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Walking is easy to do and offers many benefits:

Seniors on a nature hike

What’s not to like about walking? It’s free. It’s easy to do, and it’s easy on the joints. And there’s no question that walking is good for you. Walking is an aerobic exercise; a University of Tennessee study found that women who walked had less body fat than those who didn’t walk. It also lowers the risk of blood clots, since the calf acts as a venous pump, reducing the load on the heart. Walking is good for you in other ways as well.

  1. Walking improves circulation. It also wards off heart disease, brings up the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and strengthens the heart. Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder and the University of Tennessee found that post-menopausal women who walked just one to two miles a day lowered blood pressure by nearly 11 points in 24 weeks. Women who walked 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of stroke by 20 percent.
  2. Walking shores up your bones. It can stop the loss of bone mass for those with osteoporosis, according to Michael A. Schwartz, MD, of Plancher Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in New York. In fact, a study of postmenopausal women found that 30 minutes of walking each day reduced their risk of hip fractures by 40 percent.
  3. Walking lightens mood. A California State University study showed that the more steps people took during the day, the better their moods were. Why? Walking releases natural painkilling endorphins to the body – one of the emotional benefits of exercise.
  4. Walking can lead to weight loss. A brisk 30-minute walk burns 200 calories. Over time, calories burned can lead to pounds dropped.
  5. Walking strengthens muscles. It tones your leg and abdominal muscles – and even arm muscles if you pump them as you walk. This increases your range of motion, shifting the pressure and weight from your joints and muscles – which are meant to handle weight – helping to lessen arthritis pain.
  6. Walking improves sleep. A study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that women, ages 50 to 75, who took one-hour morning walks, were more likely to relieve insomnia than women who didn’t walk.Senior couple on a nature hike
  7. Walking supports your joints. The majority of joint cartilage has no direct blood supply. It gets its nutrition from synovial or joint fluid that circulates as we move. Impact that comes from movement or compression, such as walking, “squishes” the cartilage, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the area. If you don’t walk, joints are deprived of life-giving fluid, which can speed deterioration.
  8. Walking improves your breath. When walking, your breathing rate increases, causing oxygen to travel faster through bloodstream, helping to eliminate waste products and improve your energy level and the ability to heal.
  9. Walking slows mental decline. A study of 6,000 women, ages 65 and older, performed by researchers at the University of California, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more. The women walking 2.5 miles per day had a 17-percent decline in memory, as opposed to a 25-percent decline in women who walked less than a half-mile per week.
  10. Walking helps you do more, longer. Aerobic walking and resistance exercise programs may reduce the incidence of disability in the activities of daily living of people who are older than 65 and have symptomatic OA, shows a study published in the Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management.
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It is Spring Time at Kirby Pines

March – in January it seemed so far away, but in February it appeared to be so very near and now here it is. A month filled with the excitement of spring and all the wonders of nature that spring brings. A walk around our manicured campus reveals signs of spring in every courtyard and along the nature trail encircling the lake.

Thursday, March 19, 2020, is the first official day of spring. What a great way to move into the month following the “wearing of the green” on St Patrick Day. Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow last month, so we can be assured that warm weather will be here in March. That is of course if you believe that a groundhog can predict the weather.

Beginning in March some of you may be rethinking your New Year resolutions – however, with warmer weather, there is no reason not to stay true to more exercising by walking outdoors, or joining the garden growers or going with other residents on-site visits for the new Curiosity Series.

Spring is definitely here. So get ready for a joyful month of springtime festivities at Kirby Pines

Michael EscamillaMichael Escamilla,
Executive Director,
Kirby Pines

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Sacrificial Love

Photo of A Tale of Two Cities book

Charles Dickens, in his remarkable story, A Tale of Two Cities,
wrote:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,
it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,
we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,
we were all going direct to Heaven,
we were all going directly the other way—
in short, the period was so far like the present period,
that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received,
for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

This great novel unfolds the loving sacrifice one man-made for another. Sidney Carton, bearing a remarkable likeness to the imprisoned Charles Darnay facing imminent death, made a prison swap and substituted himself for Darnay, stepping to the French Revolution guillotine. Carton’s love was not so directly at Darnay as it was to his beautiful wife who chose Darnay in marriage, not Carton. What must Carton have been thinking as his time of death arrived? Here is what is recorded:

I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace.

