Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 15, 2015 7A
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Rodney, left, and Rosalee Stent chat with Dallas Retirement Village resident Anna Funk, 101, right, during a recent visit. The couple, along with
many others from their church, Evangelical Bible Church, spend time with people who are homebound or in hospitals or care facilities. The church
started a “visiting committee” to help organize the effort. Founder Julia Emblen hopes more churches and organizations will follow suit.
VISITING MRS. MORGAN
Spending time with the elderly is rewarding for both those visiting and being visited
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
D
ALLAS — Julia
Emblen believes
visiting home-
bound people is so impor-
tant, she’s written a book
about it.
The book, “Visiting Mrs.
Morgan,” offers tips for
what to do — and what not
to do — as well as sugges-
tions for activities both “vis-
itor” and “visitee” will enjoy.
Emblen’s book is dedicat-
ed to her “Aunt Tina,” who
contracted polio at age 45.
The disease paralyzed her
from the waist down and
left her homebound.
Tina was very involved in
her community, Emblen
wrote, so for the first few
months, she often had visi-
tors.
But that didn’t last long
and, after a number of
years, it was just family and
pastors who came to see
her.
“From Aunt Tina I
learned about the struggles
and the long lonely hours,”
Emblen wrote. “She never
talked about this, but often
her sighs and her sad facial
expressions told me that
she missed the days when
she could walk around and
go when and where she
pleased.”
Her aunt’s situation —
shut-in and lonely — is dev-
astatingly common, so Em-
blen and members of her
church, Evangelical Bible
Church (EBC), have made it
a mission to visit with as
many people in that situa-
JOLENE GUZMAN /Itemizer-Observer
Kathy Hull, right, visits with Dallas Retirement Village res-
ident David Hamm, left, as Julia Emblen looks on. Emblen
helps organize such visits for her church.
Ideas for ‘visiting Mrs. Morgan’
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
Evangelical Bible Church hosts events, such as this July Fourth-themed tea, for resi-
dents at Dallas Retirement Village on a periodic basis.
tion as possible.
“They sit for hours,” Em-
blen said in a recent inter-
view. “That has always
bothered me.”
—
Emblen said when she re-
turned to Dallas to care for
her mother several years
ago, she discovered many
members of her church
could no longer make it to
church services.
She visited one — the
namesake of her book,
though the name has been
changed to protect her pri-
vacy — but decided more
should be done.
Emblen suggested EBC
organize a visiting commit-
24 hour
Service
tee dedicated to arranging
visits to make sure mem-
bers who could no longer
attend church meetings
shared fellowship with oth-
ers.
While she knows other
churches do the same thing,
she would like the idea to
catch on. She said she could
help initiate a group to plan
visits and offer advice.
“It doesn’t all go perfect-
ly, but we still keep trying,”
she said.
If you succeed, Emblem
said visits become reward-
ing for both parties.
Rodney Stent and his
wife, Rosalee Stent, visit
Anna Funk at Dallas Retire-
ment Village often. She’s
now 101 years old and es-
sentially bedridden.
Rodney Stint said with
101 years to pull from, she
can tell incredible stories.
She just needs someone to
share them with.
“She love to have some-
one come, of course,” he
said. “She has no family.”
Listening to — and writ-
ing down — life stories is
one of Emblen’s suggestions
for visit activities.
She added not only is it
enjoyable for the person to
share, but later may be
priceless to family mem-
bers.
Kathy Hull and Geri Ciss-
• Building birdhouses.
• Writing life stories.
• Planting and caring for indoor gardens.
• Craft projects, such as crocheting, knitting or making
baskets.
• Making scrapbooks.
• Reading.
• Games or puzzles.
For more information or assistance setting up a group:
Julia Emblen at jemblen@msn.com.
na visit longtime Dallas resi-
dent David Hamm at his
home at Dallas Retirement
Village several times a
month. He regales them
with stories of Dallas of old,
when it was known for its
many prune orchards.
As a young man, he
worked in those orchards,
performing the duties of a
picker, tree shaker, hauler
and drier. Later in life, he
was a missionary in Chile
for years.
Hamm remembers when
the population of Dallas
was only about 3,600. When
asked if he like Dallas better
then or now, he gives a
diplomatic answer.
“I like them both,” he
said.
Hull smiles at his com-
ments and added: “He is a
real encourager. We try to
be encouraging, but he al-
ways encourages us.”
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