Commun ty Matters Wichita Presbyterian Manor
April 2016
Courtesy of ThinkStock
The surprising secret to really aging well By Barbara Knickerbocker Beskind for Next Avenue
As an occupational therapist and someone in my early 90s, here’s what I recommend to age well: good posture and a brisk 30-minute walk daily from early childhood on.This builds bone density and balance reflexes that reduce the impact of falls and injuries in later years. Walking has enormous benefits — emotionally and even creatively — as recent studies show.This is in addition to the well-known benefits to the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems. A sturdy gait pattern with alternating arm/leg movement helps maintain balance reflexes and strength in lateral hip muscles. Good posture goes hand-in-hand with good walking, stride and vertical balance. Going out for a walk midday frees up the frontal lobes from the clutter of study or business.This can enhance creativity as well as reduce stress and/or depression. POSTURE, continued on page 4
Mary Johnson, right, her son Greg, left, and grandson Webster. Greg is a sculptor who created the artwork directly behind them.
Car part art Westerly resident’s son turns auto parts into sculptures Mary Johnson’s son, Greg, has long been known for his talents at restoring wrecked cars. He started doing automotive body repair and painting in high school and opened his own shop in 1979. But Greg had the urge not just to fix, but to create. So, in 1996, he shifted gears. Greg built a sculpture studio in his auto body shop in downtown Wichita, where he fashions large-scale sculpture out of cast-off auto parts. In February, Mary, a resident of The Westerly Residences at Wichita Presbyterian Manor, accompanied more than a dozen of her fellow campus residents on a tour of her son’s studio. “They were all delighted.They said it was the best trip they ever had,” Mary said. The tour drew more men than usual, Mary added, and they were just as entertained by checking out the cars undergoing repair on the body shop side of Greg’s business.The studio, however, is dominated by bold, brightly colored works of art. Greg’s raw material is primarily old fenders, hoods, and other automotive salvage. He reshapes, repaints, and reimagines it as a glorious angel, SCULPTOR, continued on page 2
SCULPTOR, continued from page 1
a delicately detailed mother and child, a kinetic tornado, and more. A few of Greg’s pieces have also been installed in Old Town as public art, designed to move in concert with the Kansas wind. “It’s really interesting work,” Mary said. “The angel is 14 feet high -- he’s a big rascal. He can do delicate pieces too. The details in the baby the woman is holding are marvelous.”
Greg is one of Mary’s four children; three of them are still in the Wichita area.The whole family came to celebrate her 90th birthday at Presbyterian Manor in March. And they recently learned that Greg’s son, Webster, will follow in his father’s footsteps: he was accepted to begin the automotive design program at the University of Kansas next fall.
One of her favorite pieces was a little 8-inch pot-bellied man that she used to display at home; she returned it to Greg’s safekeeping when she moved to The Westerly.
Community Matters
is published monthly for residents and friends of Wichita Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org. Dawn Veh, executive director Jill Coleman, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Amy Watson, life enrichment director, awatson@pmma.org. Telephone: 316-942-7456 Fax: 316-941-3806 Address: 4700 W. 13th St., Wichita, KS 67212-5575 Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values. WichitaPresbyterianManor.org
Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s Post-Acute To Home (PATH®) program isn’t just about getting you home—it’s about getting you back to your life. Call 316-942-7456 today to schedule your personal appointment and tour. WichitaPresbyterianManor.org
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Community Matters April 2016
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The 2016 Art is Ageless competition and exhibit Scenes from this year’s Art is Ageless competition and exhbit. Watch for a full list of Art is Ageless winners in next month’s issue.
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POSTURE, continued from page 1
Current risks Poor posture, compromised gait patterns and less daily walking lead me to think that people under 30 in particular, but also others tied to electronic devices throughout their lives, have a heightened risk of early aging. Carrying heavy backpacks or sports bags causes the hips to thrust back to maintain walking balance when the shoulders are hunched forward. By age 50, people may already be at risk of losing their balance. Now consider the more common ills of aging, such as loss of joint range and flexibility, loss of strength in lower extremities, loss of balance due to a variety of causes and loss of vision. There’s an even greater need for maintaining good balance from the proprioceptors of the weight-bearing joints as well as the vestibular system of the ear. For those already in the aging arena, my motto is “stay vertical and moving forward.”This is best done by keeping “ears over hips and hips over heels.”
Tell us how you stay in touch! Staying in touch with your children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren often means getting used to using some new technologies. How do you use technology to keep up with your family? How has technology made life easier? How has technology kept you close to family and friends who live far away? If you’ve got a story to share about how you’re using technology, contact Life Enrichment Director Amy Watson, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.
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Community Matters April 2016
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