Aberdeen Heights Community Matters December 2014

Community Matters Aberdeen Heights

December August 2014 2014

‘Believe’

By Bruce Shogren, Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America president and CEO

As I look forward to the holiday season, one word is key to this season: “believe.”

I truly believe in three key people: Jesus Christ, Santa Bruce Shogren Claus and the employees of the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America system.

What could be more important than Christmas Day, the day we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ?

I grew up in a church in which every Sunday we would state our belief by reciting the Apostles’ Creed.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord,Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of theVirgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of

Monthly devotion

What’s so good about grief ?

By Mary Newbern-Williams, Aberdeen Heights chaplain

Losing a loved one is never easy. We face the pain of knowing we will not see that person again in this life, and it forces us to make arrangements we find hard and challenging.

Losing loved ones pushes us to the brink of strength and fortitude. Suddenly there are funeral arrangements, decisions about whether to cremate or bury the body with caskets, what clothes shall be used to dress our loved one, Mary Newbern-Williams should there be a reception or dinner, should there be a service in a church or the funeral home, and more.

The manner in which such decisions are made may depend upon one’s faith tradition. Various faith traditions address such events in different

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A proud member of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America

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3 cool ways to beat the winter blues With less daylight and chilly temperatures keeping us inside, even the most optimistic person can get a little down during winter. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to beat the winter blues. Try these suggestions from our Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America experts.

Eat a healthy diet What you eat impacts your mood and energy. Avoid refined and processed foods, such as white breads, rice and sugar. They have no nutrients, zap your energy and can lead to lack of concentration and mood swings. Eat more complex

carbohydrates, such as whole wheat breads, brown rice, vegetables and fruit, and drink eight cups of water a day.

something that’s exciting to you ­— a weekend trip, a day at the spa, or attending a concert or sporting event.

Make a plan

Relax

Having something to look forward to can help keep you motivated.

If you plan something stimulating, your mood improves when you’re anticipating it and when the event actually rolls around. Plan

Try to spend a few minutes each day “doing nothing.” Read a book or magazine, listen to music, try meditation or take a yoga class.

Relaxation can alleviate stress and leave you with a calm energy.

Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Aberdeen Heights by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at: PresbyterianManors.org.

Marty Schenk, interim executive director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Vicky Weibel, resident lifestyle coordinator, at vweibel@pmma.org.

Telephone: 314-909-6000 Address: 575 Couch Ave., Kirkwood, MO 63122 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

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Christmas cookies are a sweet tradition

By Vicky Weibel, lifestyle coordinator

Cookies were part of celebrations long before the first Christmas. After Pope Julius declared Dec. 25 as Christmas in A.D. 350, Christians adopted cookie-baking as part of the Christmas celebration. The tradition carries on today. The Christmas cookie actually came from the Dutch word “koekje,” which means “small cake.”

It was the Pennsylvania Dutch who first introduced holiday cookies to America. The rest of the Europeans continued to bake when they came to the United States introducing many treats that we enjoy today. We can thank Sweden for the spritz cookies topped with sugar crystals, Scotland for its shortbread, Greece for its baklava and the Russians for their powdered sugar tea cakes. The German cookies lebkuchen and springerle are favorites.

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ways. Whether one is Jewish, Muslim, Christian/ Catholic, Christian/Protestant, Buddhist or another faith may give guidance as to how a situation is handled.

The Life Transitions Team is committed to the comfort, care and concern for our Aberdeen Heights residents.

When someone loses a loved one, the Life Transition Team considers it something to address with love and sincerity.

There will be a special program about coping with loss and dealing with grief on Dec. 10 from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the multipurpose room.

Aberdeen Heights will give copies of “Good Grief ” by Granger Westberg to families whose loved ones pass away.You can find a copy of this wonderful book, along with other resources, in the meditation room. Please

feel free to borrow it and read it for yourself. It is enlightening and very helpful.

Please be on hand to experience the fine program on Life Transitions. In the future, we will address loss in a variety of ways and with a variety of programs at Aberdeen Heights. In preparation for Dec. 10, please read the outstanding articles by Dr. Carol Williams about grief and life transitions. She is a gifted writer and an outstanding theologian. We are fortunate to have her with us at Aberdeen Heights.

Please continue to be thoughtful and cooperative, and RSVP for the Dec. 10 program. Come out and experience this fine program. It will help us understand what is so good about grief, and it will help us know how to move through a “good grief.”

