Category: Assisted Living

• A Pat on the Back

  This morning I looked at my beautiful old dog Abbey and said, “Hey, Abbey. Come over here a minute. I want to give you a pat on the back – not just a few pats on the head, a real pat on the back.” “Okay, Mom. Just a minute while I coax my legs to…

  Marian

  September 9, 2014

  Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  93-year-olds, Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, daily devotions, Edward Hays, endless grandmas, endless supply of grandmas, God’s love, God-given gifts, grandmas, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, love, love your neighbor, old dog, reflections, spirituality, talking with God

• Lobster Fest Wisconsin Style

  Forty-three years ago I ate my first lobster. I had just completed my first year as a high school English teacher in Plainfield, Connecticut. The kids were done with school, but the teachers were required to show up one more day to grade final exams and turn in semester grades. None of us teachers really…

  Marian

  August 19, 2014

  Assisted Living, Celebrations, Music, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, blueberry buckle, Connecticut, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, English teacher, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, Home Ec teacher, hospitality, how to eat lobster, joy, kindness, lobster, lobster boil, lobster feast, Lobster Fest, Lobster Fest Wisconsin Style, love your neighbor, Margaret and Don, mussels, ocean song, Plainfield, Puff the Magic Dragon, reflections, spirituality, steamed lobster

• A Roundabout Path to Joy

  Last week I read the book One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity by Debbie Macomber.  It’s a wonderful little book with dozens of stories of people being generous in some way, and the consequences of that single act of generosity – to the recipient, to the giver, and to the observer. The book…

  Marian

  August 5, 2014

  Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Reflections

  assisted living, Debbie Macomber, Discovering the Power of Generosity, feeding of the 5000, generosity, generous, God’s love, God-given gifts, joy, kindness, listening for God, loaves and fishes, love your neighbor, Mardelle Kornelsen, Mardelle Kornelsen Westley Burrowes, One Simple Act, path to joy, reflections, roundabout, spirituality, talking with God

• UFF DA Revisited

  A few weeks ago I blogged about taking “Mary” (one of the people we care for) to the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles to get an official State ID card. She may need the Wisconsin ID to vote, but more urgently, she needs a State ID to cash in a U.S. Government Savings Bond. As…

  Marian

  July 8, 2014

  Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  assisted living, birth certificate, bless you, blessings, DMV, Edward Hays, frustration, God bless you, God’s love, identification card, kindness, life challenges, love your neighbor, May God bless you, patience, reflections, spirituality, state ID, uff da, waiting in line, Wisconsin ID

• Another Lesson from Abbey

  “Hey, Mom. Thanks for showing me Aunt Marilyn’s blog post last week. I’ve heard a lot about Millie and Aunt Marilyn’s two previous cats, and I’m sorry I never met them. I don’t remember that you’ve ever taken me to Chicago to see your old home and to visit with your old friends.” “Well, Abbey,…

  Marian

  June 24, 2014

  Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Nature, Reflections

  Abbey, assisted living, Aunt Marilyn, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, friends, God’s love, listening for God, Millie, mock orange blossoms, reflections, sense of smell, sniffing, spirituality

• UFF DA

  Yesterday morning’s prayer in Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim by Edward Hays included these lines: Grant me the grace to look with respect upon all I will meet this day and upon every event I encounter. Mindful that I am a pilgrim, may I treat each and every one with reverence and love, as a…

  Marian

  May 20, 2014

  Assisted Living, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  advocate, assisted living, birth certificate, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, daily devotions, Department of Motor Vehicles, devotional book, DMV, Edward Hays, God’s love, good grief, hospitality, Illinois ID, kindness, life challenges, life mission, life mission statement, listening for God, mild expletive, mission statement, Norwegian expression, official state photo ID, oy vey, photo ID, pilgrim, Planetary Pilgrim, Planetary Pilgrim Prayer, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, reflections, spirituality, state ID, state photo ID, talking with God, uff da, Wisconsin, Wisconsin ID

• A 50-cent Thrill

    I learned a new word last week – “mirabilary.” Well, it’s not exactly a new word – just new to me. The dictionary (if you can even find it in your dictionary) says it’s obsolete. The 101-year-old 1913 edition of Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary defined it as, “One who, or a work which, narrates…

  Marian

  April 8, 2014

  Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  50 cents, 50-cent thrill, assisted living, awakened living, bolt out of the blue, Book of Wonders, daily devotions, devotional book, divine visitation, Edward Hays, God’s love, joy, kind deeds, kindness, life challenges, lightning, listening for God, love your neighbor, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mirabilaries, mirabilary, Overture Center, parking garage, parking meter, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, two quarters, unexpected kindness, wonder-worker, wonderstruck

• We Laughed and Laughed and Laughed

  

  Some of my fondest memories of my parents are of Mim and me sitting together with them around the dining room table, talking about our everyday lives, and laughing and laughing and laughing. In the 1970s and 1980s when Mim and I lived in Chicago, we drove to Wisconsin to visit my parents about once every…

  Marian

  March 25, 2014

  Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Reflections

  All for one and one for all, Apache creation story, assisted living, be always grateful, be joyful always, Chasing Joy, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Edward Hays, friends, God’s love, happy times, hospitality, invincible joy, joy, laughed, laughing, laughter, pray always, reflections, sharing joy, spirituality, talking with God, Three Musketeers

• Let the birthdays begin!

  Let the birthdays begin! Anna, the first of our trio of 92-year-olds, celebrated her 93rd birthday on Sunday. I asked her how she felt about turning 93. Her response: “I don’t feel like I’m that old. It’s just a number. It doesn’t mean anything. Life is good.” Carolyn will turn 93 in June, and Marty…

  Marian

  February 25, 2014

  Assisted Living, Celebrations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  92-year-olds, 93rd birthday, Anna, art of living, assisted living, birthday, birthdays, colored pencils, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Daisaku Ikeda, day care, East Madison Monona Coalition on Aging, EMMCA, friends, Herman Melville, journey to wisdom, kindness, know how to grow old, let the birthdays begin, life calling, life changes, master work of wisdom, Reaching Out Respite, reflections, spirituality, wisdom

• The Three Nonagenarians

  Three 92-year-old women walk into a bar – an artist, a nun, and a state legislator. The bartender asks what he can get them. The artist wants a cup of herbal tea; the nun wants half a glass of milk; and the legislator asks for one glass of red wine – specifically, Menage a Trois.…

  Marian

  February 11, 2014

  Assisted Living

  92-year-olds, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, companions, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, friends, God’s love, hospitality, joy, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, life stages, listening for God, love your neighbor, nonagenarian, reflections, spirituality, stage in life, talking with God, three nonagenarians