I awoke to the melody of birds singing outside my window. What a wonderful way to begin the day.
The grass is green and the buds on the trees are hinting at the beautiful foliage yet to come. Spring has been a long time coming and now that it's here we will be very busy at Hill View Manor.
We are blessed to have a gentleman living here who is already outside prepping the window boxes and planning the gardens. Thank you to Gordon Loustel who has helped so much the past few years.
We have lost many dear residents this last year and welcomed some new ones. I apologize that I cannot do a tribute to all the wonderful residents who have passed away. Please do not think that they were not extremely important to us and well loved.
On January 26 of this year, Agnes Young passed away after seven years of being a part of our family. She has been missed. On February 24 it was Lorne Bray, who was only here for a few months before he went to be with the Lord. He won all our hearts with his amazing smile and positive attitude. On March 27, Jean Thorlacius, who had lived here for two years, quietly relinquished her battle with illness and is now at peace.
Earl Mahaffy moved to Lampman in February to be closer to his family. We thank everyone that has entrusted the care of their loved ones to us, and we pray that God will minister to each resident through our hands as we do our daily tasks.
We have welcomed to Doreen Bachorcik, Rita Verbeem, Willie Kofoed and Wes Palendat to Hill View. We are privileged to have them here and are excited to get to know them better.
In April we had The Freebies, Caragana Ramblers, Tristen Almond, Happy Wanderers, Susan Moser, Bob Olson, Wilma Mantei, Susan Shepherd and Ross LeBlanc come to entertain. We thank them for sharing their valuable time and talents.
The residents look so forward to the days they come. Often the old-time music triggers memories, which can be bittersweet as they think of days gone by when they shared those songs with spouses that are no longer here. My residents are very courageous as they move forward without their spouse of sometimes 60 years. So it is alright to shed a tear or two while remembering.
Cherish the past, value today and continue being an amazing example to us all.
Many churches have come to help our residents in their spiritual quest by offering communion and sharing of God's word. Faith is a big part of our residents’ lives. They absolutely love card bingo so we have that several times a week as well as Walmart trips, movies and pizza, games, shuffleboard, baking and walking at Affinity Place.
We often have guests in such as Brad from Pharmasave, who presents different in-services that are of interest to our clients. On May 2, Richard Neufeld, who is the city’s new land development services manager, stopped in to talk to us. He left his iPad with a survey on it for our residents to do because he values their opinion.
That meant a lot to me, as I have always admired and respected our seniors who paved the way with hard work and sacrifices so we can enjoy life as we know it.
Their input and common sense hopefully will help Richard as he moves forward trying to make Estevan a better city.
So this is it for Hill View Manor news thus far in 2018. Please come anytime to share a coffee and a visit. By doing so you will brighten someone's day and receive a blessing yourself.
