North Shore Living
January 2025 Newsletter
Jean Marie Modl
Over the Christmas holiday, I spent two days with the real Santa Claus, Santa Dan. Santa Dan looks like Santa Claus but also has a natural kindness and quiet friendliness that people respond to in a way that is magical and nostalgic. Everyone was happy to see Santa Dan, even perfect strangers who did not expect to see Santa Claus on Christmas. Santa Dan presented a gift and kind words to each resident at the care center and each patient at the hospital over the Christmas holiday. When Irene saw Santa Dan, she sang out, “Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus, right down Santa Claus Lane!”
Irene had an important birthday to celebrate this month, she turned 104 years old. Irene remains active and curious as she enters her second century of life. Irene was born in 1921 just in time for the roaring twenties and only three years after the end of World War I. We had two parties to mark this special occasion: a Happy Hour party and a special family party. During the family party, everyone who wanted to help celebrate Irene’s 104th birthday enjoyed some cake and ice cream. It was my pleasure to present a beautiful flower bouquet to Irene from her children. Together we admired the red roses, the calla lilies, the yellow daisies, and the other flowers. The bright colors and gentle fragrances were a special treat on a very cold winter day.
Our new hairdresser, Lindsay Pearson, made sure that everyone looked their best for the holidays. Lindsay travels from Silver Bay to look after us and she enjoys working with elderly clients. She has personal connections in Cook County and along the north shore, so she often knows residents’ family and friends. We really enjoy her visits each month. Hair salon day is a happy day at the care center.
My mom and I, Lou and Susan, Ethel and Anne Marie, we are mothers and daughters. What we daughters have in common is that each of us had the opportunity to form adult friendships with our mothers. We shared common interests and common values. And those friendships were open to other people so that I got to know Susan’s mother Lou through Susan, and Anne Marie’s mother Ethel through Anne Marie.
My mom passed away 24 years ago, but Ethel and Susan just passed away this January. Sadly, I lost a new friend and an old friend this month.
Just as her mother has, Susan lived a life devoted to other people. She was an Occupational Therapist (OT) and became an exceptional hand therapist. After practicing OT for 20 years, she returned to Grand Marais and joined her mother in the Goodell Abstracting business. Susan was invited by her university to return to school and become a rural physician. She would have been an excellent doctor. But she understood that she would be looking after her parents. Susan devoted the last twenty years of her life to her parents’ care and support.
At the care center, Anne Marie helped each of us understand that her mother Ethel remained curious and adventurous in spite of the challenges of getting older. We each enjoyed sharing stories with Ethel and listening to Ethel’s stories. We especially enjoyed Ethel’s sense of humor. She liked to make us laugh.
Over the holidays, I asked Ethel if she was going to make any New Year resolutions. She thought about it for a moment and said, “It’s hard for me, because, well, I’m just perfect.” We had a good laugh and I loved Ethel’s idea that the current version of ourselves is just perfect.
There are many different ways to understand the end of life. One thing I believe is that loved ones are carried in our hearts and live on in our memories.
Rosemary Clooney sang a beautiful song called “Time Flies,” by Jimmy Webb. You can find it on the internet. The melody is very beautiful and the lyrics include these phrases:
Life begins and spirits rise. They become memories that vaporize. The vapor becomes the dreams we devise. While we are dreaming, time flies. While we are dreaming, time flies.