Aberdeen Heights
Moments define a life By Greg Schmidt, Chaplain FEBRUARY 2022
Welcome to the Browmans David and Jane Browman recently joined our Aberdeen Heights family. The couple learned a long time ago that there’s always more than what’s on the surface. David’s work as a groundbreaking archeologist took his family to many interesting places, primarily in the highaltitude areas of South Jane and David Browman American countries Peru and Bolivia. As a doctoral student, and later as a professor, he studied the behaviors of communities that domesticated and raised alpacas. “No one had worked there before,” David said. “I was told not to be disappointed after my first season, that I might only find a few sites. We ended up with 315 sites.” The prevailing belief at the time was that residents of the area were hunter/gatherers who followed migration patterns but didn’t set up permanent settlements. David’s work revealed that even at such high altitudes, the residents were pastoral, putting down roots to farm and practice animal husbandry. “I hadn’t gone in there thinking I was looking at pastoral people,” David said. “I was thinking what kind of camp or evidence of hunting would I find. I came back and convinced my professor that they were really farmers. I contradicted my professor, and I was young enough for that to put a feather in my cap.” David published a number of works, including “Pastoral Nomadism in the
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NOTE: Each month, we feature a column from one of PMMA’s community chaplains in honor of our faith-based roots. This month, we’re featuring Greg Schmidt, chaplain for Heart & Soul Hospice in Wichita and Newton Presbyterian Manor. Have you noticed that every Hallmark movie follows the same basic algorithm? Here’s how it goes: A princess-damsel presents with some sort of professional or social dilemma. In walks a socially awkward, wannabe prince-hero who demonstrates the desire to provide support or answers. His advances are, of course, rebuffed. A second “Captain Obvious” prince-snob rises to the challenge, but in his rush to care for the princess, manifests an arrogant, superior, you-know-you-need-me spirit. While at first the princess foolishly longs for the attention of Captain Obvious, ever so slowly over the course of the movie she falls in love with Mr. Wannabe’s cute little nerdy self. They finally kiss (it never happens until the end). The rocket’s red glare engulfs the sky. And they live happily ever after in Mayberry. Or is that Whoville? My response to Hallmark’s oversimplification is best stated by Remy, the Disney character in the movie “Ratatouille” who said, “The only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability.” Real life is not simple. Or predictable. It has to be understood over the course of years,
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Browmans – continued from page 1 Andes,” “Cultural Negotiations: The Role of Women in the Founding of Americanist Archeology,” and “Anthropology at Harvard: A Biographical History, 1790-1940.” David received his doctoral degree from Harvard University and later became a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. His work was as grueling as it was interesting. “Americans go to school in the fall and spring and take the summer off,” David said. “We’d use the summer to work in the Andes, so our work was in the middle of their winter. It was the cold season. I remember when I first started, to show how macho I was, I’d get out and break the ice and shave in it. I’d tell my students if they were from Montana, where I was born, they could handle this.” In the early years, Jane and their first daughter joined David on his trips to the field. As their family grew to include three daughters, Jane stayed in the U.S. with the children while David continued his summer work abroad. “We wanted to discover what people did at a high altitude, between 14,000 and 16,000 feet,” David said. “I put the money into hiring a student to come down with me,
which meant there was no such thing as a camp cook or someone to do laundry. There was no electricity and might not be running water. We just had a field camp. One project we were working on, we hired natives, so every week I’d go in and get food while the students supervised the digs. I’d put a quarter in the machine and take a shower. The students would complain about not having a shower for two weeks, so I started taking a student with me.” The past few months at Aberdeen Heights have given David and Jane time to recover from some health challenges. Their three daughters
and five granddaughters advocated for the move. “Jane was coming up from the basement with a load of laundry, fell down the stairs and broke her leg in six places,” David explained. “She came to Aberdeen Heights during her recovery until she could come back home. I was alone and got pneumonia and couldn’t take care of myself. My daughter said that was enough, that we needed to be somewhere people could take care of us. My daughters were glad that we made the move where we can get the help we need, and Aberdeen Heights has the resources for that.” u
Sharing the gift of music makes a joyful sound Jo Anne Joseph’s love of music began early and has lasted a lifetime. The assisted living resident began taking piano lessons as a young child and later played the piano at her church. Even though she felt she wasn’t all that good, she did it “because they had no one else to play music.” That led to sharing her knowledge with others by providing piano lessons to children for more than 15 years.
