Salina Presbyterian Manor
Chasing the Son
MARCH 2023
Residents find care at every level Nancy and Clay Thompson have experienced a number of changes in their lives since arriving at Salina Presbyterian Manor in September of 2020. Initially they dealt with the complexities of moving during the height of COVID-19, yet found a comfortable home at their Independent Living apartment. “We didn’t really want to make the move then, but I knew Clay would need more care,” Nancy said. “We were in Independent Living for a year, and I was able to keep him with me. After that first year, he had to move to Healthcare due to Alzheimer’s. But I can be with him every day and still have my independent apartment.” Despite COVID limitations, Nancy was glad they made the decision to move when they did - and it didn’t take long for the couple to make friends in their new home. “We couldn’t go to the dining room, but we could mingle with the people on our floor,” Nancy said. “Clay enjoyed that. We’d meet every day at 3:30 for coffee or tea. Clay and I knew so many people from church, we already knew a lot of people here.” Clay and Nancy “There are a lot of nice retirement areas, but we knew Clay would need care really quickly,” Nancy said. “We knew that Presbyterian Manor was a place where we could move from one level of care to another. And everyone has been wonderful. I am happy to be where I am.” Throughout the past two years, Nancy has found many ways to keep herself engaged, and use her talents, around the community. “I play piano at the memory care wing,” Nancy said. “The activities department asked if I’d start coming over and play. I also play in healthcare and they love to sing the old songs as I play. ” Despite some of the challenges with Clay’s health, Nancy has been thankful to live in a community that offers all the care they need, and to be surrounded by people who make life fun. “Once we could get back to the dining room, you just get to know everybody in there,” Nancy said. “I’m very lucky to sit at a table where we laugh at each other and our lack of memory sometimes. I tell them it’s good medicine for all of us.” Both Nancy and Clay had careers in education - Clay as a school administrator and Nancy as a 1st grade teacher. They have four sons, with two still living in the Salina area.
Thompson – continued on page 2
By Dave Parker Mercy flows from God. His gift to us. We are all sinners, deserving of God’s wrath. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He Dave Parker loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved through faith (Eph 2:4, 5).” Love is one of God’s innate attributes. He shows the power of His love for us in that despite our natural tendency toward sin His response is grace and mercy. In His mercy God does not give us what we do deserve and in His grace He gives us what we do not deserve. The two really go hand in hand, but with a slight difference as you can see to give us the full picture of His love for us. Through His grace He gives us mercy from His wrath that we deserve. It’s that simple and our worship response to glorify Him is to be merciful to others. Our worship response to God’s mercy is to be merciful to others. I watched an episode of a TV medical drama recently that really nailed this. A man’s wife was trampled during a mass evacuation after a vigilante gunman fired into the crowd at a young boy who had used a leaf blower to prank the audience that he had a gun. The young boy who was shot by the gunman was fighting for his life in the hospital and needed an immediate liver transplant or he would die. The only available donor was the man’s wife who had just died from the injuries she had sustained from being trampled. After a conversation with the chief of staff, the man signed the waiver to donate his wife’s liver and the transplant was successful. The story
Chaplain – continued on page 3
Get the latest on visitation and COVID-19 at our campus at SalinaPresbyterianManor.org/covid-19.
1