I am looking ahead to summer already! Steve, our maintenance director, and I have been busy planning and scheduling all of the work that can only be done when the weather is good. We will complete the remainder of our siding replacement project this year… I didn’t hear you cheering. Let’s try that again. We will complete the siding replacement project this year! Hip hip hooray!!!
Though Zee, our activity director, is now off for a couple of months to welcome her new little baby boy, she has left us with several months of activity calendars already planned out. I am especially excited about our upcoming mystery trip and an upcoming country drive. Pay close attention to your calendars. These will be fun.
As I write this I am preparing to travel with a group of residents to the Leading Age luncheon at Friendsview Retirement Community in Newberg during which residents from around the state will be reading their award winning essays, poems, and stories. Helen Reasoner, Velma Stewart, Bert Baldwin, and Millie Gackle from Homewoods have each had pieces selected to be read. The pieces will be published by Leading Age and available through download of the journal called Reflections.
Many people tell me that they would love to write but don’t think their stories are worth telling. Yet isn’t it true that that most of us enjoy hearing stories? I love it when people stop by my office to tell me one.
Last year Karen, our community relations director, and I attended a workshop to help us tell our Homewoods story a bit better. It was an improv workshop and we learned a formula for storytelling that goes like this: a) Once upon a time… every day …. but one day …. and because of that …. and because of that ….and because of that ….until one day …. and that is why… You can try using this yourself and see what happens.
Using that formula here is the story of Homewoods:
Once upon a time a man dreamed of a place where he and his fellow ministers could retire, and every day he prayed about it and shared the dream with others. But one day after the dream became a reality, more people than just his colleagues moved there. Many others came. Because of that the community grew in diversity and because of that many people from the surrounding area also felt welcome. Because of that old friends became re-acquainted and new friends joined them, until one day a brand new community developed that perfected the art of living well. And that is why it is important to dream and share your dream with others.
I am in agreement with what Sundi says in her spot this month, “It is fun, healthy, and entertaining to dream.” May your dreams come true and may they exceed all that you have hoped for. Don’t forget to tell the story along the way!