I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honored and held sacred in the other’s soul, than I was in the souls of both.

Charles Dickens

I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honored men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place—then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day’s disfigurement—and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.

It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.

Carton tearfully hears the execution of the seamstress who had traveled with him to the place of death and who recognized he was not really the Darnay condemned to death. He is then pushed towards the slot where the blade would fall.

How you draw good out of evil. Think not only of the past and the dangerous now but of the joyful future to come. Too often the world threatens to crush us. Our problems seem much greater than any solution.

Dickens is so right. Today is like the day he wrote about. Is our life making any difference? Are we making any sacrifice, whether great or small? It may not be as monumental as Carton’s but it can make a change now and in the future.

Our Lord has set the pattern. Simply read Isaiah 53:4-12, Ephesians 5:2,I John 2:2 and many more scripture texts that declare the density and vastness of the Lord’s loving sacrifice.

Ask Him for strength to follow His example. You may be writing a new novel!

Till next time, Don Johnson, Kirby Pines Chaplain

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Curiosity Series: Be Human. Be Humane.

Thousands of animals are neglected or abused in Memphis and Shelby County each year. Hungry, scared and injured, these animals face a bleak future. That’s where we come in. Since 1933, the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County (HSMSC) has been providing shelter, food and medical care for thousands of injured, neglected and abused animals.

HSMSC is a limited-intake facility that never euthanizes an animal for time or space reasons. We accomplish this by managing our intake, utilizing many wonderful fosters, and having a network of volunteers who work tirelessly to help us with training and promoting our adoptable animals.

Heart paw shapeWith support from animal lovers, we are able to help prevent animal abuse as well as help injured animals in Memphis and Shelby County. We are able to provide animals with refuge to recover, nutritious food and outstanding veterinary care. On average, we provide sanctuary to over 100 animals at our facility at any given time, with dozens more placed with foster families until they are ready to be adopted. And we are dedicated to giving these animals a brighter future and improving human lives through animal companionship.

An important part of our work is giving theses animals the emotional support, training and socialization that will allow them to be adopted into new and loving homes and long-lasting relationships. Did you know that all seniors (65+) received a special 50% discount off of our adoption fees? That is just one way we try to make adoption a reality for anyone that can provide a loving home for one of our residents.

From our founding until today, our funding comes exclusively from private donations from animal lovers. The cost of operating the HSMSC for one day is $4,500! The expenses of a full-service animal rescue operation are considerable, particularly the veterinary care that allows us to focus on animals that have been injured, abused, and neglected.

To see the pets available for adoption, check out volunteer opportunities or learn more about the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County, visit their website at www.memphishumane.org.

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Resident Spotlight: Donna Griffin & Merry LeShane

 

Donna Griffin & Merry Le Shane

THE LOVE OF TWO SISTERS

Love is a relationship that we all experience in some form and at some level throughout our lives. There are different types of love: one being the special love or bond between the siblings of a family. Margaret Mead, the anthropologist wrote “sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.”

Someone else has said that “growing up with a sister can be trying at times. They get into your stuff, can be weird and troublesome-but having a sister means you have a friend for life. They will always be there for you, no matter the circumstances”.

Such could describe the sisters, Merry LeShane and Donna Griffin. Although there is a 12-year difference in their ages, that acorn of bonding planted in early life has grown to an oak-sized love for one another as they have matured. This is their story.

Merry and Donna were born in Memphis and into a family experiencing the trying times of the depression years. The parents understood hard work but considered a high school education as sufficient for life. Girls were expected to get married after graduation from high school and create their own families. This is what Merry and Donna did. Merry married and moved to Miami. She had one son. Donna married and stayed in Memphis. She has 2 daughters and 4 grandsons.

