Caring for One Another

January 9, 2021

January 8, 2021

All Lenbrook Community Members:

Wednesday’s events at the Capitol were troubling to me and I am sure to you as well. We can clearly hear and see how events like this affect every member of our community. We have all experienced different lives, and those experiences lead to very different reactions to societal events from our members.

For me, Wednesday was troubling because it highlighted the division in our country. Division at a time when unity would advance us so much more. But unity is difficult when there is polarization and a desire to categorize people and ideas into groups.

I think this worries me so much because I cannot help thinking about how this negative polarization could impact our community and obstruct our need for unity. We are in troubling times. We have all been facing so much stress and distress and yet we have so far to go still. We are fortunate to have very diverse members within our community. Our feelings about many issues are simply different and we are all facing different challenges. These differences make us vibrant and interesting and I am grateful and appreciative of these differences inside our walls.

The word that I have heard repeatedly from various members of our community is Caring. Care is a word that is at the heart of conversations quite often at Lenbrook. I have often said everyone at Lenbrook cares. That is the nature of our community. But unless you demonstrate that you care, the other person might not know. It is truly heartbreaking to hear people wonder if “we” care. To anyone that does not feel “we” care, I am sorry. We all care so very much about the members of this community and every member is important to us.

We are at a time that I would like to ask each of you to think about the importance of caring for each other. Residents, associates, family members…we are all unified with a desire to successfully get through this pandemic and the difficult social times as a community. And maybe even be a better, more caring community once we do.

I will never forget the lesson that Dr. and Mrs. Schwarzschild taught us. Their daughter came to Lenbrook to personally give each associate a copy of Aesop’s Fables with a quote highlighted: “No Act of Kindness no matter how small is ever wasted.” She told me that no matter how bad a day her parents might have been having, a simple hello or smile could change how they felt about life on that day.

Please consider that anyone you see right now might be feeling troubled. Please consider that their troubles might be different than yours. Consider, if you can, giving someone the gift of a telephone call, a smile (your eyes still show it), a hello, or call them by name, or if you really want to create impact sincerely ask them “how are you?”, and be ready to stop and listen. These are some of the greatest gifts we can share with one another – as a community of residents, associates, friends and neighbors who care about one another.

With Gratitude,

Chris Keysor

Lenbrook – President and CEO