Blessings to you and your families and friends.

of receiving care in the past year by a caring hospital nursing and sins, the resurrection of the body and life health care staff, I appreciate even everlasting. Amen. more the PMMA staff throughout our system that daily provide the This belief statement says it all health care, friendship, caring for me and has been the guiding and a whole lot more to you, statement throughout my life. It has our residents. Please join me in given me the ability to believe in the But the actual thrill in believing in thanking your community’s staff for power of prayer, which has really the spirit of Santa Claus is to be a their commitment to our mission, been needed daily as my wife was “Santa Helper.” To see the joy in the providing quality senior services healing in the hospital and at home. eyes of a child when he or she sits on guided by Christian values.

This Christmas season, I pray you Santa’s lap, to experience a surprise reflect on that night long ago when appearance by Santa is unforgettable As I close my letter, let me wish Jesus was born and you continue to whether it is to children or that you know the blessing of being realize the impact his birth has had a child of God and the Lord Jesus adults, to give an unexpected and on all our lives.

Christ, the joy of caring for others, thoughtful gift which says “I know you” is pure happiness for the giver, and that you still hear the bell ring My second key belief is in the spirit the receiver and those watching, and and truly believe. of Santa Claus. Santa has always been the best is when someone will ask a big part of my family’s Christmas Merry Christmas and Happy New with a wink and whisper in Santa’s celebrations, dating back to when ear, “Who are you, really?” and Santa Year!

I was a little one. Santa has always gets to tell them the truth:You are come out of the fireplace in the really Santa Claus. Priceless! house I grew up in in Lindsborg, Kansas. It is quite the spectacle to Finally, my third and final belief see the Jolly Old Elf come out of is in the employees of the PMMA PaPa Har’s (my dad’s) fireplace to system in providing the care and deliver gifts to all the good girls services to you. Being on the side CEO, continued from page 1

and boys of the Shogren family after losing his pants once again. “Har, when are you going to fix your chimney,” Santa states every year to the delight of all in the room.You have to be there to really experience it and believe it.

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Independent living drives expansion plans This month, we continue to look back at our history as Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America celebrates 65 years of the art of life.

The desire for more independent living drove expansion for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America in the late 1980s.

Duplex or apartment projects were approved for the campuses in Sterling, Wichita, Topeka, Parsons, Arkansas City and Lawrence. Existing spaces were renovated in Sterling, Arkansas City, Kansas City and Newton, and a new health care center was constructed in Newton.

Wichita received funds for and constructed a chapel.

Community interest and persistence led to the development of a campus in Emporia. Ground was broken on May 22, 1984, and Emporia Presbyterian Manor campus opened in 1986.

Construction started on a new campus in Dodge City in a joint venture with the CSJ Health System of Wichita, Kan. The new campus, adjacent to St. Mary of the Plains College, was named Manor of the Plains. In conjunction with the closing of St. Mary of the Plains campus in 1992, Presbyterian Manors Inc. acquired CSJ Health System’s joint venture interest in Manor of the Plains and became the sole owner.

PMMA’s dream of providing services for severely physically handicapped adults became a reality when Hutchinson Heights opened in 1986.

The 1980s also brought serious conversations about the relationship between Presbyterian Manors of Mid-

America and the synods of the Presbyterian Church as well as increased competition in the senior care market.

Board minutes from 1986 demonstrate PMMA’s desire to keep the ties with the Synod of Mid-America and individual Presbyterian churches strong.

In 1989, the original United Presbyterian Foundation of Kansas Inc. (Newton), and the other separate Kansas Manor corporations, (Arkansas City, Clay Center, Emporia, Kansas City, Lawrence, Manor of the Plains, Parsons, Salina, Sterling, Topeka and Wichita) and Presbyterian Manors of Missouri Inc. (Farmington, Fulton and Rolla) were merged to form Presbyterian Manors Inc. In 1990, an office building was constructed in northeast Wichita and the headquarters of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc. moved from Newton to Wichita.

Seeking ‘angels’ for Good Samaritan Program Christmas angel ornaments – each representing a gift to the Good Samaritan Program for Benevolent Care – are adding to the holiday decorations at Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America’s senior living communities.

Donors responding to the annual Christmas Angel Appeal letter mailed in November include paper angel ornaments with their gifts. Each ornament will then be displayed at the PMMA community designated by the donor.

During the past two years, angel donors have given more than $94,000 to the Good Samaritan Program, which assists PMMA residents who have run out of funds through no fault of their own.

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