Clay Center Community Matters June 2018

Commun ty Matters Clay Center Presbyterian Manor

50th Anniversary celebration coming soon

Clay Center Presbyterian Manor is celebrating 50 years of service to Clay Center and the surrounding area. The Mission Committee, staff and residents would like to invite families of past and current residents, former employees and former advisory members to join us for a celebration July 26 in the Oberg Memorial Garden.

This will be a reunion themed ice cream social. We look forward to reuniting with families and friends who have passed through our doors.

Look for more details in July regarding time and other events that day!

June 2018

CNA shares inspiration behind career

Certified nursing assistants, or CNAs, are the backbone of many healthcare settings. Their work is often behind-the-scenes but gives residents crucial care and assistance with activities of daily living. During the month of June, we give them special recognition for their dedication and care and call attention to theirundercover superhero status.

One such CNA superhero is Kristin Pedigo. She’s been a CNA for 8 years.

She has worked at Clay Center Presbyterian Manor since she was a junior in high school, and even stayed on part-time during college.

Kristin Pedigo became a CNA because she wanted to make a difference.

“I wanted to help care for people, spend time with them and get to know their story and build relationships with them,” said Kristin. “I wanted to know that I made a true difference in someone’s life, and I wanted to make their bad days better by making them laugh and smile and know they were given the care they deserved.”

Kristin has certainly been an inspiration to others wanting to enter the nursing field, which is something she was inspired to do by a family member.

“My grandma Sharon Boyle was a CNA and she was my inspiration,” said Kristin.

When Kristin isn’t at work caring for others, she’s at home caring for her two sons.

“I have two boys, Keaton and Kaanen, and I spend all my free time with them. We go to the park to fish and spend time outdoors.”

We thank Kristin and all of our CNAs for helping our residents live their best life possible.

What we can still learn from Mister Rogers as adults

By Shayla Stern for Next Avenue

Hi neighbor.

You cannot say those words, even many years since Fred Rogers last created new TV shows, without knowing that they’re from Fred Rogers. That gentle voice with the slight drawl soothed even the most restless spirits.

I remember coming home from preschool and having my babysitter turn on Channel 12 – my local PBS channel – to calm me before “rest time.” But it doesn’t matter if you were a child in the decades that Mister Rogers was on TV. Rogers,

Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Clay Center Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org.

Christian Gilbert, executive director Heather Germann, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Heather Germann, hgermann@pmma.org.

Telephone: 785-632-5646 Fax: 785-632-5874 Address: 924 Eighth St., Clay Center, KS 67432-2620

Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

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2 COMMUNITY MATTERS APRIL 2018

Credit: PBS PressRoom

who died in 2003, created nearly 900 episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood — and in the process, cultivated life lessons to last the rest of our lives. And so much of his wisdom applies to us in our many stages of adulthood.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking show and a new U.S. postage stamp to be released in his honor (not to mention that he would have turned 90 on March 20), here are six of those gems: 1. Routine and responsibility are the bedrock of your day.

Every day, Mister Rogers entered the home on his show and did the same things — sang a peppy song, put on his cardigan and changed out of his dress shoes, fed the fish and had a warm conversation with us. Routines are comforting to children, but maintaining a daily routine and something that brings you care and comfort can get you through hard

times no matter your age. A sense of responsibility for ourselves and others — another side of many of our daily routines — can do the same. Feed your pets, call or text lonely friends, offer a ride to a neighbor, hug your families. As Rogers sang, “It’s such a good feeling to know you’re alive.”

2. It feels good to make something, even if you aren’t very good at it. In one episode, Rogers used crayons to make a quick picture and illustrate a point, saying a little off-handedly, “I’m not very good at it, but it doesn’t matter. It feels good to have made something.”

That’s true — from coloring to roasting a turkey to rewiring a lamp to knitting a scarf to putting together an IKEA dresser (OK, the last one might be a stretch, since your blood pressure may have risen from all the anger and frustration).

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3. Put on your sneakers. It always helps to change into your comfortable play clothes at the end of the day. My kids crack up when I come home from the office and tell them I need to change from my work clothes to my play clothes. Even if I wore jeans to work that day, I make a point of changing. It really does add a sense of separation between work and home.

4. The Land of Make-Believe is still there for you. We know a lot about the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, even if — to paraphrase Mister Rogers – you aren’t very good at it. But what about quietly using your imagination to drift and think about how you might make the world better and more magical? Create your own Land of Make Believe.

Whether you create characters and a story or just close your eyes and imagine the world in a different light, playing make believe can be good for the soul. Or maybe you’ll brew up an idea that goes from Make Believe to Reality.You don’t even have to take a trolley.

5. Look for the helpers. In recent years, the Fred Rogers Company has published a nice body of parent resources, including an interview with Rogers in which he talked about how to help children get through tragic events. Here’s one quote from it: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I

MR. ROGERS

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MR. ROGERS continued from page 3 remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.” When something terrible happens in your life, do the same.

So many people around you are willing to help if they know that you need help. And better yet, now that you’re grown up, you can be one of the helpers for others in times of need.

6. Finally, just be a good neighbor. From Lady Elaine to Henrietta Pussycat to King Friday, Mister Rogers’ friends from the Land of Make Believe often enacted lessons about how to treat each 4 COMMUNITY MATTERS JUNE 2018

other through times of misunderstanding and hurt feelings.

We now live in a time where misunderstanding and hurt feelings abound in real life. Remember, everybody’s going through something they probably aren’t telling you about. Maybe they cannot even articulate it themselves. Rogers demonstrated

on his show and in real life that empathy and grace are the most important foundations to being a good neighbor. His birthday seems like a great time to remind ourselves of this particular life lesson and to take a moment and figure out how to go out and be a good neighbor to someone who needs one.

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