These last 12 months have been challenging for so many community members across all three campuses. Even though there have been times when everyone was wondering when will it end, all three communities kept moving forward to provide the best experiences for their community members. Staff became family when visitations were restricted. Everybody pitched in to make each day the best it could possibly be.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Are you still feeling thankful? The answer is a resounding yes! Ask community members across our campuses what they are thankful for and you will hear a variety of thoughts. You can hear ideas such as a caring staff, our chaplain, good food that was delivered to our rooms when we couldn’t dine in groups and of course the vaccine clinics. Others will tell you about activities that have resumed such as the July 4th fireworks or off campus lunches and other outings. Let’s not forget the animal visits that make everyone smile. You can’t feel sad or depressed when petting your favorite animal. The lists of things to be thankful for are endless.
The OMH staff members have their own list of things they are thankful for. Just ask a WRMC staff member and she’ll tell you about spending time talking with a 106 year old community member. She was thankful to be able to listen to her stories as well as what life was like when she was our age. You will hear others talk about how they enjoy helping and caring for our community members. You could see community members smiling while the staff made their lives a bit easier.
Another example includes a staff and community member. Moving from your lifelong home isn’t easy and often new community members feel homesick. A staff member spent time trying to find a cure for homesickness. The best cure was simply letting the new community member know that she was welcome and part of the OMH family.
There are many stories to be told, and one of the best stories is our staff members looking at our community members as their “grandparents” or “their adopted mom.” That is truly something to be thankful for. As 2021 is coming to a close, it's time to look back to all what life thrust upon each of us in the last twelve months. Staff and community members are thankful that they had each other to lean on. Now let’s look forward to 2022 and see what it holds in store for us. Let’s make the New Year the perfect time to make new memories and do our best to live each day to the fullest.