Jo Anne Joseph
“Kids would start out not being able to play, then they would turn into fantastic students,” Jo Anne said. “That was a joy to see.” It’s also a joy when Jo Anne shares her talent with all of us by playing a tune for residents and staff. u
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Community Matters 314-909-6010 ◆ Fax: 913-599-3810 505 Couch Ave. Kirkwood, MO 63122-5536 AberdeenSeniorLiving.com
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022
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.
To submit or suggest articles: lliefer@pmma.org Christie Wolff, executive director Lily Landy, health care administrator
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Santa, Mrs. Claus visit provides comfort Christmas can be a stressful time of year, but thanks to timely gifts from St. Nick and company, residents landed the gift of relaxation. Maintenance Supervisor Neil Gunn
Memory support resident Pete MacVeagh with Santa, Mrs. Claus and an elf.
Moments – continued from page 1 not moments. Who knew that the trick to life is living long enough to view unpredictability as your friend? Having said that, it is the “moments” – all added together – that define the life! When family and friends gather for funeral or memorial services, they recount a lifetime of moments otherwise known as “the dash.” The “dash” is that symbol on a tombstone that is centered between the birth and the death. I’m sure your family is like mine and exactly what we remember about someone’s “dash” may differ from person to person, which makes total sense to me, since none of us approach the exact same story or experience at the exact same time, perspective or history. For example, seven members of my wife’s family tried to remember their Grandma Honey’s Christmas tree. We’re talking about 30-50-year-old memories here! And
filled in for the role of Santa, joined by Housekeeping Supervisor Mina Hodzic as Mrs. Claus and Director of Life Enrichment Laney Liefer as a trusty elf.
The visitors from the North Pole gave everyone a neck massager and wished away any stress or tight muscles that emerged during the holiday season. u
Health care residents visit with the “Santa crew.”
Mrs. Claus and an elf made a surprise visit to the assisted living neighborhood during craft class.
guess what? There were seven strongly held “I specifically remember …” perspectives. Some remembered a silver tinsel tree illuminated by a multi-colored rotating disc (ahh, the 60s!). Still others remembered a pink flocked tree (ahh, the 70s!). Who was right? They all were! What had to be figured out was what time period was being remembered and/or discussed, because at some point throughout their collective childhood experiences she had both! The greatest joy of being a Hospice Chaplain and a Heart & Soul Hospice Team member is helping families remember – and celebrate! – their loved one’s “dash”! When disputes arise among family members, I try and remind those willing to listen that it really doesn’t matter who is “right” … and that it’s still quite possible no one is “wrong.” Why? Because our memories are about what is
precious and inspirational to us individually! Such memories become our foundational and motivational reflections about those we’ve loved. Why is that important? Because all of us want our lives and the lives of those we’ve loved to matter! We want our cherished memories to be about living, not dying … even … or especially when … we’re dying! So, we search for joy and seek to eradicate pain! We look for promise and hope and peace. And, even when we’re vulnerable, we open our lives to unpredictable people, places, and things hoping they’ll enable us to look up and onward to the things that last forever! Just like in a Hallmark movie when everything turns out for the greater good in the end, so goes the life of promise found in God and in the love found in His people! NEVER let love die! Find joy in other people’s memories! Give it away! Daily! u
Aberdeen Heights | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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Aberdeen Heights shares customer service survey responses Aberdeen Heights continues to seek customer feedback through monthly telephone surveys. Each month, residents and their representatives are randomly selected to participate in telephone satisfaction surveys conducted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. The graphic to the right highlights some of the survey results. All scores are given on a 5-point scale, with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest score. Between December 2020 and November 2021, Aberdeen Heights residents and their families gave the community high scores in demonstrating dignity and respect, cleanliness and the ease of the admission process. Residents and families also reported a high willingness to recommend the community to others.
was very attentive and that the residents are friendly and pleasant,” one respondent said. “The [community] was very attractive, clean and well-maintained.” “We joke about it. It’s the people the ones we’re living with,” another respondent said. “They’re very congenial, and we enjoy them. They have very complete programs. They
“When we visited, we found the staff
505 Couch Ave. Kirkwood, MO 63122
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022
do a good job trying to take care of us.” We greatly value the opinions of our residents and their representatives about the care and services we provide, and we encourage them to participate honestly when contacted by Pinnacle Quality Insight. All state and federal confidentiality laws are met in Pinnacle’s service. u