We are always eager to see the first signs of spring—the daffodils and tulips and flowering shrubs and trees – that signal imminent warm weather and undiluted sunshine. Fiery pinks and vivid yellows explode in front of our eyes and white pears bloom in elegant profusion, creating a delirium of spring fever. But the growing season in New England will continue for another five or six months before the first frost lays down any new shoots. It is after all the hoopla of spring’s and early summer’s showy blossoms that late bloomers arrive, taking a little longer to make roots and shoots, and to muster their strength for blooming. But once they finally establish themselves, they seem to bring much more to the game. Among the brightest lights are asters, mums, sunflowers, sedum and late roses that can be appreciated in abundance long after the earlier blooming bulbs have turned to seed. These late blooms have staying power: in fact, they are often dried and placed in arrangements that look beautiful all winter long.

If you are a gardener, you know something about living in the moment, as well as in the past and the future – concurrently. That is what a gardener does: appreciates and cares for what is there, plans for what is to come, and knows what was there before – the history of what worked, and what did not. That perspective is always open to receiving information, processing it and creating something new, no matter what point one might be on the time-continuum. For example, U.S. Poet-Laureate (2000) Stanley Kunitz was 95 when he received that honor, and in his 70’s when he wrote the poem “Layers,” (see page 3) included in his last book “The Wild Braid: A Poet Reflects on a Century in the Garden” (2005). Anna Mary Robertson ‘Grandma’ Moses was 76 when she began painting her well-known homespun country scenes and age 80 when she took the art market by storm. Before she died, at age 101 in 1961, she had completed 3600 paintings in only three decades!

I am reminded of two conversations recently with two different individuals over the age of 80. Last night, a friend – a tiny lady with an awesome personality – recited the aforementioned poem, “Layers,” at a dinner with other friends. At 90 years of age, she recalled the poem from memory and related its advice, to “Live in the layers, not on the litter” to her own life, layered with losses as well as accomplishments and dreams, to the group at the table. In another conversation, a Cadbury Resident revealed how he had awakened that morning from a dream in which he was backstage at an opera, just before the curtain rose. He awoke before seeing the opera in the dream, but was so moved by the feeling of anticipation that he sang opera to his cat, and continued singing it while walking in the park that morning. That sense of joyful spirit permeated his day—and no doubt his cat’s too!

According to the New York Times’ obituary, poet Stanley Kunitz, who wrote “Layers,” ‘insisted the secret to his longevity was his attitude: “I’m curious,” he told People [Magazine]. “I’m active. I garden and I write and I drink martinis.” ….Of his work he told People: “The deepest thing I know is that I am living and dying at once, and my conviction is to report that self-dialogue.” ’ And thereby hangs yet another garden metaphor.

by Susan Burgess

In April of this year, I took on the delightful task of bringing Cadbury Commons outward into the larger geographic and social communities. As the Community Program Director since the spring of 1997, I already was doing some outreach, such as writing monthly newsletters, arranging art shows in our new gallery, adding to our online website and ‘blog’, and producing public programming. My new duties now include more personal contact in the outside communities, such as meeting counterparts from other Assisted Living sites and establishing personal relationships with referral sources, elder agencies and social networks. The task is somewhat similar to planting and sowing seeds in the larger community. Wherever we extend a hand to assist a community agency (such as Cambridge Council on Aging or Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services) to reach the seniors it serves, we are creating something that will support every Resident at Cadbury, directly or indirectly. Like nature’s cycle, everything extended outward will find fertile ground back home at Cadbury. Commons

by Barbara Booras

I surmise that many can recall their first day as a new Resident at Cadbury Commons. Maybe there was great sense of excitement, a feeling of joy to be close to a family member in the area, or back in the community they lived in for years. Perhaps, a Resident’s inner ‘great explorer’ was eager to venture out into the city to visit one of our many spectacular museums or to go on a long walk in the vast neighboring Danehy Park.

