VOLUME 3, ISSUE 2
from OY to JOY
FEB. 2010 SHEVAT – ADAR 5770
FREE
A DEN VER JEW ISH SENIOR ACT IVI T Y GUI DE
Bess Brown’s New Year’s Resolution By Elaine Lee
adapted a suggestion from storyteller Cherie Karo Schwartz. Innocently,he floated an e-mail requesting relatives and friends of Bess to send a memory of an experience they had shared together. Each memory was to be e-mailed to Bess as a “gift” on one night of Chanukah 2009. Not surprisingly, memories poured into her in-box. For example, here’s the remembrance that was written for Bess: The eighth night of Chanukah is the brightest and so reminds our family of Bess. She introduced us to twinkly Blossoms of Light one December when our children were tykes and could barely keep pace with her enthusiasm for the wondrous sights. Since then we have repeated wintry visits as her chilly-but-enchanted-guests at the Denver Botanic Gardens, often Bess Brown’s New Year’s Resolution Continues on page 13
Bess Brown, April 2006 Life is busy.New years come,and new years go.People everywhere grow older. However, some folks are so busy living, no matter this passage of time, that others are compelled to pause to appreciate them. Bess Brown of Denver is one of those people whom others recognize as somebody special and whom they appreciate — a person who shares life so graciously that love surrounds her and admiration crowns her at age 94. Her adult children have been trying for years to persuade her to write down memories about her life, but she has been too busy and too reticent.After all, she’s most interested in living in the present and finding out about other people, not in parlaying her words for posterity or dwelling on herself and her recollections. So in hope of gathering at least some pieces of her story to inspire future generations, her son, Dr. John Brown of Pennsylvania, recently
CONTENTS Senior Resources Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02 Community Senior Activities • Allied Jewish Apartments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03 • BMH/BJ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03–04 • Congregation Rodef Shalom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 • Hebrew Educational Alliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 • Jewish Community Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04–07 • Jewish Family Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07–08 • Temple Emanuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08–09 • Temple Micah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–11 • Temple Sinai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11–12 JCC & Network Activities Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14