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Showing posts from January, 2024
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 "If I have already answered this, that is why I don't need to be doing it. The short-term memory has left me in a strange situation."  When I first asked my new friend if he had considered working in the children's ministry at our church I did not know he had short term memory loss. I have known him for several months and had not noticed. He is kind, shakes my hand when I see him, and ask " Keith how are you doing today." Until I asked  him to teach with me in our children's ministry which has several linear steps to get "approved" required, did I learn of this memory loss.  I cried when I got the text. I knew that many people would not understand and many people would just back away. I experienced this when I was 12-13 years old with one of my favorite people. Alvin Rohlack, my grandfather. Alvin you see had a disease called Huntington's. Named after a Dr. Huntington who first described the neurological degenerative disease. You see my gr

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

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                    "All labor that Uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence!" Martin Luther King Jr.  Happy MLK Day! We are thankful for the uplifting spirit embodied by Martin Luther King Jr. In 2009, founder, Keith Rohlack found himself drafting a all staff training. He searched for a quote that he felt would connect with residents and staff in a effort to find a uplifting voice. Finding the above quote he knew this would not only do that but actually become his personal Why statement to his career in senior living and the inspiration of his adviser business Uplift Senior Advisers. At that time he was the Executive Director at The Court at Round  Rock and found this quote inspiring to those who came in contact with it. Fast forward 13 years and enter Carole seen here:  You see while Keith was serving in Tyler Texas in the spring of 2022, he had a visitor drop in one day, Carol. Carol had not always been a Smith County

Uplifted...

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Are there people in your life you look forward to visiting? Someone you have not seen in a while come to mind?  What is it about them that causes this feeling? Are they encouraging to you? Do they listen well? Do they speak truth to you?  When I think of uplifting people in my life, people I look forward to seeing again, I think of Pete Self. He seemed to have a way of uplifting others, loving them well, and welcoming them. When Pete, his wife Katherine, and I first met I can remember how they made me feel, welcomed! You see I was in line of 100s that have been guest of Pete and Katherine Self. They loved hosting and welcoming people into their home. “He was an encourager.  He always lifted my spirits.” Pam G. What about you? Who are you thinking of? Maybe take a Purple Balloon, a Guitar, or just yourself and go see them soon! Maybe today.     Pete and Friends! #upliftingseniors.

Reflections

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Have you ever sat down and asked a senior what it use to be like when they were your age? What was their response? Growing up in a small agrarian community near Beyersville Texas, near Coupland Texas, south of Taylor (no not the Rose Capital, the Cotton Capital), I often heard stories about what it used to be like. "Keith...", my grandfather would say, "I use to walk from here to that corner, it was a dirt road back then." Elton Malish would tell me how he, his two brothers grew up with just enough (maybe a little less) and shoes were optional. As a little boy I had a vision of this little red school house like Little House on the Prairie where all the children of varying ages would gather to learn and play games. I can remember seeing the joy in my grandfathers eyes when he would reminisce about those times. Back then I did not realize it but those and other conversations where Uplifting me. They helped me have perspective, awareness that hard ethical work is impor