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Memoir Makers

Memoir Makers
Memoir Makers is a volunteer writing program through which Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan homecare and hospice patients have an opportunity to share their wisdom and significant moments of their lives. To capture the memoir, a trained volunteer will interview the patient, write the brief memoir and present it in an embossed binder to share with family and friends. The service is open to all VNA of Southeast Michigan patients. The memoir is crafted over the course of approximatley four visits.

To have your memoir written, simply notify your VNA nurse or therapist.
To volunteer to write a memoir, contact the VNA volunteer coordinator at (248) 967-8361.

Read Our Memoirs!
Below are actual patient memoirs. The names have been changed to respect their privacy.

Mary Clark: I Always Thought I Was Special
(featured in the Summer 2006 issue of Healthy at Home)
Gutsy. Feisty. Full of gumption. These words have all been used to describe Mary Clark’s amazing life. In her 80-plus years, three things, Mary says, have provided her with a framework for living: a personality equipped to overcome adversity, a loving support system, and a lot of faith in little miracles along the way.
Mary Clark was born in 1924...read more.
Grandma Sadie
Sadie Wilton’s story began with her birth, more than a century ago. As one of sixteen children born to her parents in South Carolina, she speaks lovingly of experiences with thirteen of them. Maddie and Phyllis were her two older sisters. She enjoyed being with her family, and remembers her mother and aunt cooking turkey for the holidays. Her father was a hard working man. While his sons worked the farm, he worked in town. His horse and four-seater surrey were their major means of transportation. Henry Ford had not yet rolled his first car off the assembly line, when Sadie was born...read more.
Laura Beach
Laura Josephine Ewald was born at home on December 25,1912 in Shellsburg Twp., Benton County, Iowa. Her parents named her ‘Laura’ because she was born on Christmas Day, and Josephine, because “they probably thought the first name is short, so we’ll make the middle name long.”...read more.
Tommy Jobek: A Lifetime of Memories
Tommy Jobek lives in Troy, MI, in a home that holds many fond memories. He was a Navy man, had a happy marriage for more than 50 years, raised three daughters, has three grandchildren (and a great-grandchild), worked hard at several jobs (including an early stint as a butcher, his main career with the Big Three, and a later switch into real estate) and traveled extensively. As he reflected on his life, he had many stories to tell; some were stories of hardship and some of triumph, and put together they have the makings of quite a life lived. ...read more.

Benjamin Price: Thoughts and Stories to Share with Loved Ones
When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to depart this earth (as everything is temporary, after all) it is of benefit to one’s family and friends to leave behind memories, stories and any thoughts that may seem important to relate. Benjamin Price thought this would be a good thing to do, as did his loving wife, Mary. And so, welcome to this small slice of the life of this endearing 91 year-old man who was obviously a man of quiet intelligence. Arthur Ashe seemed to have described Benjamin when he said, “True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others, at whatever cost.” To his family and friends, Benjamin Price is a heroic man....read more.