicago.  He came to us from Chicago where he had worked at the Admiral, a Kendal community located there.   He had came here from Chicago because of his plan to enter Ohio State University to study medicine. 

In the short time this young man has been here we have been impressed by his quiet, courteous demeanor as he fulfills his duties in our dining rooms. 

As his story unfolded we learned that he had three sisters – two older and one younger than him.   He described to us the extreme poverty in Senegal where food, clean water, and good sanitation measures are in short supply.  His family was so poor that when they took the bus he had to sit on his mother’s lap which embarrassed him as he grew older. Whenever he spoke of his mother it was with great respect.  As I listened to him speak about his Mama I developed the distinct impression that it was she who had been instrumental in shaping his attitudes and values. 

 

He enumerated for us the many struggles he encountered in order to get his education in Africa.  Throughout this part of his story there was no hint of complaint about the obstacles he had to overcome.  Instead he emphasized the importance of hard work, determination, and self confidence to achieving success.

His father had already emigrated to Chicago when he decided to come to the United States.  Upon arrival in this country he was able to speak three languages - French and the tribal language of each of his parents – but not English.    Unable to speak English and with little money his life during his early days in Chicago were not easy. With characteristic hard work, determination he went hungry at times and learned English largely by watching television and You Tubes on the internet.  When he spoke of these problems it was not as a complaint but just a vignette illustrating his early life in the United States. 

We learned that one of his passions is playing soccer.  When asked how old he was when he started to play soccer, his answer was, “When I started to walk.”  As the grandmother of two grandsons who have not only played soccer for years but became soccer referees  for recreational soccer while still in their teens I understood that and knew what it meant in terms of getting to practices and games. 

While in Chicago he made the decision to become a doctor.  His search for a medical school he believed would be best suited for him led him to Ohio State University where he anticipated receiving a scholarship which would pay for his education.  When the scholarship did not turn out as anticipated, he looked for other ways to pay for his education.  As many other young men in this country have done, he chose enlisting in the Army as the pathway for him.  Sadly for those of us here who have grown fond of Leo it means he will be leaving us shortly to begin his enlistment.

He talked to us briefly about a friend who is involved in developing awareness of   African music and showed a short video excerpt of his work.  

Throughout his presentation, Leo never complained about the hard tines in his life, but emphasized the need to accept hardships and continue onward with self confidence.

His humble attitude about his considerable accomplishments was impressive. 

 When he concluded his presentation, the applause was long and enthusiastic with the audience on their feet to show their respect for a young man who has come so far in his journey at the age of 25.

During the question and answer period when asked if he was a citizen, he told us that he had only been here four years and this fall when he will have been here five years he plans to become a citizen.  His response to a question about returning to Senegal, he replied to the effect that he believes in paying back and so would find a way to do that.

It was a moving experience to hear Leo tell his story.  I hope and pray he will do well as he journeys onward and hope that he will keep in touch with us so we can follow his story where ever he goes.

Truly the evening was one to remember - an event that illustrates why Kendal at Granville is a good place to work and to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raffles, Refreshments, and Rallying

    On February 11 the Kendal Institute for Community Engagement held its second event of 2015, a rally for the distribution of information about social service opportunities in Licking County. It was attended by forty-six persons and regarded as a grand success. The speakers represented organizations that address in various ways the needs of many of the vulnerable residents of the county – the old and young, the hungry and homeless, the disabled and abused, the diseased in mind or body.

    This point about the range of problems addressed is perhaps best driven home by citing the agencies that were present: the Center for New Beginnings, the Center for Disability Services, the Food Pantry of Licking County, the Licking County Aging Program, the Licking County United Way, Mental Health of America of Licking County, the Salvation Army, and the YES Club Youth Organization. 

    While many residents were aware of the work of some of these groups, fewer had seen or thought about the spectrum of needs that confront the agencies whose task is to provide assistance – needs that almost crush the daily lives of many of our neighbors in the county.  As one representative said, our aim is to help those who are struggling, and our motto is “I see you; I’m here for you.” And more to the point, few residents had realized the range of volunteer opportunities that lay before anybody who was looking for a constructive way to engage in the social service work of the county community. “Volunteers,” we were reminded, “aren’t paid. Why? Because they’re priceless.”

    When the brief talks were over, residents were invited to visit the various stations that the agencies had set up around the Amelia Room. At these booths they could study posters about the work of the various agencies, pick up hand-outs about volunteer opportunities, and pose questions to the representatives. Meanwhile, refreshments were steadily available, and before the rally ended a raffle identified the winners of gifts from three sponsoring local businesses: Goumas Candy, New Day Spa, and Palumbo’s Italian Market.

    It is not hard to see why so many residents found the rally rewarding. It offered a rich combination of useful information, food, an opportunity for social engagement, and the fun of a raffle. Thanks go to the two super-organizers, Janie Drake and Susan Richardson, for all their work in staging this event.

    The next Kendal Institute occasion will focus on opportunities for engaging with artistic organizations in the county, and it will occur over several days in the second week of March, the 9th through the 13th. More news coming. Mark your calendars.
   

Thank Goodness for Housekeepers

In June 2015 we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the opening of this community.  As we do so I like many others have been looking back at all that transpired during that ten year period.  In preparation for writing this blog I looked back to see what topics I have written about since I began blogging in September 2010.

My review indicated that generally my topics were related to events and facets of life here which have made me appreciate my life here at Kendal at Granville.  Very often I have written about one or another of our staff groups who do so much to make life better for all of us who live here.  Reflecting on the ones I chose to blog about I found that for some inexplicable reason I never mentioned one of my favorite staff departments, namely housekeeping. 

Our housekeepers are invaluable because they keep things clean and orderly in both our individual residences and our common areas.  I shudder to think about how those areas would appear without their daily attention to large and small details there.

Every other week they clean our residences.  For those assigned to go to the cottages and villas this means going outside in all seasons  and all kinds of weather, not a fun thing to do in the heat of a hot summer day, nor on a rainy day, or a snowy wintry day.  Of course   they have big carts to push around with their basic cleaning supplies!   

Housekeepers are required to do a lot of things most of us would just as soon not do such as clean toilets.  In addition to this drawback there is the fact that most housekeeping tasks tend to be tiresome because they have to be done over and over and over again.  Yet I don’t hear any of our housekeepers complaining about having to do all of the routine tasks that are a part of their daily life.

In spite of the many challenges of their jobsI have found them to be consistently courteous, considerate, and pleasant.  They go about their duties quietly and efficiently.

For the most part their labors go unsung and unheralded so for my part I hereby take my hat off to them and thank them from my heart for all they do to make me glad I  came to live at Kendal at Granville ten years ago.

Addendum:  After posting this blog a fellow resident who read it wrote me a note about it which included the comments which I would like to add to mine.  “My wife and I feel particularly warm about our housekeeping staff for they are some of the nicest people, we as residents, in a building that is filled with nice people.  I am glad you focused on them.”