Commun ty Matters Topeka Presbyterian Manor
Cards that offer better words for a serious illness By Emily Gurnon for Next Avenue
If you have ever had cancer or another serious illness, you can probably make a long list of unhelpful things that friends, family and well-meaning acquaintances have said to you. “Everything happens for a reason.” “I read about this miraculous new treatment on the Internet!” “Oh, I knew someone who had that same thing and they died.” Emily McDowell, a cancer survivor, has heard them all. In response, the Los Angeles graphic designer came up with a set of eight “Empathy Cards” to be used when traditional “get well” cards just don’t work. She launched them May 2015. Another set is due out in December 2015, she told NPR’s Ina Jaffe in an interview, and available at EmilyMcDowell.com. A Terrifying Diagnosis McDowell learned 15 years ago, at age 24, that she had Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Among the potentially offensive comments: referring to cancer as “a journey.” WORDS, continued on page 4
October 2015
Art is Ageless®
Local artists featured in 2016 calendar Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America has announced the winners of its annual, system-wide Art is Ageless® competition, which features entries by artists age 65 and older throughout Kansas and Missouri. Two winning artists in Topeka Presbyterian Manor’s annual Art is Ageless® juried competition will join nearly 50 senior artists from Kansas and Missouri whose work will be featured in the 2016 Art is Ageless calendar and note cards. Local winners are automatically entered into a “Friendship is Ageless, Too” a painting by masterpiece level competition Barbara Fuller. with winners from 17 other PMMA campuses. The winners of the masterpiece level competition are featured in the annual Art is Ageless Calendar and notecards. “Friendship is Ageless, too,” a painting entry from Barbara Fuller, and “Crappie,” a sculpture from David Butts, will appear in the 2016 Art is Ageless Calendar. Art is Ageless, open exclusively to people age 65 and older, is a copyrighted program of Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America. For the competition, works must have been completed in the past five years. Artists not interested in competition were invited to enter the Art is Ageless exhibit only. ART, continued on page 2