As America continues to celebrate its semi-quincentennial, the Marquis Health Consulting Services Senior Living team recently published “Home, Anew: 250 Voices of Belonging and Community, Celebrating Our Nation’s 250th Year.”
The commemorative book features 252 stories and reflections from residents, family and team members across the senior living communities Marquis supports, including Cambridge Enhanced Senior Living in Moorestown.
Cambridge residents Anna and Emerson Lucus and Raymond Lavanture were excited to contribute to the project.
“For the 250th Independence Day, we wanted to do something to honor not only the country and the nation, but all of the residents in our different communities, because we have so many different voices and journeys and experiences that we wanted to be able to highlight,” said Victoria Dubesky, regional director of life enrichment for Marquis.
Spearheaded and executed by Dubesky, the collection of original essays explores themes of home, resilience and connection through residents’ first-hand accounts of military service, immigration journeys, lifelong marriages, acts of kindness, second chances, family traditions, caregiving and more.
Reflecting on what it means to call this country home, contributors shared personal stories, lessons learned and memories that embody the joy of living life to its fullest.
“What’s pretty cool is with the way that the book came together,” Dubesky explained. “Each of our stories highlights the resident name and the community that they’re from, and in the back of the book we included a directory as well, so that all of our families or anyone who purchases the book on the outside would be able to find their loved one’s story.
“My hope in bringing this book to life is that each of these stories leaves a lasting legacy in print.”
Anna and Emerson have been Cambridge residents for a year. Anna’s mother passed away when she was 4-and-a-half-years old and she has five brothers who took good care of her, along with their father, when her mother died. Emerson served in the Air Force as an air traffic controller at Tokyo International Airport. When he returned home he reconnected with Anna and that’s when their story began.
The couple started spending more time together and eventually married, Anna and Emerson’s story read. Anna’s father grew to like Emerson because he always appreciated and ate whatever was cooked for him, a small gesture that meant a lot. They married one year and one day to the day from their first date.
The 97-year-old Emerson spent 34 years as an air traffic controller. He’s currently receiving hospice care, but that hasn’t stopped him from being a wonderful, kind listener and amazing human being,” noted his 93-year-old wife of 73 years.
“It feels good that I can read (our story),” Anna remarked, “and he does too.”
Lavanture has been a Cambridge resident for four years. His father served in the Navy on the USS Arizona, 20 years before it sank during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. His story reflection was his wedding to Mary T., who passed away two years ago at 89. Their first official date was on New Year’s Eve in 1952.
Lavanture and Mary T. married in 1955 at California’s Santa Margarita Chapel. To this day, 94-year-old Lavanture still remembers writing a letter to Mary’s father asking for her hand in marriage. But when Lavanture’s maternal grandfather found out that the groom’s father in law served in the Navy and sailed through the Panama Canal, they became good friends.
After the wedding, the couple stayed in California for a while, but eventually had to leave due to family matters. Once they planted roots of their own, they knew it was time to start the next chapter of their lives together, so they went on to have children Raymond, also known as Chip; Michele; and Patrice. They were married for 69 years before Mary T.’s passing.
“It was a beautiful day,” Lavanture recalled of his wedding. “ … I’ve had a very fortunate and beautiful life. I had a wonderful wife … I just always seemed to come out on the sunny side of this world.”
The commemorative book highlights the importance of compassion and connection through heartfelt reflections that serve as a tribute to everyday people whose perseverance, sacrifice and love for family and country have helped define the nation over the past 250 years.
“It is our hope that readers see a little of themselves, their families and their neighbors in these pages,” said Barry Munk, Marquis’ chief executive officer. “’Home, Anew” is more than a collection of memories; it offers a unique perspective on the American experience and celebrates the many ways people create their own sense of home.
“Victoria’s powerful idea will touch many lives, and we hope that the stories and journeys from these communities can help others find their own inspiration.”
From Dubesky’s perspective, the best part about bringing the book together is hearing stories that might not have been heard otherwise. Considering how much both Lavanture and Lucus’ journeys overlap – from sharing their stories about meeting the loves of their lives to ending up at Cambridge – it’s truly fate.
“We came across so many people who had these amazing stories,” Dubesky related. “Our residents that live with us, so many of our staff members that live with us, everybody has this amazing journey that they’ve been on, but I think it’s easy in life to forget that the people that you’re sitting next to at lunch every day have gone through these amazing stories that you might not know about.”
Anyone interested in purchasing a copy of the book can contact Dubesky at vdubesky@mqshealth.com.
Raymond Lavanture and Anna Lucus, residents of Cambridge Enhanced Senior Living in Moorestown, contributed personal memories to “Home, Anew: 250 Voices of Belonging and Community, Celebrating Our Nation’s 250th Year,” a collection of original essays that explores themes of home, resilience and connection through first-hand accounts that include military service, immigration journeys, lifelong marriages and acts of kindness.