However, both Merry and Donna had higher ambitions. Merry graduated from the University of Miami with a B.S. and Masters in Education and Counseling and worked 25 years with the Miami Public School System. Donna waited until her daughters were in school and fulfilled her dream of becoming a nurse. She spent most of her career in cardiovascular ICU at St. Francis Hospital. Donna says she loved taking care of patients and shunned any management positions. She was happy when her 2 daughters followed in her footsteps and became nurses as well.

Due to the age difference, Merry and Donna were not close growing up. With Merry living in Miami, their time together was infrequent. However, when Merry visited Memphis, she and Donna would spend an entire day at Goldsmiths Department Store. There were also retreats when Donna visited Merry in the cabin she owned in Blue Ridge, GA. Donna recalls that these visits occurred 2 or 3 times a year and they just enjoyed getting to know each other and having lots of fun.

Merry Holding Donna - 1943
Merry Holding Donna – 1943

When Merry and Donna’s parents became older and besieged with health problems, it fell upon Donna to be their caregiver. Although frequent phone calls kept Merry in the loop, she felt she was needed to help with her parent’s care. So, in 1997, she retired from teaching snd moved back to Memphis. “Merry was such a blessing as I still had a family and a full-time job. We divided up the needs. I continued with their medical care and Merry with their finances” recalls Donna.

Merry has loved to dance since the age of 5. When she moved back to Memphis, she joined the McWherter’s “Steppin’ Out Dancers”, dancing with the group for 18 years and until her back said “no more”. Merry was accepted as a close family member by Donna’s children. When Merry’s son died unexpectedly in 2014, Donna’s sons-in-law took vacation time to go to Miami to take care of his estate, arriving back in Memphis with a big bird, a McCaw named Paco in tow.

Merry and Donna began their research on retirement communities when their parents began having severe health problems. They found care to be extremely fragmented and expensive. Merry had attended several events at Kirby Pines and learned about Life Care offered to all residents. When Donna’s husband, Jim, began showing signs of dementia, they both decided that Kirby was the right choice for them. Merry moved to Kirby in September, 2017. Donna and her husband, Jim moved in 2 weeks later. Because of Jim’s declining health, he had experiences with Job’s Way, Rehabilitation Unit and eventually Hospice. Donna says, “we were able to visit and stay in the room with him from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and he received excellent care in all 3 areas”.

Both Merry and Donna are very involved in activities at Kirby. Merry volunteers in the Blossom Shop and attends the Book Baggers. “She has cared for everybody’s dog or cat in I Wing”, says Donna. Donna is currently serving on the Advisory Committee, loves line dancing, enjoys the exercising opportunities and the Book Baggers. You can see them in the Bistro having breakfast together or eating at the same table in the dining room at night. They are almost inseparable as they go to the same hairdresser, nail salon, doctor and grocery store.

The love these 2 sisters have for each other and others is apparent. Their positive attitudes and friendly dispositions represent the caring and love available to each of us as members of the Kirby family.

Written by Joan Dodson, Resident, Kirby Pines

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Cardiovascular Wellness

Love Your Heart
How many times in your life have you stopped, looked at the life choices you were making and thought, “I need to do better.” Maybe you thought you should change your diet, exercise more, stop smoking, or be more careful about blood pressure or cholesterol.

Research shows those who can reach cardiovascular wellness goals by age 50 can expect to live another 40 years free from heart disease and stroke. What are those wellness goals? Let’s take a look at Life’s Simple Seven, developed by the American Heart Association.

