Our Stories

Celia is always looking for a challenge.

A talented painter, Celia Chaikin has a love for all art. She’s tried her hand at everything from upright weaving to soft sculpting, and has even considered jewellery classes.

“I work mostly with colours, since I was a child, I always wanted colourful things — colourful clothes and colourful beads,” Celia said. “I always loved art. I always wanted to be an artist.

Celia’s art is often large in scale, and wildly colourful. She likes to use different mediums, and often uses tissue paper to give her paintings texture. Her favourite artist is Matisse. “I like to paint in colours, I like abstracts. I just put it down and I match colours,” she said.

“It was pretty inspirational to see her artwork and the different mediums she used,” said Diane Toth, lifestyle consultant at Peninsula Retirement Residence in Surrey.

When Celia, who is 86, moved into Peninsula last December, she and Diane spoke about her love of art. Diane asked Celia if she’d like to have a small art show, to show off her works, and Celia said yes.

The art show, which happened in April at Peninsula, was a huge success, with residents and staff stopping in to enjoy Celia’s work. Someone even bought one of Celia’s more vibrant paintings.

“The woman who bought it said she liked the picture because Celia used such bright colours,” Diane said.

Celia’s sold a few paintings over the years, and been part of a couple art shows, but says she was never very good at promoting her art. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t do it for the money. I do it for myself,” she said.

As a young woman, Celia said she was too preoccupied with a posting in the Israeli Army as a look out to go to art school, though she would have liked to. In 1950, at the age of 20, Celia moved to Canada. Her early days in Canada were spent in Montreal, where she met her husband and worked for Air Canada. “I was the worst secretary alive,” she said with a laugh. She had three children, and after 18 years in Montreal she moved to Toronto. Twenty-four years later she moved to Vancouver.

On top of crossing the country, Celia’s taken trips all over the world, and speaks three languages: German, Hebrew and English. “And I understand a little bit of French — I can get by,” she said.

Although Celia didn’t have a chance to go to art school when she was younger, she has made up for it. She’s taken several art courses at the Ontario College of Art and done many art workshops. She has an assortment of books, which she uses for inspiration.

“That’s one thing that I always grab with me. Some of them can’t be replaced,” she said.

Her books have helped her through hard times, including the recent passing of her husband.

“It takes time to get passed the grief, but I am getting there. I’ll be okay,” Celia said. “I’ll look in my books and I’ll find inspiration there again.”

Now, her suite at Peninsula is covered in art. “It’s just all over my walls. Upstairs and downstairs and sideways, just surrounded by it,” she said. “And I love music, I play it all the time, and that inspires me as well. Mostly classical music, sometimes jazz.”

“I just love to get inspiration and exchange ideas,” she said. “I always believed in sharing my art with others, and when you do that you’ll learn from them. Some artists don’t like to share any of their, quote-un-quote, ‘Secrets,’ I don’t feel this way. I feel that we should all share.”

“Her paintings, her work, is always full of life. It makes me feel like… I feel joy when I look at it,” Diane said.

“That’s what I want. If it gives people joy, that’s all I need. Then I am happy,” Celia replied.
 

A small voice calls out to a full room. In the child’s hand is a small ball with a number and letter. Bingo is in progress.

“Do we have it?”

The child sitting beside Catherine is in a wheelchair, and he’s looking at her hopefully. Catherine is in her 80s, and has been a resident at Traditions of Durham Retirement Residence in Oshawa for six years. Today, the children from Grandview Children’s Centre have come up to the residence to play games for an hour. It is the first time the kids have visited, but it’s gone so well that several meetings have been planned for the future.

“We’re going to take a few residents up in a couple of months and try to return the favour, go in and do some crafts with the kids,” said Melanie Leroux, Lifestyle Consultant at Traditions of Durham. “Then on Halloween the school will have the kids come here and parade their costumes, because a lot of parents go all-out in making these costumes, but a lot of the kids can’t go out at night.”

The kids from Grandview Children’s Centre all have disabilities, some physical and others cognitive. The 16 children who visited Traditions of Durham were between five and 11 years old. Many of the games the residents and children played were brought over from Grandview. Candy Land and Barrel of Monkeys made an appearance, as did the residence’s bingo game.

“Some of the games were specially designed for the children that needed assistance with trying to grab and pick up,” said Melanie. “One child, who was deaf, had this wonderful book. When he wanted to tell the residents something, he we would point to a picture and it would tell the resident what he was trying to say.”

