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Cameron Von St. James

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My wife Heather and I will never forget the day that changed our lives. It was November 21, 2005; the day she was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, and the day I was given a job for which I was not in the least prepared — a caregiver to a cancer patient. (more…)

These are the faces of Co­lum­bia Uni­ver­si­ty staf­fers who spent their morn­ing packaging Morn­ing­side Vil­lage Heat E­mer­gen­cy Tote Bags with supplies for vulnerable sen­iors, including bottled water, hand-held battery operated fans and flashlights with batteries, some canned and dry food stuff — all things to help tide one over in a power blackout until help arrives. But that’s not all! Then, they delivered them. Later we heard how much they appreciated the experience of helping neighbors. And, this is what we hear all the time in Morningside Village. People seem to LIKE helping others! Thank you Columbia University neighbors!!

It’s not that I have dementia (a word derived from the idea of “demons of the mind”) or memory loss per se, my uncle used to say. It’s that my mind is too full, and some of it just has to go to make room for more! He was always able to keep his sense of humor about memory loss, despite the serious ramifications for an elderly person and those who care. But, there are some tools out there to help us when an elderly relative or friend cannot function comfortably on their own.
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For over two years, Morningside Village has benefited from the discussions and activites of its Steering Committee.  It consists of a group of volunteers who are able to contribute to the smooth running of the program.  Current active members are Barbara Alper, David Broad, Erin Broad, Rob Hornsby, Denyse Kapelus, Tom McGovern, Francoise Noble, Rebecca Nieubuurt, Erica Teutsch, and Irene Zola.
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Joseph Schwartzman was the first of three deaths in Morningside Village this autumn.  He was one of the village’s first senior members, and his volunteer team served him until the day he died, peacefully in his own home as he had wanted it.
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Sad news for the vil­lage: our dear Dolores has this day died.

Send­ing love to all of you who, to­geth­er, have made her last year and a half a pla­ti­num one, com­plete with a­mus­ing stor­ies, touch­ing mo­ments, les­sons learned, cheer­ful trips to the doc­tors miles away, love­ly gifts, prop­er me­di­cal and other at­ten­tions, kis­ses on the fore­head and lots of love.

This past summer, one Morningside Village senior in his mid-eighties amazingly entered the age of technology.  He has always been well-read, often spending an afternoon in the library.  But, he had a hankering to join the computer age, even though he was without a computer and knew nothing about them or even about using a keyboard. He’d easily made it through his formative years, through his procreative years, through WW II, as a U.S. Marine in the Pacific, through a career in grounds management, yet he was feeling that he had an insurmountable hurtle, making it into the computer-centered culture.

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One volunteer, Lisa, expressed her sense of guilt whenever saying goodbye to the senior that she visited once a week. Lisa said, “I have made a commitment to visit M.R. for one hour on Mondays. Every time I get ready to leave, she gracefully says something like, ‘Of course, it’s time to go.’ But that doesn’t stop me from feeling guilty. It’s that look in her eye. I know she really wants me to stay.” And, then Lisa and I talked about ways that might help. She could leave the senior with a book or other object that would represent the volunteer’s presence in M.R.’s household beyond the hourly visit. After a few months, Lisa was still complaining of that feeling: she hadn’t done enough: she was “guilty”!
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Friday: I get a call from H.  She’d been up all night, between worry and shivering, with a reaction to a strong antibiotic she’d taken for an infection.  The drugstore just delivered a better drug, but she needs help.  Since I’m all the way downtown when the call comes through, I just dial the number of R., a trusty volunteer who lives two blocks away from H., and give her H’s number.  Sure that I can leave the matter with R., I continue with other things on my agenda.
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