Celebrating Our Centenarian

Celebrating Sister Rita Heenan: Our Centenarian

On April 19th, an elegant afternoon tea in our front foyer was the setting for the celebration of the 100th birthday of Sister Rita Heenan.  She arrived from the care centre on the arm of her loving sister, Rose and looked radiant in her special suit on the lapel of which was pinned a stunning white orchid.  Amid smiles and clapping from family, friends and community members, Sr. Rita took her place in front of the decorated mantel.

The celebrations honouring Sr. Rita included the presentation of a framed Papal blessing from Pope Francis. Michelle Vermeeren, local administrator, spoke in absentia of the yet to arrive greetings from Queen Elizabeth and Governor General, Mary Simon.  Other presentations included congratulations from our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Premier Doug Ford of Ontario. 

There was a nostalgic moment at the end of presentations when a former graduate nurse of the class of 1967 presented Sr. Rita with a beautiful basket of flowers from the graduating class of that year. This was to honour Sr. Rita, then known as Sister St. Roch who was teacher and director of Sisters of St. Joseph School of Nursing in London from 1946-1969. 

As birthday cake was cut and shared, Sister’s guests rejoiced in her becoming a centenarian. In fact, living to the age of 100 puts Sister Rita in a unique class of her own.  Although more people today are living to reach the 100 milestone, only about 1 in 4,500 people in America are centenarians.  In Canada, that relates to about 0.0173%.

Sister Rita is a poster person for the outline of how to live to be 100: eat a healthy diet, manage stress, don’t smoke 😉, think positive, and sleep well. No doubt she would add,

“Live a life of deep faith and service to the dear neighbour”.

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj 

A Conversation with a Personal Support Worker (PSW)

The Covid-19 pandemic revealed a large number of deaths and deficiencies in the care provided to patients in long-term care facilities in Canada. There was much suffering for patients as well as their families. Currently, national standards which provide guidance to enable long-term care homes to provide high-quality care are being reviewed and many health care organizations have been asked to comment on the draft document. I invited a PSW to talk about her experience working in long-term care facilities. I will call the PSW “Margaret” instead of using her real name. Margaret’s comments describe the thoughts and feelings of a long-term care worker who loves her occupation and the patients she cared for while working in a public-funded facility. The conversation went like this: 

Sister Pat:  Margaret, did you work in any long-term care facilities before coming here? 

Margaret: Yes, one in Toronto and one in London.  

Sister Pat: What did you like about working in those places? 

Margaret: I had not taken care of my parents when they grew old and so it was an opportunity to give to my patients the kind of care I wish I could have given my parents.  I learned patience. And I learned about the cycle of life: being a child, becoming an adult who could give to others, and then growing old. I learned to give my patients the kind of care I hope to receive when I become old. 

Sister Pat: Margaret, was there anything you did not like when you worked at those places?  

Margaret: Yes, I did not have the time I needed.  If a patient had dementia and could not communicate, I needed time to get to know them, to observe, and to listen. I needed to see if I could point to something they wanted and to read their body language. But often I would have to move on to a new task and could not spend the time I needed to know and communicate with that patient.  I also would have up to twelve patients, and it would be impossible to give them all the care that they needed.   

Sister Pat: Margaret, how did you feel when that happened: 

Margaret:  I felt sad.  

Sister Pat: Margaret, did you feel angry when you had too many patients? 

Margaret:  I felt very sad. I would go home and just feel sad that we (staff) could not give these patients the care that they needed.  

Sister Pat: So, the long-term care facility was a sad place to work. The atmosphere was not happy. Did that affect everybody? 

Margaret: Yes.  

. . . . . . 

I have great admiration for the PSW’s who provide care to patients in their homes and in long-term care facilities. They are persons who often work for minimum wages and love their patients and want to make their lives better. I hope that the review of standards for long-term care homes will help our society to value the service they provide with such dedication.  

-Sister Pat McKeon, csj

Remembrance Day 2021

Sister Mary Boere Remembers…

Every Remembrance Day I pause and remember what the Canadian soldiers did for Holland. That country and its people are forever grateful to Canada, and Canadians. I visited one of the cemeteries where soldiers lay row upon row. The cemeteries are well kept. At that time, I was told that classes of school children attended to sections of the cemetery and kept them weeded and looking beautiful.

Being born in 1937, I have a lot of childhood memories of the war especially the later years of 1943-45 as do other Sisters, when we were school aged.  Mind you, we had to be educated during the winter of 1944 by a minister of our village who would come to our home twice a week to teach us our reading and math. I have vivid memories of that time. Another scary event occurred when the railroad behind our house was bombed. For the longest, time, whenever I heard airplanes go over our head, something fearful triggered in me.

