Sue Spies, who is a nurse at our Care Center, commented on the picture of Janet Ryden in last month’s article where Janet Ryden had a huge grin on her face and said, “That’s why we do this.” I am on a lot of Activity Director sights on Facebook and one of the questions a member asked was why do you do your job? I replied, I was made for this job, but the smiles are the best.
Smiles and joy are part of why we do this. Our residents who are like family to us bring us joy. A lot of times we are all they see in a day so it is important for us to bring them joy and enrich their lives which brings me to…
Our resident spotlight of the month
Harold Husby. Harold is always so sweet, kind, caring and gentle at the Care Center. Whenever I come around with the camera Harold always says with a grin, “Oh oh here she comes again.” When I asked him if I could interview him for this article he said, “no.” I said, “yes.” He said, “no”, I said, “yes.”
Irene Peterson’s 100th birthday where she received a new jump rope. Photos courtesy of Lisa Bloomquist
He was saying no because he is such a dear humble man that he doesn’t want attention drawn to him. I wouldn’t do the article on him if he didn’t really want me to. He was born on July 12, 1922 in McIntosh, Minnesota. He and his two sisters grew up in McIntosh on a farm that used horses. One of his favorite things to do was play in a sand pile. He asked me if I knew what that was. When asked what was going on in the world when he was growing up he said politics and the depression. He said nobody had money in those days. He went on to say that one time when his wife was young, kids at school were being given a nickel by their parents. When his wife Jean asked her father for a nickel he pulled out his empty pants pockets and told her he didn’t even have a nickel to give her.
Harold attended high school in McIntosh and went to a trade school to learn drafting. He went on to become the chief estimator for a large electrical construction company in Kansas City, a job he held for some 25 years. He met his wife Jean in their junior year of high school. They got married in a Lutheran church in McIntosh in 1944 and were married over 70 years. They liked going to the movies, making wine and maple syrup. Harold also enjoyed raising earthworms and chinchillas and was a master gardener. They have four children: Scott, Tim, Carolyn and Peter. Harold also has many grand and great grandchildren. Harold said he and his wife traveled to 46 of the 48 states. They have also been to Norway, England, France, Germany, Austria and a few more places. One of his favorite places was Norway he supposes.
Nona Smith with a bead on Rudolf.
Harold is one of our last remaining WWII vets in Cook County. Harold served in an intelligence unit in the US Army at the end of WWII, stationed in Texas and Alabama.
Harold enjoys watching sports of all kinds, and he continues to follow the fortunes of the teams in Kansas City, the Royals and the Chiefs. He has watched “Jeopardy” religiously for decades. He is a long time committed liberal Democrat and an uncomplaining Norwegian. He considers Republican politicians a bunch of real stinkers and Donald Trump the biggest stinker of all. At almost 99 he has a lot to show for himself. Harold has a good friend in town, BJ Muus. They have spent many hours conversing and did up until we had to stop indoor visiting. Hopefully they can start up visiting again. Harold does visit with his family via FaceTIme and Skype and enjoys every minute of it.
Harold Husby –spotlight of the month.
On Harold’s bucket list is to be able to still play Bingo which he does twice a week and always gives half his winnings to someone else. His words of advice for young people are “get the school you can afford to do and get as much out of it as you can”. Thank you for your service Harold and for being who you are.
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Lucy Lutz celebrated her birthday by getting a perm, having steak for lunch and pizza for dinner, which is two of her favorites. Lucy had cupcakes for all the residents. Irene Peterson celebrated her 100th birthday with her children in our indoor meeting area. When asked what she thought about turning 100 Irene replied, “Oh it’s just another day.” We had a cake provided from our kitchen and live music from Kenna, one of our own. Irene received a jump rope for a present and she laughed and laughed. I asked her if she was going to use it she said maybe she would for her 101st birthday?
Anna Speck can still pick one off from 30 feet.
Bernie Gestel passed away in January.
According to the Perk
On January 3, it was National Toss Your Fruitcake Day. My cat Oscar is glad we still had some as he was devouring it as my brother left it unattended. Did you know that a pineapple fruitcake was brought along on the Apollo 11 space mission? I wonder who thought that was a good idea. I guess it wasn’t eaten. Maybe they were going to whack a space alien if they came across one? It was National Hugging Day on January 21st. According to the Perk hugs lower your blood pressure and relieve stress. Covid get out of here so we can hug to our hearts delights.
On the back of the Daily Perk is a word search puzzle. The residents who complete the puzzles turn them in to be entered into a drawing for the chance to win a fabulous prize. This month’s winners are Delores Saethre, Bobbie Bockovich and Mary Liebsch.
Run Run Rudolf
Many of you may have seen the Nerf guns vs. Rudolf videos on Facebook. We had an episode where we encountered Rudolf and had another target to shoot at. The residents who participated in this adventure really enjoyed it. They lined up their guns and got a bead on Rudolf and didn’t miss. Anna Speck still has what it takes and she was banging away at the bullseye on her target. Hair Raising and Lunch
19 residents had their hair professionally beautified by Sue Cadwell. We are so thankful for her coming up here. Everyone is shiningly lovely and feeling great.
We had our first Evergreen Café lunch on January 19. Since we can’t go out for lunch we had it delivered via the Hub and it was delicious. We had tablecloths and fancy teacups, ate, laughed and played a game. One of our phrases for Hangman was bunch of _____________. We had a lot of answers and a lot of laughs.
Ways to get connected
Community members have been asking what they can do to help us out. One thing I thought of was for you to Skype or FaceTime with a resident and read to them. Thank you so much to those who have been reaching out and doing this. It is such a joy to see the smiles on the resident’s faces. There has been a lot of interest in joining in to do these visits. Now to get everyone connected.
You can be in contact with residents by possibly becoming an Essential Caregiver. You can also visit thru FaceTime, Skype, Zoom, family room window visits and by indoor visits. Yes, you have read right. Indoor visits have been reestablished. Please call (218) 387-3040 ext 0 to make arrangements to visit indoors.
Please call the Activity department to arrange a Skype, FaceTime, or family room window visit at 218- 387-3518.
Once again thank you so much for all the treats, love and support you have been sending our way.
It is National Activity Professionals week this week and I would like to give a huge thank you to my staff and to all who assist the Activity department. It takes a village and you are all so much appreciated.
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