At the same time, I wonder if some of those same Residents might have felt anxious or overwhelmed. Not dissimilar from one’s first day at school, many Residents may just yearn to feel accepted and at home. As the former Dining Room Manager, I frequently observed that ‘first arrival’ of new Residents in the Dining Room.

A few months back during an intimate Food for Thought meeting, a fairly new Resident suggested the formation of a Welcoming Committee. I saw this as a great opportunity to smooth what can sometimes be a tough transition. In my new role as Director of Hospitality, I can assist with that transition.

Ideally, I would love to hold a casual Committee meeting within the week of a new Resident joining Cadbury Commons. Then, when the new Resident arrives, he/she will be invited to attend a ‘Welcoming Social.’ This will be an opportunity for a small group of current Residents to meet the new arrival and introduce themselves. The more seasoned Residents can share what they feel might be pertinent information and pointers for living in the community.

I look forward to facilitating these socials and to making our new Residents feel right at home. Our first social will be at the beginning of this month. I would greatly appreciate Resident participation and feedback as we develop this concept further. If you have any ideas or suggestions for the Welcoming Committee, please contact me directly. Cheers!

by Milton Sutton

From the New York Times to books on crime

From Newsweek, The New Yorker, The Economist and Time

From biographies of the rich and famous as well as novels galore

When you finish laughing and gasping, there is plenty more.

Yes, read the papers in your comfortable library chair, or take out a book or two from the varied shelves for reading in your apartment. The Cadbury library puts at your command a world of pleasure and wonder. And you may have noticed this: the people you admire most at Cadbury often have a book at their bedside day and night. Supplementing these volumes is our magazine rack, kept up to date and orderly by the dedicated efforts of Roberta Selleck.

Ed. Note: Each month a different group of books is featured on the library table for reading. Residents interested in joining the Library Committee are invited to contact Milton Sutton..

by Marie Curcio

Our Cadbury Commons Community Enrichment calendar continues to include the wide variety of quality programs and events developed over the years. There is, however, a renewed dimension to our calendar planning that is invisible to the Calendar reader. At least once (and more often twice) a month, Cadbury residents gather to review and discuss the merits the programs/events of previous weeks. Following considerable discussion, Committee then decides about the timing and/or inclusion or omission of future programs/events. We have come to appreciate this as an opportunity to “fine tune” the enrichment programs to the prevailing interests and needs of our residents. We have doubled the number of our fitness classes each month in response to resident choice!

We recognize that our Cadbury Independent and Assisted Living Community residents mirror the varying abilities and interests of seniors in the greater community at large and our monthly calendar of events must reflect this wide range of interests and abilities. Indeed, more and more, we find ourselves scheduling concurrent programming so that we may serve a greater number of our Cadbury Community residents in a given day. In any one month, for example, one hour of one day might offer residents an opportunity to take advantage of a program to “Maintain Your Brain”, a Classical Music Appreciation Hour or a Coastal Drive. On another day an hour might include concurrent programs such as a “Great Courses” Lecture and Study Group about the Islam Religion, a Swing Dance Group and Garden Planning. Some of our residents enjoy trips to local museums, lectures, concerts and conferences while others find pleasure in the offerings right here at Cadbury.

Abilities and interests vary. Our Enrichment Programs reflect this. We have in place a process for assuring that the Enrichment Program planning at Cadbury Commons is a participatory process– A Calendar Planning Committee. It is open to all residents and, while the committee members might not always be in agreement, each member respects the effort put forth by the participants to assure that the varied interests, needs and choices of our community residents are acknowledged and honored to the best of our ability.

Angela Andrikopoulos says she was just an “ordinary kid” when she took up the cello as a fifth grader in a public school orchestra program. But when she draws the bow across the strings and the instrument responds, it is anything but ordinary. Angela, a graduate student at the Longy School of Music, is the recipient of the Pappenheimer Scholarship, funded by Cadbury Commons Residents, the late John and Hylie Pappenheimer.