  1. Managing Blood Pressure. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the single most significant risk factor for heart disease. It’s sometimes called “the silent killer” because it has no symptoms. One in three American adults has high blood pressure, yet about 21% don’t even know they have it. Of those with high blood pressure, 69% are receiving treatment, but only 45% have their blood pressure controlled.
  2. Get Active. The evidence is clear: people who exercise have better health than those who do not. A recent American Heart Association survey shows that fewer than two out of every ten Americans get the recommended 150 minutes or more of moderate physical activity each week.
  3. Control Cholesterol. Everyone has cholesterol. It’s the waxy substance in your bloodstream and cells. Some cholesterol is important for good health, but too much cholesterol in your blood puts you at major risk for heart disease and stroke. When too much LDL (or bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up inside the walls of your arteries that feed your heart and brain. Cholesterol particles combine with other substances in your blood to form plaque. This can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible, putting you at major risk for heart disease and stroke.
  4. Eat Better. Eating for good health means choosing lots of fruits and vegetables, whole-grain carbohydrates, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products. You might have to train yourself to avoid foods and drinks with high sodium or added sugar. Another perhaps surprising part of healthy eating is to regularly include fish rich in Omega-3’s. It’s great for your heart and your brain.
  5. Lose Weight. If you’re overweight, don’t waste your energy feeling guilty or bad about it. Instead, do something positive. BMI is the key. BMI is a height-to-weight comparison that helps you identify the healthy weight target for your height. If your BMI is higher than 25, you need to bring that number down. Losing weight means changing the balance of calories into calories out.
  6. Don’t Smoke. Even if you’ve smoked for years, your body can start the repair process as soon as you stop. If you’re ready to start your plan for smoke-free health, it’s a good idea to talk with your healthcare provider. Medication can be helpful for some people during the kick-the-habit phase and research shows combining medical and behavioral therapies can increase success rates.
  7. Reduce Blood Sugar. Your digestion turns all carbohydrates into sugar or glucose which is then carried throughout your bloodstream to give you energy. Complex carbohydrates like whole-wheat breads and grains, and fruits and vegetables take longer to digest, helping to keep your energy supply steady. But simple sugars, like sweets, donuts, and white bread are very quickly converted into glucose, which can cause your body to call for extra surges of a hormone, insulin, to help regulate the energy supply. If your blood sugar is high, as often happens when you maintain a diet with too many simple carbohydrates, there will be a growth of plaque in your arteries. Diabetes is treatable but very dangerous and can often lead to heart disease and stroke. Even if you don’t have diabetes, you need to know your blood sugar level. Be sure to get a blood sugar level test after fasting at least every three years, because controlling glucose is an important part of stopping heart disease before it starts.

    8. Remember, Life’s Simple Seven work together to help you build a better and stronger life, so by investing in improving in one area, like your blood sugar levels, you are likely to improve your weight and nutrition, too. However, without a plan, you’ll be at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and other illnesses and disabilities. You may see an increased need for surgeries and other medical treatments, and you’ll almost certainly face a diminished quality of life.

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Heart Health!

Retired woman lifting weights

Your heart beats on average 115,200 times per day without you even thinking about it; sending nourishments and oxygen to all areas of your body. February is the American Heart Month reminding us to keep our heart healthy by diet, rest, and exercise. Your heart is a muscle and exercising makes it stronger and healthier. Research shows that people who do not exercise have a greater risk of heart disease than active people. Like all exercise programs, check with your physician before beginning any new regimen. So, “What exercise works best for my heart?”

Aerobic or cardio exercise like walking, swimming, or biking raise your heart rate and making breathing a little harder, but do not go so fast that you cannot catch your breath or be able to carry a conversation. Three to five times a week for 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise is recommended by the CDC. Ten or fifteen minute sessions work just as well as 30 to 60 minutes. Our water aerobics and the Sit and Stand Exercise classes will get your heart rate up without wearing you out. Also the Nustep, treadmill and recumbent bike can raise your heart rate and monitor your heart rate, too.

Stretching is also important. Be sure to stretch after warming up for a few minutes and after each exercise session to keep your body more flexible. Stretch gently (no pain) and hold your stretch for at least 30 seconds. We offer Tai chi and Yoga classes to provide full body stretching as well as water aerobics and sit and stand classes that finish with stretching.

