Thomas, WV – January 1…the start of a new year. A time for reflecting on the previous twelve months and plan for the future. As 2020 comes to an end, it feels as if celebrating the coming of a new year is taking on more meaning, more joy and more hope.
According to Wikipedia, “a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their life” when making a New Year’s Resolution…The concept, regardless of creed, is to reflect upon self-improvement annually.”
So every year, as close to January 1 as possible, the management and staff of Cortland Acres make their New Year’s Resolution. The COVID twist is that the celebration is virtual, courtesy of a virtual meeting that tends to look like the Brady Bunch opening credits, with a much bigger family, of course.
“Our annual New Year’s toast is a chance to articulate personal and professional plans for Cortland’s future,” explains administrator Beth Clevenger. “While 2020 has been full of change, there have been beautiful moments of hope, success, joy, and teamwork throughout the facility. In times of adversity, I see so many people rise to the occasion and help any way they can. During this pandemic, we’ve experienced overwhelming patience and understanding from our resident families. Residents themselves have had to go weeks without in-person contact with their loved ones because of COVID. We’ve been blessed with so many community initiatives, from school children sending cards and letters to residents, and local donation drives for items to brighten a residents’ day. We have two dedicated dog-lovers that visit regularly – rain, shine, and snow – that go around the outside of the facility and interact with residents through the windows. Our staff have taken on extra duties to ensure the health and safety of our residents. They volunteer their time to sing hymns over our internal Channel 4, work a puzzle with a resident, or just reminisce with a residents about their past.“
Just in case you’re wondering, losing weight and paying down debt are two of the most popular resolutions. If you want to be successful and achieve your resolution in 2021, the experts suggest you make challenging but manageable and specific goals. Cortland’s New Year’s Resolution as a group is to remain flexible to change and work to think outside-the-box more to find solutions.