How did my hands get so, what did you call them, beautiful? I call them gnarled and arthritic. I guess they got this way because I loved working in the yard, digging, planting and pulling weeds. I sewed a lot too - buying remnants of cloth at the woolen mills and making clothes for my girls. I also used them to clean and cook, and to knead and bake bread for the family. I took a few piano lessons with them, but then we couldn't afford the fifty cents - but I married a musician instead and our house was filled with music! Oh, and look at the needlework on my wall, I always loved to do needlework! I guess I simply used them up, didn't I?
Sophie Barto, age 94, resident
These hands are not what they used to be. I was a tool and die maker and I also used to deal a lot of poker before I was married. Then I promised my wife I'd change. I raised a family and never played poker again - until I got to Marymount Place. Now I deal cards every week
Frank Nadvit, age 89, resident
My hands will be difficult to photograph because they shake all the time. Now... what have they done? They started out caring for my brothers when I was only 13 and my mother died. I used them a lot as a sales clerk at the downtown May Company store. And then I worked as a bank teller. All kinds of money passed through my hands, and none of it was mine! I had a little garden in my backyard and used my hands there. I crocheted baby caps for the babies born at Marymount Hospital. What else? I cared for a little boy who always looked for trouble - and you know what? He still does! He's an investigative reporter for a local TV station. And, when he got married, and he and his wife had a baby girl, they brought her to me and I cared for her for several years too. I guess my hands deserve to shake a little - don't they? -- because they've been quite busy for a lot of years."
Dolly Widman, age 83, resident
I grew up with two brothers and a sister and we all played games together so that's probably how I first started using my hands. I only had one child, my daughter Dottie, and she kept my hands pretty busy too! I worked at least 13 years for Tenna where we made automobile antennas. Then I found a job at another factory that did the same thing because that's what my hands really knew how to do! Most of all, I loved using my hands for art and I was pretty good at it too. I drew and painted and took classes and even created pottery pieces. My hands are always ready to participate in any art project, even if my body feels a bit tired that particular day. Oh yes, my hands are very tiny, but what is it that they say? Good things come in small packages!
Dorothy Borer, age 99, resident
I hope my hands look well used because they've been folded in prayer and fingering Rosary beads most of the almost 80 years I've been a Sister! I worked as a cook and housekeeper - another thing that kept my hands quite busy. During the summer months several of us made hundreds of loaves of our Polish sweet bread (Babka) to be served and sold during the pilgrimages to our outdoor Shrine. In the evenings I used to crochet if I didn't have anything that needed mending. As a chauffeur, taking sisters to appointments and meetings, my hands often gripped the steering wheel negotiating traffic on the busy streets, but I loved helping. (Now that memory loss has overtaken Sister's life, her hands spend a lot of time folding and refolding hand towels and cleaning cloths - still busy!)
Sister Mary Perpetua Guzak, age 94, resident
Our residents put their faith in our hands every day as they attend their physical therapy sessions. My hands want to hand them back their good health after they recover from surgery and other illnesses.
My hands cared for my father at Villa St. Joseph, and they work beyond the walls of our facility as a high school cross country and track coach. My hands cheer on the Cleveland Indians, Browns, and cavaliers - but primarily they root for our residents as they help them to get back in the game of life healthier and more productive than when they came here.
Gary Frounfelker, Physical Therapy Assistant at The Village at Marymount
My hands have been involved in just about every aspect of the Marymount Intergenerational Campus. I used my hands as a student at Marymount High School and to heal so many patients during my 20 years as a floor nurse at Marymount Hospital. Today these hands have been given the joy of caring for my own father her at Villa St. Joseph. His hands worked for years as an upholsterer who created a very good life for me and my mom.
It is a special privilege for me to help my father heal physically, and for each one of us to care for our residents. I'm confident in the quality of so many hands contributing to each resident's recovery because our nursing department focuses on delivering care with competence, compassion, and in a way that celebrates life.
Pat Sasso, RN, Director of Nursing, holding the hands of her father, Robert Baur
My hands are busy juggling the schedules of the nursing staff whose hands deliver such wonderful care to our residents. Although I don't directly provide care to our residents, you could say my hands get in touch with the nurses who do provide such vital care.
It's been said it takes a village to raise children, to which I can attest. As a mother and grandmother of eight grandchildren, my hands are continually being called upon to help my family. It also takes a village - The Village at Marymount - of good hands to heal those residents who need us most.
Genevieve Riley-Hunter, Staff Scheduler at The Village at Marymount
As a student in Trinity High School's Pre-Professional Internship Program, these hands helped residents with exercises every week - and pushed a lot of wheelchairs around. These hands helped residents to play basketball, board games, and just about any other game you can think of. By working directly with the Sisters, and learning from their experiences, these hands were strengthened in faith.
Jerid Dissauer, Grade 10 student at Trinity High School
As a student in Trinity High School's Pre-Professional Internship Program, I spent my junior year working in the office of Media / Donor Relations and Mission Integration at The Village at Marymount. I worked on the Web site, assisted with community events, designed seasonal tray cards, delivered newsletters, prepared mailings, and created PowerPoint presentations. My hands took pictures at a variety of events, for The Village at Marymount's 2010 Annual Report, and of the hands of those mentioned on this Web site.
Marie E. Bender, Grade 11 student at Trinity High School
