Notes from Nate: A Month of Milestones

Between the PGA Championship, Mother’s Day, graduations, and the annual Lilac Festival, the month of May is certainly a spectacular time in Rochester. The month contains many milestones as well as traditions; and for residents, staff, families, and friends at St. John’s, this has made for an especially busy and exciting time of year.

We welcomed back some of our favorite traditions, like the Mother’s Day Tea Party.  The beautiful fragrances of blooming lilac bushes and salty-sweet kettle corn once again filled the air around our campus as the Lilac Festival returned in full for the first time since before the pandemic.

We also marked some momentous milestones in our community. WXXI Public Media recorded an episode of Connections with Evan Dawson in our Community Center. The Community Center opened in late 2019 and was always meant as a place to invite the outside world in to share meaningful moments with residents and their families. However, soon after its opening, community gatherings in this and other shared spaces were delayed indefinitely. The source of that delay: the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic itself has also hit a major milestone recently, with the lifting of the federal public health emergency. This has re-introduced more freedoms and flexibilities into the lives of the elders we serve. No doubt, there is still a contagious virus, and the risk is severe where older adults live together. However, with the advancements in the care and treatment of the virus, those same elders can now begin to enjoy more of the aspects of living that the rest of our country was able to achieve much earlier.

The combination of traditions and milestones is not limited to the month of May. When we talk about our core belief at St. John’s to “Embrace Living,” we mean the ability to relive comforting memories while experiencing different adventures that create new memories. It is a cornerstone for our community throughout the year; one that will continuously evolve as residents help shape the experiences around them and friends and families join in to share in the creation process. Though the winter may be long in Rochester, we are the “Flower City,” and the blooms will always return.