Residents Corner

Retirement Life

I like sitting on my balcony
Looking at the pond below and the trees above
I find peace there and can gather my thoughts
In time of stress I seek the solace of nature’s rhythms
Sitting on my balcony
Looking at the pond below and the trees above​

Gifts of the Heart Abound in Memory Care Family

by Bill McCartney

If there’s a “secret” for turning a place of sadness and despair into a place of joy and love, it is found abundantly in the memory care unit of Willow Brook at Delaware Run.

That “secret” is alive in the compassionate care provided by nurses and aides, and it is made visible by the . . . Read More

Ila Phillips: Teacher for Life

     Every day when Willow Brook resident Ila Phillips rises, she makes a vow.  “Whatever is today, I accept.”

     It’s a philosophy that has suited her for 104 years and carried her through many transitions of life.

     Whether it was coping with the Depression while growing up on a Nebraska farm, or . . . Read More

Releasing Grief, 71 Years Later

By Jim Mattox

I suffered a huge loss when I was seven years old, and I bottled my grief for 71 years. I would never want anyone else to wait that long.  I recently shared my story at the Grief Share Group at Willow Brook at Delaware Run, and I hope others will learn from my . . . Read More

Teachers

By Marilyn Schroeder

Who are my teachers 
now I have left the schoolrooms 
of my youth, now that I am old? 
Poet Mary Oliver with wisdoms – 
her arms open to ponds, flowers, 
creatures lovely and not, her words 
lights to what I must learn – words rich 
with how to spend my life. Friends 
are . . . Read More

Living Well

By Brenda Spradling

In 1946, Paul Harvey added “…and now you know the rest of the story” to his well-known radio broadcasts.

As I sat thinking about things one Sunday, I wondered what that phrase meant to me.  My mind wandered to phrases like:

I’ve lived fun adventures—well, I did seven ziplines at 73, didn’t I?

There are some . . . Read More

Assisted Living – A Short Story

By Tom MacLaughlin

He sits in his favorite chair by the window, and looks out across the lawn at the county road, and watches the cars as they travel past.  He thinks back to what it was like to drive a car.  That was a few years ago when he was living in his own house, . . . Read More

Artist Maxine Paca

For an artist who started painting at age 10, Maxine Paca was long overdue for an exhibit of her art work.

At age 89, it happened. Her lovely paintings were featured recently in an exhibit at Willow Brook Christian Village, where she resides with her husband, Ned.

. . . Read More

Centrum Writing Group (continued)

In August, the Centrum Creative Writers won First Place for Cooperative Writing in a state competition sponsored by LeadingAge, a nonprofit association representing more than 400 long-term care organizations. The writers live at the Centrum, Willow Brook Christian Village’s assisted living center. They enjoyed collaborating to record their stories. Here we feature three more of . . . Read More

Centrum Writing Group

The Centrum Creative Writers won First Place for Cooperative Writing in a regional competition sponsored in June by LeadingAge, a nonprofit trade association representing more than 400 long-term care organizations. The writers live at the Centrum, Willow Brook Christian Village’s assisted living center. They enjoyed collaborating to record the stories of their lives. Here we . . . Read More

Leaving a Legacy

by Bill Chaddock, Willow Brook at Delaware Run resident

Each of us has a priceless legacy to leave our children, grandchildren and even descendants not yet born.

That legacy is the multitude of memories and experiences – some happy, some sad – about our lives and families that we have accumulated over the years.  It is important . . . Read More

Quilter Exhibits Her Creative Work​

Ann Hopkins first learned to sew as a child and stitched up a storm all of her life. She made her own clothes and clothing for her mother, husband and children.  It wasn’t until she retired in 1987 that she found time for another passion: quilting.

Now 93 and a resident of Delaware Run, Ann has . . . Read More

Ron Dill: There and Back Again​

Ronald Dill, 94, a resident of Willow Brook Christian Home, was born on a farm north of Worthington, on the same land where the Home now stands.

“I’m back living on the farm,” Dill says. “This is home.”

We sat down with Dill to talk about his life, from his childhood on the family farm to his . . . Read More

Nova Weller: Artist and Engineer​

Nova Anderson Weller has always had her head in clouds, yet her feet firmly planted on the ground.

This dual nature has allowed her to succeed in many roles.

She’s an ingenious digital photographer who loves to “experiment like crazy” in her artistic creations. She’s also a scientist – one who worked as an aeronautical engineer during . . . Read More