Strength training uses weights and resistance like with stretch bands or in water, and even your own body weight (yoga). Do strength exercises 2 or 3 times a week resting a day between sessions. The Oasis has weight resistance equipment for upper and lower body work. Resistance levels can be increased on the Nustep and the bike.

It is never too late to begin an exercise habit. Start gradually 10 – 15 minutes at a time and increase slowly… If you experience pain or pressure in your chest or trouble breathing, stop immediately and get medical assistance. A little soreness in the beginning is normal, but if pain lasts more than 2 hours after exercise it may mean you have overdone it. After a few weeks, you can increase your workouts for longer sessions and add more resistance gradually. Exercise is a key to a healthier heart. Check out the schedule of exercise classes or make an afternoon appointment with Mary Hand (369-1334) if you want to learn more about the equipment in the Oasis. Remember an active life leads to a healthy heart.

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It’s All About the Love at Kirby Pines

Happy Valentine’s Day! This is the month for all of us to let those special persons in our lives know just how much they mean to us. As well as to reminisce about receiving something special from a “secret” valentine and how wonderful that may have made us feel. Well, this tradition goes back for centuries.

February 14 was originally dedicated to two ancient martyrs named Valentine. Valentine of Rome, who suffered martyrdom about AD 269. He was a priest and doctor who is said to have treated patients even if they could not pay. The other was Valentine of Terni, who in AD 197 was named bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian. However, far more prominent historically is Valentinius of Alexandria, an influential Gnostic teacher and a candidate for Bishop of Rome. In his teachings, the marriage bed assumed a central place in Christian love. While European countries celebrated Valentine’s Day for centuries, British settlers most probably imported it to North America in the 19th century.

The first mass-produced valentines of embossed paper lace were produced in the United States in 1847, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Their creator was Ester Howland who took her inspiration from an English valentine she received, and her father sold her creations in his book and stationery store. Her valentines were meant to be given to “one’s true love”, and for many years in the United States these were the only individuals that exchanged valentines. By the early 20th century, valentine cards were being exchanged among family members and soon to friends. The practice of exchanging cards was extended to all manners of gifts in the Untied States in the second half of the 20th century.

On this Valentine’s Day, whether you are giving or receiving a Valentine, I hope this little gesture makes you feel wonderful all year long. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Michael EscamillaMichael Escamilla,
Executive Director,
Kirby Pines

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We Only Have Today

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Denny Mog in Touched by an E-mail, pp. 121-122, has some interesting insights for our New Year. He says, “There are two days in every week about which we need not worry.

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone!

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow, with its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise, whether in splendor or behind a mask of clouds. But it will rise. Until it does we have no stake in tomorrow for it is as yet unborn.

This leaves only one day: today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is when you add the burdens of two awful eternities – yesterday and tomorrow – that we break down. It is not necessarily the experience of today that disturbs one’s peace of mind. It is often the bitterness of something that has happened yesterday and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.”

Truly said! Unchangeable moments of the past and unknown probabilities of the future can paralyze us into incomprehensible inactions in the present. Dare we afford to allow what has happened or what might happen to strap us into frustrating failure in the present? Now is the time. Today is the day. This is our choice. We truly only have this moment. Whatever the Old Year may have presented or the New Year offer, we have a new start as our present moments unfold. Someone said the past is gone, the future not yet happening. Now is a gift. That’s why we call it the “present.” Let’s ask God to keep us and it in the palm of His hand and give us strength to use it wisely.

One great thing that transcends it all is mentioned in the text of Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ…the same yesterday, today and forever.”

Till next time, Don Johnson, Kirby Pines Chaplain

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Resident Spotlight: Shirley Anderson

 

Shirley Anderson

♥ A SERVANT’S HEART ♥

What motivates someone to provide an act of kindness to others? Could it be the good feeling about self that is the reward? Or, perhaps it is something GOD plants in the heart of someone so that others in need can be served? The latter explanation probably best fits Shirley Anderson, who unquestionably spends many hours each day volunteering and helping others.