“They were absolutely a joy to be with,” said Catherine. “You look at them and you watch the little faces and they’re so innocent.”

Melanie said that the residents were delighted to see the children, and that they are all very excited for the scheduled Halloween visit.

“It gives us such joy to see the little ones come in,” said Catherine.
 
 

Muskoka Shores Care Community began hosting an annual walk for the Alzheimer’s Society last year. Since then, the walk has turned into a monthly stroll enjoyed by both residents and team members.

“It’s a very simple program, but it was very successful,” said Shari Ecclestone, director of resident programs at Muskoka Shores Care Community in Gravenhurst. “We even have staff coming in on their days off to assist with the walks.”

The difference between this walk and all the other programing offered at the home is its scope. The entire home, all the residents and team members, are involved. Everyone comes out for the walk and the monthly walks it has inspired, which take place from April to October as the weather allows.

“The staff loved being able to help get the residents out,” Shari said. “Staff have said they enjoy relating to the residents outside of their regular jobs… and getting to see the residents on a different level.”

Team members are encouraged to go out for at least 15-20 minutes during the walks, taking one or more residents with them.

“It’s nice because they talk to each other and socialize,” Shari said. “It’s a lot of fun. You’ll see about 20 people out at the front. It’s just a really nice outside social.”

Well over 100 people participated in this year’s Walk for Alzheimer, with 62 of them being residents. Muskoka Shores raised $455 for the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.

“It was a real feeling of community,” Shari said.

Situated in the middle of a short street, the placement of Muskoka Shores is ideal for the walks and gives residents a chance to walk as far and as long as they’d like. Balloons, glinting white and blue in the sun, line the entire street and music fills the air as residents, team members, family, and members of the community join together for the walk.

“Often after people have finished the walk they don’t want to come back in the building,” Shari said. “So they stay out, and we have a little social outside while the other people are doing the walk.”

Shari initially got the idea of hosting a Walk for Alzheimer event after residents asked her about the events held in both Bracebridge and Huntsville. However, those walks were too far away for the residents to have a chance to participate, so Shari brought the walk home.

“We have found that by having the walk at our home, we get so many more participants and many more residents can enjoy the fun of the day,” Shari said. “The residents were thrilled that they were able to participate and help out the Alzheimer’s society.”
 

There was a sound in the night.

“Our night housekeeper thought that there was a bird in the lounge, because of the chirping,” said Krista Hazelwood, lifestyle consultant at Island Park Retirement Residence in Campbellford. “Then we realized that the hatch had happened.”

The night housekeeper wasn’t wrong, there was a bird in the lounge. More specifically, KJ, short for Krista Junior, one of many chicks brought to Island Park as part of their critter visits event, had finally broken free from its shell.

The chicks first arrived at the residence as eggs in an incubator. A local company dropped off the incubator, eggs, instructions and all other equipment the home needed. For 21 days the chicks would remain in their shells, with residents and staff checking in on them constantly and waiting excitedly for them to hatch.

Krista posted a notice beside the incubator, which listed the optimal temperature and humidity. Whenever residents or staff noticed a fluctuation, they would rush up to Krista so that the incubator could be set right.

Meanwhile, a pot filled with potential chick names began to grow beside the incubator. Residents, staff and family were all encouraged to put a name in the pot. As chicks hatched, a name was pulled.

“We had a variety of names,” Krista said. KJ was born first, but there was also Nugget, Dixie and Chick Norris, among others. 

“The residents were very excited. I had one lady say that she’d quickly eat her breakfast so that she could run up to see the chicks,” Krista said. “Their days very much revolved around these chicks. They checked on them in the morning and they’d get excited when they would see one starting to hatch. The staff were totally involved in it as well. Before every shift change the staff coming on would go and check the chicks or they would cuddle them... So everybody was involved.”

Hatch notices went up for each chick, with a picture and their name, and residents would often come to spend time and hold the chicks.

“It was easy to see the joy in the many faces as these chicks snuggled into their hands,” said Krista. “The softness and newness of these little creatures was something to be experienced.”

 Because of its location, many residents at Island Park used to be farmers. Krista said that many of them had expert advice, and that it brought back memories for them. For residents from the city, the rewards were just as great, giving them a chance to see something like this for the first time.

