Rolla Community Matters February 2022

Rolla Presbyterian Manor

FEBRUARY 2022

Retired teacher feels well taken care of at Rolla Presbyterian Manor Forrest O’Neal is well-known in the Rolla community due to his long tenure as an educator.

In fact, one of his former students is Joelle Freeland, marketing and senior living director at Rolla Presbyterian Manor.

Look to the Bible to find love in many forms A few years before his death, the great British writer and lay theologian C.S. Lewis began an inquiry into love.

It began with St. John’s words, “God is love.” Lewis was interested in exploring what “God-love” meant, and it led him to consider other beneficial forms of love. Ancient Greek has several distinct words for love, and Lewis borrowed four of them for his analysis, which he first presented in a series of radio talks, followed by the 1960 book The Four Loves.

Storge: Familial Love “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).

Storge refers to the find of love felt between siblings, parents and children, and other family members: a natural love, bourn of genetics and proximity, but a powerful force nonetheless. In the book of Romans, Paul commands his fellow Christians to exhibit this kind of love for one another.

Forrest O'Neal speaks during a Veteran's Day event at Rolla Presbyterian Manor. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War.

Forrest – continued on page 3

Philia: Platonic Love “After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself” (1 Samuel 18:1).

Love – continued on page 3

Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at RollaPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.

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Rolla campus shares resident satisfaction survey results

Rolla Presbyterian Manor 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 above 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, Rolla Presbyterian Manor residents and their families gave the community high scores in offering safety and security, transportation need, and ease of the admission process. In addition, the residents and their families indicated a high likelihood of recommending the senior living community to others.

“Activities are most important for my loved one,” one survey

respondent said. “They have been making sure that she is busy and included.”

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

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Community Matters 573-364-7336 ◆ Fax: 573-364-7495 1200 Homelife Plaza Rolla, MO 65401-2595 RollaPresbyterianManor.org

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COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022

is published monthly for residents and friends of Rolla Presbyterian Manor

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

To submit or suggest articles: lfreeland@PMMA.org Ann Caudill, executive director Joelle Freeland, marketing director

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

Forrest – continued from page 1 Forrest moved to the community a year ago, and he appreciates the care he and his wife are receiving.

They particularly enjoy the Presbyterian Manor holiday celebrations.

Before he was a teacher, the Mexico, Mo., native served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He traveled to St. Louis to enlist in 1949.

As a Marine, Forrest served as an administrative clerk and sergeant major’s clerk in North Carolina as well as overseas. The thing he remembers most vividly about being stationed in Korea is the cold weather. One night the wind

Love – continued from page 1 The scriptures are full of stories of deeply felt friendship. In the Old Testament, consider the bond shared between Ruth and Naomi or David and Jonathan. Jesus and his disciples are also examples of platonic love.

Platonic love is special in part because it’s not “automatic.”

Nurturing platonic relationship takes time and effort.

Eros: Romantic Love “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away” (Song of Songs 8:6).

chill was 49 degrees below zero.

Forrest received his Bachelor of Science in education from Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and he went on to earn a Master of Education from the University of Missouri.

He says he was motivated to go into the teaching field because he wanted to help young people, and he found teaching and coaching rewarding ways to spend his professional career. In fact, he didn’t retire until the age of 70.

Forrest taught physical education in East Prairie, Mo., before moving to Rolla. In addition to PE, he would

We live in a culture that emphasizes romantic love above all other forms, but eros is an important kind of love, the kind that sustains a long and satisfying marriage.

Agape: Unconditional Love “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalms 136:26).

As Christians, we are called to love as God does: unconditionally and without ceasing. Agape love is illustrated in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan. The man in distress on the side of the road did

teach American history and driver’s education. For the last 13 years of his career, he was a cooperative occupational education teacher.

One of Forrest’s most vivid memories from his career is when a young lady told him she planned to go to college to become a teacher herself.

After he retired, Forrest enjoyed taking trips to South Padre Island, Tex., and Disney World in Orlando, Fla. When asked what he would tell someone thinking about moving to Presbyterian Manor, Forrest said he would emphasize the good care they would receive here. u

nothing to deserve the loving care he received; instead, the Samaritan offered his love freely and without condition.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (I Corinthians 13:1-3). u

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A short history of Valentine’s Day Many people know that Feb. 14 was once a day when Catholics celebrated the life of St. Valentine, a third-century Christian martyr. But how did it transform into a holiday that celebrates romantic love?

Some scholars point to Geoffrey Chaucer, who authored “The Canterbury Tales” during the Middle Ages. He wrote, “For this was on seynt Volantynys day. Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make” (for this was on St. Valentine’s Day, when every bird comes to choose his mate”).

European nobility began sending love notes during “mating season,”

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and eventually the trend caught on.

The mass production of Valentine’s cards eventually secured the tradition.

In the intervening centuries, the celebration of Valentine’s Day grew to include not just romantic interests, but friends and schoolmates. In the 1900s, the holiday began to be widely celebrated in schools, thanks in part to marketing efforts by Hallmark.

Perhaps you helped your child decorate a shoebox to use as a mailbox for their collection of Valentine’s cards.

As the popularity of the secular

COMMUNITY MATTERS | February 2022

holiday grew, the influence of St. Valentine diminished. In 1969, the Catholic Church removed the feast of St. Valentine from the liturgical calendar, largely because little is known about the third-century priest. However, he is still considered a saint of the church. u