This Issue RSVP NEWS & NOTES
es m ly Ho ter ts 00 uar en 6,0 Q esid n 1 red R ha ve ty e t eli un or D o M PS ex C US Ess To
February 2014
STELLAR PERFORMANCE
RSVP is celebratings its 40th year! PAGE 2 MORTGAGES
Is a reverse mortgage right for you? PAGE 4 MARRIAGE
Army nurse once bucked the system.
Elizabethtown resident Priscilla Chestnut, pictured above, visits the residents of Horace Nye Nursing Home every Tuesday to visit, share stories and sing songs, which she accompanies on guitar. Photo by Pete DeMola
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Local woman a hit at Horace Nye Nursing Home By Pete DeMola
pete@denpubs.com
ELIZABETHTOWN Ñ Ò The fence was covered in blossoming sweet peas,Ó said the woman. Ò In Elizabethtown, my grandfather planted sweet peas and thatÕ s all I could think of. Sometimes life deals you the most beautiful things.Ó The room paused for a moment, shifted in their chairs and contemplated this before the woman, Priscilla Chestnut, segued into another story about riding bicycles with her son Danny in California. “The smell of flowers wafted in our faces,” she concluded.Ó Her eyes brightened: Ò These are the moments that just warm your heart.Ó It was cold outside Jan. 21 but warm in the recreation room of the Horace Nye Nursing Home on Park Street. Sunlight splashed across the walls and mixed with the flower petals that the residents were plucking from the fertile soil of their memories. “I had flowers in a box,” said a woman. “There was sweet peas and pansies! I just loved them Ñ I picked my mother a bouquet on MotherÕ s Day.Ó Ò And what was your mother like?Ó gently asked
“You’ll see a smiling
face, a fireplace,” they sang. “A cozy room, a little nest that’s settled… where the roses bloom.” Priscilla, the leader of this group of seven residents. “She was like a flower! A beauty beyond anything… and the love was in the flowers!” The room shifted again, almost imperceptibly, and Priscilla told another story Ñ this one was about children devilishly squashing wildflowers at a summer camp Ñ and then the man seated next to Priscilla leaned down, slowly picked up a guitar and grinned. Ò LetÕ s do Ô Moonlight BayÕ ,Ó she said as an attendant handed out handmade songbooks to the choir. The woman who spoke of her mother, Betty, was put on maraca detail.
PriscillaÕ s voice rang out loud and clear. Her pupils followed, unsure and thin, but quickly found their footing during the next song, Ò Carolina in the Morning.Ó Afterward, the woman prodded Roger, the man with the guitar, to sing solo. Slow and spindly at first, Roger launched into Johnny DesmondÕ s Ò White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation.Ó While soft and barely audible, the room didnÕ t seem to mind: The sunlight crept up the walls. Roger finished and grinned. After the strong lifting melodies of Ò Moon RiverÓ Ñ the group was united, the song anchored by the pairÕ s simple guitar chords and BettyÕ s rhythmic shaking Ñ a wistfulness settled over the room. Ò I think we should sing something jazzy,Ó said Priscilla. Betty offered up her maracas to her neighbor, a quiet man in camouflage pants and bright white sneakers. Ò How about Ô Boogie Woogie Bugle BoyÕ ?Ó Priscilla suggested.
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