Krista said she enjoyed the hands-on element of the program, and watching the residents interact with the chicks. “There was constant activity around the incubator, around where the chicks were hatching, there was someone around there constantly.”
 

When award-winning filmmaker Wim Roozeboom moved into Pacifica Retirement Residence at the age of 93, there was still some space in his trophy cabinet for another crowning achievement.
 
Having had a 50-year career making documentaries, it seemed natural to apply his skills interviewing fellow residents at three of Sienna’s retirement residences in British Columbia: Pacifica, Peninsula, and Astoria. These interviews turned into a collection of memoirs, which under Wim’s direction and keen sense of good story, became a published book: Welcome to Walker Ville—launched on his 95^th birthday at Pacifica on February 17.
 
The official book launch at the retirement residence was standing room only, with the home serving punch, appetizers and cake to residents, team members, community members and local dignitaries.
 
“All in all it was a fantastic event that I’m sure Wim will cherish for the rest of his life,” said Alysha Belton, a retirement counsellor at Pacifica. She helped organize the book launch that also recognized twenty other residents who contributed their personal stories.
 
In what was a collaborative effort, residents provided historic photographs and poetry for the book, which recounts a full serving of romance, comedy and tragedy—often as parts of the same story.

To produce it, Wim conducted almost two dozen interviews over eighteen months before deciding that the manuscript was ready for publication.
 
“It was kind of an assimilation program that grew once the residents got interested,” Wim said. “I was hoping to make it a thicker book, but after a year and a half of working on it, I thought I should cut it off and publish it.”

The 255-page book includes a snippet from Wim’s own lifetime of adventures. Born in Holland, Willem or “Wim” as he prefers to be called, immigrated to Alberta with his parents at the age of five, and grew up in Vancouver during the late 1930s. After serving as a pilot during the war, and surviving being shot down off the coast of New Guinea, he returned to Canada and built a successful career as a documentary filmmaker.
 
His transition to authoring books came about in 2011, at the age of 90, when he published his autobiography Through My Viewfinder about his film assignments. The following year, he published a second book with his wife Marguerite entitled The Camera and the Brush, detailing their prolific careers making films and travelling the world together.
 
Marguerite, who moved to Pacifica with Wim but sadly passed last year, worked alongside her husband as a commercial artist and film animator. She wrote an early chapter of the book in which she confides that her initial love interest was actually Wim’s brother, who was killed during the war. When Wim returned to Canada after serving overseas, the two fell in love and were married.
 
In his accustomed style, Wim is not waiting around to bask in the glory of his latest book, and has already started work on a sequel.
 
“The book I am writing now is called ‘The Sunset Years,’ and I have two stories completed and two more in the works,” he said with great expectation. “It includes the story of a 90-year-old resident who was a fighter pilot in the German Luftwaffe. He was also shot down, and you will have to read the book for the rest of his story.”

The benefit of Wim writing these books has really been twofold for residents at Pacifica. Wim has been able to continue living fully in the practice of his lifelong passion for storytelling. And through this, other residents have been able to share their personal stories, poetry and photos in a published book, as well as participate in an important life review process.
 
It’s a win-win, especially with sales of the book selling out at the launch party. During the ceremony, the Mayor of White Rock presented Wim with a birthday certificate from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and the Queen of England sent an acknowledgement for his birthday, his book, and his contribution to the Canadian film industry.
 

Music plays over the PA system of a nearly-empty dining room. Breakfast is over. Among the empty chairs and deserted plates, Ted and Sophie are dancing.

It is one of the first times he has danced in nearly 10 years.

Ted Phillips started dancing as a teenager. He’d almost always attend Friday night dances at his high school, which were well organized and had live music. He taught himself to dance, and avoided the jitterbug whenever possible.

After high school, a four-year stint in the US Navy and four years of university, Ted became a librarian. In 1966 he moved to Canada.

“I arrived in Kingston around New Year’s Eve 1966,” said Ted. “From California, believe it or not, in the middle of winter.”

The snow didn’t bother Ted, who’d lived in snowy places before. Before retiring he worked at three university libraries in Canada—two in the Maritimes and one in Ontario. At some point he got married; and while a lot had changed in Ted’s life since high school, his love for dancing had not. He and his wife would often go out dancing. “I did it for so long… I just, it was just part of my life,” said Ted.

But that was before his wife went into long-term care with dementia and he slipped on the ice, breaking his left kneecap and his right arm.

Now, Ted can barely remember the last time he danced.

“It’s been several years, I don’t know… Eight? Ten?” said Ted. “I really can’t be sure of the last time my wife and I went dancing.”

Ted moved into Royale Place Retirement Residence in Kingston nearly a year ago. Soon after, he joined the Live It Fit Everyday (LIFE) program, a personalized, 8-12 week physical-activity program run by student occupational therapists and fitness health students. The program is geared to resident goals and has both group and one-on-one activity sessions. Ted has gone through the program twice and is signed-up for a third.

Ted prefers the one-on-one sessions. “I thought that was great because she stood there and led me through the exercises,” he said. The students also leave him exercises to do on his own, which he does most of the time. Ted said he thinks the one-on-one sessions are a great idea because they encourage people to do their exercises even when the occupational therapist isn’t around.

Since signing-up for the LIFE program, Ted’s mobility has improved. So much so, that he began thinking about dancing again.

Ted’s CD player is in use almost every night. One night, K.D. Lang’s voice filled the room while he read a book, already tucked into bed. It was a slow song, and while Ted lay there, he began to wonder.

“That’s a nice little piece,” he thought. “That’s a danceable piece of music… I wonder if I could...”

Ted put his book down and got up to his walker. He stood and began to move his feet, finding that he could move to the music.

“I thought, wow I can do this! I can move my feet to the music!” said Ted. “I thought, well I wonder if I can dance with somebody, a real person instead of my walker…”

Thushanthi, a student occupational therapist, worked closely with Ted during his second round in the LIFE program. One week into her work with Ted, he wanted to try dancing.

“We practiced dancing to one song, and I remember at the end of the track he was so happy, that he hugged me and said, ‘I can’t believe I did it,’” said Thushanthi. Thushanthi said that she and Ted continued practicing dancing whenever they had a session. She slowly increased the number of songs they danced to, and employees told her Ted often danced on his own with his walker.

For the first time in years, Ted was dancing again.

“Once I got going it just felt so natural,” said Ted. “That’s the only way I can put it, it felt like, well I can almost say it felt like it should have happened. I was so pleased with myself that I could do it, and it just made me feel good all over that I was able to do it after all these years.”
The first weekend after dancing with Thushanthi, Ted got a chance to dance with his two daughters.

“I was as happy as a clam,” said Ted with a laugh. “If clams can be happy.”

Ted has danced with five people since his experience with the LIFE program. Thushanthi and another student working at the time; his two daughters; and Sophie, a friend of Ted’s granddaughter who works at Royale Place.

At the end of their time together, Thushanthi and Ted danced in front of the LIFE group session.
“I remember,” said Thushanthi, “When we were dancing together in front of the residences, I could see the joy in Ted’s face every time I glanced up to look at him.”
 

You know you’re well liked when the dishwasher signs a petition to name you resident of the year.

Sandra Boyle says she is a “just do it” kind of person. When there is a problem she does something about it, which is why she was nominated for the British Columbia Seniors Living Association Resident of the Year 2015 award.  

“I often help people, like drive them over to the hospital and that sort of thing,” Sandra said. “So a lot of people know who I am.”

Although Sandra didn’t win Resident of the Year, in the six years she’s been living at Astoria Retirement Residence in Port Coquitlam she’s introduced a variety of altruistic ideas and programs. She introduced a program benefiting homeless seniors, which is called Seniors Helping Seniors; helped found Astoria’s volunteer ambassador program; and does whatever she can to help her fellow residents and boost their spirits.

“It’s a good thing to do. It keeps me busy, keeps me happy and everyone here is kind of proud of it too. The rewards are just as great for us as they are for them,” Sandra said about the Seniors Helping Seniors program.

Now 79, Sandra started Seniors Helping Seniors when she was 77 years old. The program came about after Sandra read that the Senior Services Society didn’t have enough resources to deal with the large population of homeless seniors. Sandra called the society and asked what she could do, how she could help, and was told that it would be really great if she could collect furniture for apartments so that when the society found a home for a senior it could be well furnished.

Sandra rose to the challenge. She started doing 50-50 draws once a month and letting anyone moving in or out know that if they had furniture they didn’t want it could help others in need.

Emily Curcuruto, Lifestyle Consultant at Cedarvale Lodge Retirement Residence in Keswick, was nominated for the 2016 Change our World Community Award by Douglas Hickey, a teacher who worked closely with her on the Cyber Seniors program.

“Emily provided such an incredible opportunity for my students to learn so many valuable life skills. It has changed them forever!” said Doug.

The Cyber Seniors program, which had its first run at Cedarvale Lodge in 2014, used technology to help bridge the generation gap between high school students and seniors.

Every week for two months, Emily drove 11 seniors to Keswick High School where they would meet Doug and his students. The students and seniors would then pair together and pick-up where they had left off the week before, a computer or iPad between them. It quickly became evident that there was much more to this program than students teaching seniors how to use the Internet—they were building connections. Slowly, friendships were building, and by the end of the two months everyone was sad to see the program come to an end.

“It was the opportunity to do something different within the home and to actually create these long lasting relationships with residents and high school students,” Emily said.

Cedarvale Lodge has a co-op program with Keswick High School that pre-dates Cyber Seniors, so Emily and Doug had worked together before. Which is why when the idea for Cyber Seniors started swirling around in Emily’s mind, she knew Doug was the person to talk to about it.

“Doug was phenomenal during the whole thing! He was my cheerleader right beside me and definitely an amazing partner to work with,” Emily said. “I couldn’t have done the program without him.”

The award ceremony took place on April 26 at the Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts. Although she didn’t win the award, Emily said she was honoured to stand on stage with such influential people.

“When I read what the actual award stood for… I was very humbled by it to be honest with you,” Emily said. “I didn’t expect any awards. I just wanted to do a program that would be meaningful for the residents and the students. I just wanted it to be as special for them as it could be.”
 

A published poet, Ian Bruce has written more poems than he knows what to do with—and he only began writing them last summer.

“I just thought it was a challenge, and I wanted to write something. I’d never done it before,” Ian said. “[Now] I’m doing it every day. I mean, since lunchtime I’ve written five poems.”

Ian, a resident at Rockcliffe Care Community in Scarborough, began writing after attending a group writing program led by Jocelyn, a program assistant. At one of the sessions, Jocelyn mentioned that there was a poetry competition being held by the Poetry Institute of Canada, and that she thought it would be good for people to write something for it. Ian’s poem Places in my Life won, and was published in the book The Tracery of Trees in January.

“From that time on I got hooked on writing poems and can’t seem to stop,” Ian said. “I wake up in the morning [and] I’ve already got two or three running around in my head.”

Ian likes to write in the lunchroom, because it’s big and open. He’s not distracted by the other things going on in the room, and is able to sit and disappear into his own world with ease. He usually writes until about three in the afternoon every day. His poems are about anything that comes to mind, whether it’s a part of his past or something that’s recently happened.

He said that writing keeps his head clear, and he finds that when his head is clear he’s more active.

“It’s just something that seems to click in my head and I can do it. And I try to encourage others to do likewise. Not necessarily write but… find something you can do and do it. There’s a lot of value in life, why waste it?” he said.

Ian knows a bit about life, as Places in my Life shows. The poem jumps from London, England, where Ian was born, to Malaysia, where he briefly served in the army, to Toronto and Rockcliffe, where he now lives.

Ian joined the British Army in early 1960, hoping to pick up a trade. At the time, you could join the army and learn a trade, as long as you applied it to the army. Ian learned heating and air conditioning. He got sick while in Malaysia (Malaya at the time) and was given medical discharge.

He stayed in England for a while before moving to Toronto. When he was writing Places in my Life, Ian said he sat down and just started thinking about what he’d done and where he’d been.

“I was thinking about what to write about, and I thought: Well the easiest thing to write about is myself, and that’s what I did. I wrote about where I lived,” he said.
 

The branches reach up and away, grasping at memories of the past and the possibilities of the future.

A family tree is all about connections. Connecting the past to the present, to the future. Lincoln Park Retirement Residence, in Grimsby, now has such a tree painted on a wall in the lobby and laden with pictures representing the past and present of Grimsby. The Gallery Wall was unveiled during Lincoln Park’s open house on April 23^rd, and was put together with the help of local Historian Dorothy Turcotte; Bryan Macauley from Village Photography, who took photos of Lincoln Park residents; and Grace Cowling, a local artist and resident, who donated a drawing of a Meadow Lark, a type of bird known to gather on the residence’s property.

“Each of these pictures will have pride of place on the tree design in our lobby. It will be the centrepiece of our lobby and will be an opportunity for all who walk through our doors to see the pictures of those we care about and the history of our great town,” said Cheryl Janssen, General Manager of the retirement home in Grimsby.

Life-long learning and a willingness to embrace new things defines this residents’ council.

Silverthorn Care Community recently became one of three winners in the Share Your Story contest run by the Ontario Association of Residents’ Council. They were recognized for “cultivating meaningful community links by bringing arts and culture to the home,” and for “working together to enhance the quality of life for residents.”

Silverthorn’s council has introduced a Strolling Minstrel program, where a paid performer roams the six dining rooms serenading residents as they eat. It also sponsors three Smile Theatre performances a year, which are open to residents and family. Smile Theatre is a charity that creates and presents musical theatre productions for older adults.

“The powerful experiences created by these small groups of performers leave our seniors feeling engaged, inspired and uplifted,” said John Graham, Resident Council President.

The council is open to all residents, with about 15 usually coming to the monthly meetings. Brainstorming is a huge part of the meetings, resulting in several innovative ideas for keeping the arts alive being implemented at Silverthorn.

A few years ago, the council bought three iPads for the residence, which have “expanded our horizons and eroded previously-perceived barriers,” said John. “We can escape through music and images… and feel the coveted immediacy of human connection through applications like Skype and FaceTime.”

“Living in a care community doesn’t mean that we’re isolated or cut off from the world,” said John. “We live for experiences that stoke the fires within us and make us feel alive and connected. Bringing forms of art and culture into our home is just one way we accomplish this, one day at a time.”

The stove is hot and the table is set!

Stacks of flapjacks took the stage in Astoria Retirement Residence’s General Manager Breakfast last March. Michael Traquair, General Manager of Astoria Retirement Residence and a certified Red Seal Chef, sets one morning aside every month to cook breakfast for a few residents. He then sits and talks with them during the meal.

“I wanted to really connect with the residents beyond our normal meetings,” Michael said. He said that he enjoys cooking for them, and that the residents seem to enjoy the breakfasts as well. The breakfast is so popular that there is a waiting list.

March’s meal was a stack of mouth-watering pancakes with a side of bacon and sausage. Michael says that he usually tries to incorporate local products in the meal, such as fresh berries or farmer’s sausage.

“It’s a real community thing as well,” Michael said.

The writing is on the wall, right next to the fabulous photographs.

On January 21, the unveiling‎ of fifty resident portraits went on exhibition in the Rockcliffe Care Community dining room. Residents, families and friends turned out to see the event, which is a new, ongoing and popular program at the home, available to all residents.
 
The portraits were taken by a professional photographer, mounted on black and white plaques, and displayed on easels with a small biography or statement from the resident or their family. Afterwards, they were hung along the first and second floor corridors, with preparations underway on another fifty for the following event held on February 26.
 
“Our portrait studio program was created to give residents an opportunity for self-expression, and provide them with meaningful leisure experiences,” said Mandy Parmanand who developed the studio as Director of Resident Programs at Rockcliffe. “It is a way to welcome residents and visitors with a great sense of arrival when they come to our community, and is truly a representation of the warmth of human connection.”
 
Mandy spoke with residents to see what their individual needs and interests were before settling on the idea of a resident portrait studio. Team members assist residents to write a short paragraph or quotation to best describe themselves, and help them to prepare for their photos.
 
Mario Reyes is a resident at the care community who participated in the portrait program. “The photo is great, but I’m better looking in person,” he said with a smile.  
 
Arnold Gedmintas visits his wife at Rockcliffe on a regular basis, and said, "It truly felt like you were walking through an art gallery. I see how difficult it is for these people suffering from a multitude of ailments. At one time, they were full of life, and this event has helped to accentuate this feeling again.”
 
He especially likes the pairing of photos with words. “As I read the various narratives, there are people from all walks of life, from various parts of the world, each with a very interesting story to tell. This reminds me not to judge a book by its cover, and to use the good dishes because life is not a dress rehearsal. Kudos to all those who made this successful event possible,” he added.
 
One hundred portraits have now been placed throughout the Scarborough care community, giving the hallways a very homely feel. Many of the employees have been deeply touched at witnessing residents and their families coming together through the studio.
 
With no shortage of wall space at the home, these portraits and more will continue to line the hallways for all to enjoy and admire.