Perhaps Shirley’s desire to help others came about as the result of her humble beginning. The youngest of six children, her family struggled to survive. As a result of financial circumstances, Shirley was born in the John Gaston Hospital, the city hospital, on January 23,1935. Shirley remembers, “our family lived in a ‘run-down’ shack in Ellendale (suburb of Memphis). Our house burned to the ground when I was five years old and our family moved to Memphis and I have lived here ever since”. Because both parents worked, Shirley spent most of her summers at South Side Park where she became interested in many sports, including tennis which she continues to play occasionally.

Shirley attended A. B. Hill Elementary and won the school’s spelling bee contest while in 7th grade. She attended South Side High School where she was a cheerleader for three years. “I had a great time in high school and was honored to be voted Best Dancer and Most Popular Girl my senior year”.

Graduating from high school in 1953, Shirley could not afford to attend college. So, she found employment at MLG&W. She became involved in a sponsored bowling team that played at Southern Lanes. There, she met a handsome, young man who was working his way through college. The man was James William “Jim” Anderson and they were married in September of 1959. Shirley continued working at MLGW until motherhood came along. The first daughter, Leslie was born in 1961, the second, Tracy in 1962. “We got the shock of our lives in 1965 when I gave birth to twin boys, James Christopher “Jim” and William Timothy “Tim”. The doctor didn’t even know I was expecting twins. Four children in less than five years, I was quite busy for a few years” says Shirley.

Shirley and Jim Anderson
Shirley and Jim Anderson

The family moved to Germantown in 1971 and Shirley remained a “stay-at-home mom” until 1975 when she became employed as school secretary at Farmington Elementary. She stayed there until the last child graduated from college. By that time the daughters, Leslie and Tracy had married and the grandchildren started arriving. Shirley’s husband, Jim, was then Superintendent of Shelby County Schools, an appointed job which he held from 1985-1997. During this time, Shirley was able to devote time to and enjoy her four grandchildren. “I did a lot of volunteering work at church and Ronald McDonald House”. Jim also liked serving others and for two years they spent every Monday morning, in all kind of weather, serving breakfast to the homeless in a park in mid-town. “I felt so blessed to be able to do this” says Shirley.

Since moving to Kirby Pines in August 2014, Shirley has been constantly busy. Not long after moving to Kirby Pines, Jim began showing signs of declining health and Shirley devoted most of her time to caring for him. Jim’s move to the health care facilities here at Kirby motivated her to see the need for her services in those areas. Since Jim’s death two years ago, Shirley has devoted countless hours to activities for the residents there. In a more public light, Shirley is currently serving on the Advisory Committee, having formerly served as Wing Leader. You can see her in every resident entertainment venue, in the Blossom Shop and transporting residents from the health areas to Vespers every Thursday night. You might see her filing music in the “music closet” or assisting with memorial services. “I’m happy to transport or run errands for anyone who needs help”, says Shirley. Such a statement comes from a true servant!

Shirley is currently a member of Germantown Church of Christ. She was baptized at age 17 and has consistently been involved in all church activities. In Shirley’s own words, “I, like most people, have had hard times in my life, but GOD has gotten me through them. I believe He always will. Since Jim’s death, GOD has led me to many great people and so many opportunities to help others here at Kirby Pines. This is a great place to live. I thank GOD for blessing me with these opportunities and for all the others who serve in so many ways”.

Shirley Anderson is certainly an example of someone with a true servant’s heart. She, like many others at Kirby Pines provide in excess of 30,000 hours of volunteer service each year. We are truly blessed to have so many residents who devote their talents to making life better at Kirby Pines and so fortunate that Shirley and her husband, Jim, decided to make Kirby Pines their forever home.

Written by Joan Dodson, Resident, Kirby Pines