Every one of our elders at The Gardens at Calvary is valued, respected and loved. Our staff remembers them long after they are gone. We always hold a special memorial service for elders who pass away even if they have not been living at The Gardens at the time of their passing. We honor them with the gathering of other residents and sometimes family of the one who has passed. It is a message we want our elders hear, “We won’t forget you.”
We began a tradition last year, on Memorial Day, of calling out the names of those who passed since the previous Memorial Day. During lunch, on Monday, May 28th, we will call out each name followed by two bells. Bells have a long tradition of use to call us to wake, to pray, to work, to arms, to feast and, in times of crisis, to come together. Above all, bells are the sound of freedom and peace as in World War II when they hung silently until the day they could ring in the peace. We will ring the bell on Memorial Day to call us to remember those who lived with us but now rest in peace.
As we did last year, this year The Gardens at Calvary will place a carnation on each table with the name of a senior who died since last Memorial Day. Twenty-three beloved seniors will be remembered. Together we will allow our lives to be touched by them again. Together we will say a prayer of thanks for them. Together we will remember on Memorial Day.
Norman Drummond, Chaplain
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