Sharing the Christmas spirit

By Elaine Brackin

Published: January 5, 2009

It looked like a holiday showplace. And it was the perfect setting for the residents of The Terrace at Grove Park to share the Christmas season with their family members.

The Christmas dinner provided by The Terrace Friday night capped off nearly a month of holiday activities provided for the residents and their families.

“We have provided a lot of activities for our residents during December,” said Marilyn Starling, marketing director for The Terrace. “We’ve had a number of church groups to come in and provide musical programs for them to enjoy. We took a group of them to see “The Nutcracker.” earlier this month.”

Edgar Anderson, 89, moved to the independent living apartments at The Terrace four and a half years ago. The former Enterprise resident says it was a great move on his part.

“After my wife passed away in 2003, I knew I couldn’t live alone,” Anderson said. “I came and visited The Terrace and liked what I saw. Once I moved in, I knew I had made the right decision. You just love the people. It just grows on you - the fellowship, the fun, the whole atmosphere.”

Anderson noted he has five friends that he shares lunch with daily.

“When I’m not there, they call me to see if I’m all right,” Anderson said. “You appreciate that kind of concern.”
And, added Anderson, “The big secret is we’re active. There is always something going on for us to do. I like that.”
The festive evening brought the members of the G. Whatley and Gean Carlisle family together for some a time of fellowship.

The path this family took to this point makes for an interesting story all by itself. G. Whatley Carlisle’s first wife died in 1984. Through a series of circumstances, his future bride, a resident of suburban Chicago, came to Dothan. Her youngest daughter, Joyce Neher, had moved to Dothan in 1979 when her husband, Greg, took a job with the Southern Company. The future Mrs. Carlisle typically visited during the winter months and attended church services at Calvary Baptist Church.
Now, let Mr. Carlisle explain the rest of the story.

“It came up in such a sudden way,” said Mr. Carlisle, 96. “My first wife passed away in 1984. A group of us from church would go out to eat. One of the group said I should ask Gean to go with us. I had known her for several years. She had been coming to church here for three or four years before my first wife died.

“I really wouldn’t say we were dating to start with. In fact, it wasn’t until February 1988 that I really started asking her for dates.” They were both 75 and, little did they know, destined to be together as a family.

With their respective families separated by hundreds of miles, the pair elected to elope and then inform their families of their decision. They married on July 14, 1988.

It would be seven years before Mrs. Carlisle elected to move to Dothan full time.

“We snowbirded for a while,” Mr. Carlisle said with a chuckle. “We would live here in the winter and go to her place in the summer. Finally, in 1995, she sold her house and moved here permanently.

“We still go back up there each year for three to four weeks. We stay in touch with our friends.”
Mrs. Carlisle’s move also brought other newcomers to Dothan - her other two daughters, Karen Lunardi, who came in 2006 to help with the care of her mother, and Bobbie Genovese and her husband, Sam, who arrived this year.
The couple moved into the cottages at The Terrace at Grove Park in 2003. Mrs. Carlisle suffered a diabetic seizure on December 24, 2002.
“She was in the hospital for a week,” Mr. Carlisle said. “They wouldn’t discharge her until we found a place with full care. Fortunately, a suite opened on the very day we needed it, January 1, 2003.”

They have since moved into the specialty care unit at The Terrace.

“We have been very fortunately,” Mr. Carlisle said. “They have cared for us like a mother would. They are very attentive. They notice any variations. Because neither one of us can see, we have a tendency to fall. We have to be very careful. And, we’re truly blessed to be here. When we first came here, we ate in this very dining room. It was our social time at lunch and dinner. Typically, your fellowship is at your meal time.”

Mr. Carlisle also noted that many activities are provided for the residents.

“We have activities that are enjoyable,” Mr. Carlisle said. “We have groups come in this time of year. They sing and dance and put on Christmas programs for us.”

Although there have been trials in their lives, Mr. Carlisle says there have been even more blessings.

“We’ve had a great life and still have a great life,” Mr. Carlisle said. “However, we have slowed down some.”
(Elaine Brackin is managing editor of The Dothan Progress.)