In our evening prayers tonight, the first prayer was powerful,

“You laid down your life that we might live; be present to those on battlefields.” 

These words certainly convey a concrete image, especially when we know that wars and strife and battlefields still rage in the world’s countries. We remember them all in prayer.

-Sister Mary Boere, csj

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Some articles that detail a lifelong friendship:

Why Dutchies Love the Canadians

Dutch post-war tulip gift to Canada gets a repeat, 75 years later

How Hospitality and Some Tulips Brought Canada and Netherlands Together

In April 2019, Canada’s Parliament proclaimed May 5th ‘Dutch Heritage Day’ after receiving unanimous support for the motion. This day honours the sacrifices that Canadians made during the Second World War in liberating the Netherlands from Nazi occupation, while also recognizing the contributions made to Canada by those of Dutch heritage. The day itself, May 5th, was chosen as it is Liberation Day in the Netherlands, further reinforcing the ties between the two nations.

Every May since 1953, the Canadian Tulip Festival has celebrated the Dutch-Canadian connection.

In gratitude for helping liberate the Netherlands during World War II in 1945, Princess Juliana presented 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canada. Since then, the tulip has been a symbol of friendship between the Netherlands and Canada. The Dutch royal family still annually presents 20,000 tulip bulbs to Canada.

Election 2021

A pattern has emerged on the federal election campaign trail: Party leaders and local candidates announce what they’re going to do for “you and your family.”  In so doing, they encourage us to think small and to focus on ourselves. 

But we are interconnected with earth and each other.  And here’s the tension we must hold.  On the one hand, the crises which affect our lives (pandemic, colonialism, racism and other forms of bias, poverty, climate change, loss of biodiversity, pollution, and the deterioration of public dialogue, to name some of the key issues) affect us as a whole society (and indeed as a whole world), interacting with each other in ways which exacerbate their impacts.  On the other hand, we are all affected differently, with harsher impacts on people who are socially or economically marginalized. 

This means it’s not enough to consider how ‘we’ are affected, be it individually or as a social grouping.  If we are to address these crises, we need to identify who is most impacted and start there.  We elect governments to facilitate our efforts to do so.

Here are two different election bulletins that reflect on the current social, environmental, and economic context in ways that acknowledge our interconnectedness with earth and each other, identify key justice concerns, and offer questions for candidates.  The first is from Citizens for Public Justice and the second from KAIROS Canada.

-Sister Sue Wilson, CSJ

Amazing Teens!

Thorndale’s Community Youth Clubhouse - organized by youth for youth

A warm late August evening marked the grand opening of Thorndale’s Community Youth Clubhouse.  This interesting event was the fulfillment of several years of planning by a group of youth and advisors of this small, thriving village. How proud the young people appeared as speaker after speaker acknowledged the honor that it was to feature local teenagers who had spent an enormous amount of time not only attending planning meetings but also designing space and programs in a main street former school that is the site of this new endeavor.

Grant writing is an onerous task which the youth successfully embraced. For their efforts at proposal writing, budget submission, etc., the youth group was awarded $15,000 from the Royal Bank’s future launch program and in partnership with London Community Foundation assisted in funding the clubhouse space. The London Boys and Girls Club will provide oversight of the facility.  In addition, Family Service Thames Valley has stepped forward to offer free mental health counselling. Representatives from these services offered glowing praise to the Thorndale youth who worked with great ardor to realize their dream of a youth centre. They encouraged the teens to continue developing skills and experiences that lead to success.

Along with the crowd of over 100 people, several booths were featured on the grounds announcing interesting club initiatives including the development of a community cookbook.  Three boys at another booth were fundraising by selling a selection of dog toys, treats, etc. This is to help fund the vision of a young lad leading his project to establish a dog park in town. 

Following the speeches and ribbon-cutting ceremony, music from an accomplished teenaged duo filled the air as the assembled crowd was welcomed to tour the clubhouse which features cozy rooms decked out with a donated pool table, hockey game, comfy couches, and quiet areas.  A monthly calendar of events includes special events, recreation opportunities, and school tutoring.

Personally, it was a highlight of summer 2021 to visit beautiful Thorndale and see creative, skilled young people gathered with families and friends to bring their dreams to reality.  Quiet pride shone on faces basking in the glow of what young people can achieve when encouraged by adults and supported by peers. Long live the little towns and villages that take pride in rural life and nurture families and children to become skilled leaders and solid citizens!

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj