Cherish the Journey and Keep the Spirit of Family: November Events

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and, it is indeed a perfect time to celebrate with loved ones; so it is not surprising that our Alive in All Seasons focus for the month of November is families: Cherish the Journey! Matsuo Basho wrote "every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home". These beautiful words remind us of the importance of cherishing this journey of life through celebrations that bind us together; family and friends, nurturing our spirits and fulfilling us in deep and meaningful ways.

This month as we celebrate our Alive in All Seasons theme of family: "Cherish the Journey", we will be hosting many wonderful activities and events with our focus on family! We will be working with residents, families, associates and friends to create family trees and start autobiographical journals. We will enjoy rich and meaningful activities utilizing the traditions, customs and skills of many of our family members, friends and all the significant people that have impacted our lives. We will reminisce about favorite family recipes, learn about families in different cultures, and join together in giving thanks. These activities will foster the development of deep connections with one another, thus, allowing us to cherish and celebrate each others' lives. We will enjoy the opportunity to create and relish more memories of delightful moments along this beautiful journey of life together!

We invite you to join us as we celebrate the beautiful gift of family, sharing some of your time treasured stories, traditions, customs and wisdom gathered with your loved ones on your journey together! We are filled with gratitude as we give thanks for yet another year bringing joy to the lives of all those on our path! We wish all of our families and friends a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday overflowing with rich abundance! All this month we will also be hosting several highlighted family and community events that include: our Annual Food Drive benefiting needy seniors through the Colorado Gerontological Society's Holiday Basket Program all month, and our National Memory Screening Day interactive educational luncheon that features complimentary memory screenings and a virtual dementia tour on November 19 from 10 am until 4 pm. We encourage you to review our calendar and join us for any or all of our events as we celebrate families and Cherish the Journey!

Excellence in Caregiving Award: And The Winner Is...

And the Winner Is...

Consuelo Lopez was this year’s recipient of the George and Pat Sugarman Excellence in Caregiving Award. This award is presented yearly by the Alzheimer's Association to a nominated professional caregiver. Nominations are submitted solely by families of residents that caregivers provide care for. Consuelo has been nominated EVERY year the past seven years. This year she had several nomination letters that really caught the attention of the nomination committee. Consuelo received a cash award as well as a plaque to honor her. Our hats off to Consuelo...she's a most deserving person to have received the award!!

Juniper Village at Aurora had a total of 10 caregivers that were nominated this year, and has had caregivers nominated every year for the past decade. What is even more indicative of Juniper Village at Aurora’s quality of care is that two of their caregivers have won in the past three years (2011 and 2013). Each nominee received paid entrance to the Alzheimer's Symposium. The Symposium is a day full of education for caregivers, families, those living with Alzheimer's and related Dementias, and professionals. Among the many wonderful educational breakout sessions, the amazing key note speakers were Dr. Huntington Potter (Professor of Neurology and Director of Alzheimer's Disease Programs in the Department of Neurology and the Linda Crnic Center for Down Syndrome at the University of Colorado) and Maestro David Dworkin (avid chamber musician, conductor of orchestras across America and abroad, founder of acclaimed exercise program Conductorcise).