View full sizeYouth dancers from the Beck Center perform "The Nutcracker...Jazzed Up!" at Lakewood Senior Health Campus Dec. 10.The holiday season evokes a flood of memories rarely equaled at other times during the year. Older area residents have experienced decades of change — not just in their own families, but in a country that has morphed time and time again into new visions and new ways of living.
Mary Petko, Donna Mae Cobbledick, Mary Via and David Allen, residents at The Inn at Lakewood Senior Health Campus, recently took some time to discuss the many Christmases they’ve experienced. Their stories transcend any one meaning of the holiday. They represent the importance of sharing memories with those around you.
The holidays offer a time to reflect and reminisce and to share in the joy of living with one another.
Petko’s stories of Christmas take her back to when her family’s world revolved around the coal mines of rural Pennsylvania. When Santa Claus stopped by her house, he’d leave an orange and a piece of coal. Times were tough, but Petko’s family placed a bigger sense of importance on the spirituality of Christmastime.
She remembered fresh poppyseed rolls and kolachi, tributes of her Russian heritage. Furthermore, her family celebrated Jan. 7, the Russian Orthodox Christmas.
Cobbledick, a Rocky River native, remembered ice skating on some of the flooded parks in her neighborhood. With school out for a few weeks, students across time have enjoyed the holiday season for the special reason that it’s time to play.
Throughout her youth, year after year, Cobbledick begged her parents for a pair of nice, white ice skates. It was the one thing she really wanted.
“I finally got them one year,” she said. “But, of course, there was no snow, no ice.” The mix of excitement and disappointment that year was overshadowed by the fun and brilliance that seemed to be around every corner. She remembered going to downtown Cleveland to see the lights and crowds of people. Her parents would each hold one of her hands and swing her across curbs as gusts of chilly lakefront wind whipped between the buildings.
In Mansfield, Ohio, Via and her extended family would always gather for the holidays. There weren’t many presents throughout her childhood, but she did recall a little wooden animal that she cherished.
“I have never forgotten it,” Via said, showing how the power of Christmas in one’s youth has a lasting impact in many ways throughout life. She and her family later moved to the East Side of Cleveland, where relatives would still gather at the end of every year.
“Sometimes, it’s the only time of year to see them,” Via said.
For Allen, one of his most memorable Christmases was spent in Heidelberg, Germany, where he was stationed during World War II. He said it was a unique experience as he got to see how another country celebrated the holidays. With marzipan cookies all around, he enjoyed the contrast, especially the different kinds of food. “It was quite a nice holiday,” Allen said.
Later in life, he worked in the advertising department at Halle’s. Downtown, he got to see the crowds take in the magical window displays and animated designs. Allen even transformed himself into Mr. Jingeling as he made toy deliveries to children throughout the Cleveland area.
These days, Petko, Cobbledick, Via and Allen join other residents at The Inn as they celebrate Christmas in unique ways. Youth dancers from the Beck Center for the Arts stopped by earlier this month to perform “The Nutcracker . . . Jazzed Up!” The performance brought out cheers and rounds of applause.
Activities Director Christine Dorsey said for residents at The Inn, it’s a wonderful treat to have Christmas traditions brought to them.
“It shows a lot of Christmas spirit,” she said of the community organizations which come to visit.
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