Season of Celebration: Juanita's Story
For years, Dr. Juanita Casselman dedicated her life to caring for others.
One of only a few women to graduate with a degree in medicine from the University of Toronto in 1952, Casselman practised in the areas of psychiatry and psychoanalysis. “I wanted to do something that was helping people,” she explains.
Today, Casselman is on the receiving end of care. The bubbly octogenarian is one of nearly 400 residents whose home is now Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care.
“My husband Bruce and I came to London, after having worked in New York for a decade and Oxford for a year. We set up our medical practices here and made London our home.”
“I loved my work,” she says. “I felt so lucky to have been able to do what I wanted to do at a time when it wasn’t easy for women to pick up and separate themselves from their husbands.”
Casselman arrived at Mount Hope after a car accident in 2003 badly injured her spinal cord and left her partially paralyzed. It cut short some of the things she used to love doing, but it hasn’t cut short her vitality.
At Mount Hope, Casselman enjoys a busy schedule that includes regular bridge sessions and choir lessons. She enjoys watching old movies, looking at family photos and spending time with her peers. And when all she wants to do is relax, she feels she has the perfect space in which to do that – her room.
“I was shown this room and right away I liked it,” she says.
She describes the types of plants that sit below her window and points to the works of art that adorn her walls. Her room is filled with souvenirs and reminders of special times in her life. There’s an acrylic painting of geraniums in a flowerbox, much like the kind she used to always see in England, a photo of the inukshuk found in Vancouver’s English Bay, and a decorative plate of painted flowers that she bought for only a dollar at Mount Hope’s arts and crafts sale.
The plants, the artwork and bedding – they are among the everyday items that create a comfortable living experience for Casselman. “I’ve been able to arrange my room in such a way that still seems part of me,” she begins.
“I made a choice to come here. I knew exactly where I wanted to be. And fortunately, once again in my life, I achieved it.”
The 2010 Season of Celebration campaign will raise funds for pressure-reducing mattresses, bedside tables, bed lifts and other items for the residents at St. Joseph’s Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care. Your gift will enhance the living experience for someone special.
For more information call the Light Line at 519 646-6085
