Nurturing Connections

On a Tuesday afternoon in July, Meg Brooks joined Suzette Verkozen in her bedroom in Camphill Ghent’s Adult Home. Suzette’s tidy, sun-drenched room was decorated with photos, and a stained glass clownfish glowed orange in the window above her bed. Meg had set an adjustable desk at the right height for Suzette to video chat with her sister Emmy, who lives in California.

Suzette was asleep in her chair while Meg and Emmy called and texted back and forth. After a few minutes of struggle—over entry codes, lost connections and a few other frustrations—Emmy appeared on the tablet screen.

“Suzette? Suzette, can you lift your head? Look who’s here,” Meg said softly. “Look at the camera.”

Meg donates her time to Camphill Ghent as a volunteer. She’s been facilitating these conversations between Suzette and her siblings for about a year now, but other volunteers did the same before she took it on.

For many, the ability to pick up the phone and catch up with a sibling can be something we take for granted. But the value in those conversations—

To learn more about volunteer opportunities, please write to admin@camphillghent.org speaking with someone you’ve known your entire life, connecting over memories of places you lived, and family members and friends who have come and gone—is immeasurable.

“As you can see, there’s not much actual conversation that goes on,” Meg said, adding that when she first started assisting Suzette in her weekly calls with siblings, Suzette had more to say and didn’t tend to be as sleepy. “Mostly it’s that they see Suzette. They see she’s well dressed, they see she’s being well cared for. And I think that has turned out to be the most important thing.”

Suzette slept peacefully through the sound of her sister’s voice while Emmy recalled Suzette’s decades of relationships and activities in Camphill; before retiring to Camphill Ghent, Suzette lived in Camphill Village Copake from 1966 until April 2012.

“One of the activities that you participated in was the bell choir,” she reminded Suzette. She was proud to describe Suzette’s accomplishments in Camphill Copake, where her art is forever part of Fountain Hall. ”Those beautiful windows all the way up the stairs—she worked on all of those,” she said. “And she has also done embroidery, she worked in the Bookbindery, she worked in the seed shop, she worked in the doll shop. I mean all kinds of things.”

It became clear that the textiles, the stained glass, and photos in Suzette’s room aren’t new. Rather, they’ve accompanied Suzette throughout her adult life. Of Suzette’s ability to continue in a Camphill community where she’s familiar with our rhythm, people, and spiritual life, Emmy says, “it’s critically, critically important.”

“I’ve noticed this in other residents as well that it’s important here, that they continue with the same people,” Emmy said. “Obviously, there are staff changes and all that, but there’s a continuity there.

It’s not like going to a nursing home where you’re in a world of strangers. There are people from Copake who have moved over to Ghent, and the other people there, she’s known for all these years. She’s lived with them in their homes and done activities with them, and that’s a really big deal.”

In between her mini naps, Suzette would perk up and smile at her sister. Meg said that depending on the day, Suzette will say, “Oh, that’s my sister Emmy,” or, “That’s Kate,” or, “That’s Uncle Peter.”

She turned to Suzette.

“Even though you’re not necessarily talking a lot, you still are getting a lot out of these conversations and seeing things,” she said. “There’s no way for us to know exactly. I think it’s a mystery of the mind.”

Just as Emmy, Suzette, and Meg said their farewells, Suzette perked up in time for lunch in the cafeteria. It was fresh chicken pot pie prepared from scratch that morning—a perfectly comforting and nutritious dish to enjoy among friends.

Camphill Ghent is fortunate to have volunteers like Meg, who are local and enjoy spending time with elders. Meg first connected with our community when she heard about our classical music concerts, which she still attends.

“The day volunteers like Meg who spend time with our residents in the Adult Home make a world of difference in our days. They read to us and accompany us for nice long strolls in the fresh air,” said Amanda Pierro, Camphill Ghent’s executive director. “Camphill communities consider the lifetime of contribution and remaining potential we carry into our elder years, and caring volunteers like Meg provide wonderful companionship throughout this period.”

Suzette designed and created this stained glass clownfish in Camphill Village Copake years ago. It now lives in her bedroom window in Camphill Ghent’s Adult Home.

Kathleen Leitner harvests currants from the bushes she maintains throughout the year.