Last month, Angela played at Cadbury, along with fellow Longy School students Jenna Potts and Fan Fan on violin and piano. Shortly, Angela will return home to Billings, Montana for the summer. Next year, she will return to Longy for her final year, and after that, we predict she will be going places!

by Marie Curcio, Director of Resident Support

Part II:Tips for Coping With & Managing Stress

Last month I shared the New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association’s “10 Signs of Caregiver Stress”.
Following are some of the Association’s recommendations for coping with caregiver stress:

Educate yourself about the Care Receiver’s Disease:
- Search out sources of information about the disease
- Set realistic expectations for both yourself and the care recipient based on your understanding of the disease

Practice Self-Care:
- Avoid “burn out”, add guilt free breaks from care giving to the top of your scheduled list of things to do and take them
- Tend to your own health care needs, i.e., exercise, eat properly, get enough sleep, avoid use of alcohol and medication as aids to reducing stress
- Maintain a sense of humor
-Do things you enjoy
-Reward yourself

Learn to Let Go:
- Simplify your lifestyle to conserve your time and energy for what’s most important
-Accept that you may not be able to do things the way you used to, i.e., housekeeping, meal preparation.
Practice Stress-Reduction Techniques such as:
-Deep breathing
-Progressive relaxation
-Guided imagery
- Meditation

Ask for Help:
-Present family and friends with both task-specific and time-specific ways in which they can assist you.
-Explore available community resources

As a service to its Resident community and to the larger Cambridge community, Cadbury Commons will host a Mind & Body Wellness Fair on Thursday, May 13 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The day will begin at 8:00 a.m. with a presentation on End-of-Life Legal Issues in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which will satisfy 1.5 CEU’s for Healthcare professionals’ ongoing certification. This will be followed at 9:00 a.m. by Exhibitors who will showcase not only their health-related services and goods (such as health care referrals, home care services and equipment, nutritional advice, blood pressure screenings, personal and medical supplies, medication management, Alzheimer’s Disease support, financial and legal services) but also community resources to keep an active mind, such as creative aging programs and dance. Be sure to invite your friends to this event and share the wealth! Fliers are available at the Front Desk to give to your friends!

by Susan Burgess

Spring brings seasonal change and life faithfully follows its own rhythms and cycles of growth and renewal. This is something we expect to see each year and welcome the change warmly. Other changes happen whose outcomes are not so predictable. These can sometimes be measured in terms of losses rather than gains while the outcomes are being decided. Just to have made a decision to move from one’s own home to a community of apartments can be measured by losses and gains. On an imaginary ledger, one can add up the losses: of space, of independence, of sole dominion. But against those can be added the gains of simplicity, freedom, and a caring community. The old adage that everything is a trade-off proves to be truer the longer one lives. Over time the true cost of a change be comes more evident, as well as its longer-term benefits.

Often we may stay in situations, or jobs, or relationships that we know are not beneficial simply because we haven’t figured out which direction to go. We do know that change itself is inevitable, but what we don’t know is the trade-off until time shows it to us. In the transition time between the two, we need faith to step in and assure us things will work out for the better, as they always have before–faith and courage walking hand-in-hand!

These baby and toddler blankets were all crocheted by May Danberg for the Linus Project, a program which encourages volunteers to knit or crochet blankets, which are then given to little ones who are in a scary place, whether having been rescued from a fire or flood, or placed in the hospital for surgery. The Linus Project Coordinator to whom we send the blankets makes sure they are free of hazards (like pins) and big holes to catch hospital tubing. Then she launders and sends them to Boston Children’s Hospital.

The bright blankets are a source of comfort in an unknown environment and the children take them home with them. Cadbury has loads of brightly-colored yarns for the use of anyone who would like to work on their own creative design. Please see Susan for details as to size and to choose yarn and needles.