Lawrence Community Matters December 2021

Lawrence Presbyterian Manor

Assignment form makes wishes clear DECEMBER 2021

Making a lasting impression If you ask Pat and Ken Blair how they’ve navigated 67 years of marriage, they’ll give you a simple but important answer.

“First of all, choose very carefully, as it might last that long,” Pat said.

But it also helps if both people have similar backgrounds, interests, goals, and Pat and Ken Blair a commitment to working through disagreements and listening to each other.

With the end of the year rapidly approaching, it’s a great time to check one more thing off your list — make sure your wishes are respected and your family is protected by completing our Assignment of Amounts Due Resident Form (or reviewing your current Assignment form to make sure it is still correct). If you pass away while a resident of a PMMA® Community, this form will permit you to assign all refunds due to you to the persons specified in your form.

Completing the Assignment form is simple, and if you pass away while a resident of the Community, it can save your family significant time, money and frustration when receiving a refund of any amounts due to you from your PMMA Community. In other words, it can simplify the refund process and avoid the time and cost of estate administration.

“Music has always been a constant for both of us,” Pat said. “We started out together in the Madrigals and sang in church choirs for over 65 years. We helped found the Motet Singers and welcomed them into our home, including the Manor townhome. Seventeen people here many weeks meant

This form works like a “beneficiary designation” in that it is effective upon your passing and permits you to designate who will receive all amounts due to you from your PMMA Community (for example, any refunds of your entrance fee deposit or monthly fees). Your Assignment form is revocable and can be changed at any time, so you are not locked if your circumstances change.

Lasting impression – continued on page 2

Assignment form

“Really hearing what the other person is saying was key,” Pat said. “Don’t go to bed angry was another.”

Another key element to their marriage has been a shared love of music.

– continued on page 2 Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at LawrencePresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.

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Lasting impression – continued from page 1 lots of good times shared.”

Pat and Ken married young, but they had already known one another for years.

They raised their three children — Cindy, David and Carol — in Lawrence. Now grown with families of their own, they all live within 40 miles of Pat and Ken. “We are truly blessed as we all like each other a lot and get together when we can,” Pat said. “I am the matriarch of our clan (that just means I am the oldest), and I do try to instigate family gathering and make the effort to keep family a priority, even through COVID.” When the kids were young, the family traveled throughout the country, camping and visiting sites in Washington D.C., Colorado, Arkansas, and more.

“Car trips in those days did not mean movies to watch or tablets in hand to keep them entertained,” Pat said. “In Newlyweds, Pat and Ken Blair in 1954. other words, there was a lot of grumbling and ‘Mom, he’s taking up Disneyland and Disney World, bring all the room,’ ‘she pinched me’ kind lots of memories, most of them of stuff. Trips to both coasts, plus fun.”

“Ken and I met at Boswell Junior High in Topeka when we were both seventh graders,” Pat said. “We lived on the same street about five long blocks apart but did not really know each other well at that point. Over the next few years, he dated my best friend, Jeanne, and we interacted at some point. That romance ended and we dated a few others in the next years. In our senior year in Topeka High School, we both were chosen to sing in the Madrigal Singers. One night after a sing out, he asked me to go with him and another couple to a night spot to dance. He said later, ‘I got my braces off and there I was.’ That was the beginning.”

After all these years together, Pat and Ken are still happy to be singing partners.

“We are truly fortunate to have each other at this stage of life,” Pat said.

“And still be best friends.” u

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Community Matters 785-841-4262 ◆ Fax: 785-841-0923 1429 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 LawrencePresbyterianManor.org

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | December 2021

is published monthly for residents and friends of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor

by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

To submit or suggest articles: cphelps@pmma.org.

Dawn Smith, executive director Christopher Phelps, marketing director

OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

By Dinah Dutta, Chaplain Do you see what I see?

We are almost at the end of the year 2021. December is a month with colorful celebrations. For people of Christian faith, it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.

I love Christmas carols. I often hear people say it is too early when they hear carols, but I listen to them all year-round.

I was pondering, what should I share with my PMMA family this special time of the year? The line, “Do you see what I see” started ringing in my ears. It’s from “Do You Hear What I Hear,” a relatively new Christmas hymn, written in 1962 by Noël Regney with music by Gloria Shayne. The word “see” caught my attention as I started singing. There are two words in the Greek language for see.

The first word is the word, blepo: I see you. I see the manger scene. I see the Christmas tree. I see the lights. I see. I see.

I see. The second word for “see” in Greek is horao. Horao means to see deeply. It is not sight, but insight.

Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see; Way up in the sky, little lamb, do you see what I see; A star, a star, dancing in the night With a tail as big as a kite With a tail as big as a kite Do you see what I see?

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear; Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear; A song, a song, high above the trees With a voice as big as the sea With a voice as big as the sea Do you see what I see?

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king, do you know what I know; In your palace warm, mighty king, do you know what I know; A Child, a Child shivers in the cold Let us bring Him silver and gold Let us bring Him silver and gold Do you see what I see?

Said the king to the people everywhere, listen to what I say; pray for peace, people everywhere!

Listen to what I say; The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night He will bring us goodness and light He will bring us goodness and light

“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people’” (Luke 10:2).

Merry Christmas!

We have been seeing and hearing confusing, false information about anything and everything for a long time, haven’t we? I want to invite you to join me in singing this beautiful song, and to see and feel the beauty of the world we live in with all its imperfections, chaos, and much more. I want us to embrace the beauty and the sounds of the Christmas season. Let us pray for peace, trusting God will continue to bring goodness and light in our lives and into the world we live. u Lawrence Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY

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1429 Kasold Dr. Lawrence, KS 66049-3425 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Assignment form – continued from page 1 Your beneficiaries may include individuals, charities, or others (including a will or trust so that your refund passes pursuant to your estate plan). You may designate the portion of your refund payable to each of them.

Some things to think about: • Who should receive my refund — certain named individuals, charities, or my will or trust?

• If I have more than one beneficiary, should they receive equal shares of my refund or should I designate different amounts/percentages among them?

• Do I want to designate a successor beneficiary to receive the amount originally allocated to a beneficiary who predeceases me?

Absent a valid Assignment form, the payment of

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | December 2021

your refund may be delayed until an estate is opened or other legal proceedings are completed designating who is legally entitled to request the refund and receive payment. Unfortunately, that happens all-to-frequently and we want to help our residents and their families avoid that unpleasant (and sometimes expensive and time consuming) experience.

This is just a summary of how this important document works. We’ll be glad to provide you with the Assignment form to review and complete, and of course we encourage you to get any input you may desire from your family or other advisors.

To obtain an Assignment form or talk with someone about an Assignment form, please contact the Marketing Director or Accounting Assistant at your community. u