Peace and Love, Imy

As Steve Shields said, “We lost Imy to the stars and the heavens.” Our dear friend and inspiration Imy Higbie passed away Friday, Nov 21 and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the vast amount of love and wisdom she has passed on to so many of us. You may remember her from her presentation at the 2006 Pioneer conference or her contribution to In Pursuit of the Sunbeam wherein she shared the story of her own nursing home experience. Imy got her bachelor’s in journalism and went on to get her master’s in social work from Syracuse University. She later was a professor of social work at UW – Madison. An early and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama, Imy closely followed the 2008 campaign and election returns.

She was a champion of progress and kindness and human dignity and led by example. How could we not give our all for culture change after hearing or talking to Imy? Joe Angelelli has put together a beautiful tribute to her. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meditate on her smile and the determination in her face. Imy once ended an email to me with the following words: “In closing, let me say the word for today FORWARD!!!!!!! Peace and Love, Imy.” Indeed.

Collective Knowledge

Perhaps you’ve noticed that when you do an Internet search, especially if it is on a somewhat general topic, there’s a good chance the first site that comes up is Wikipedia. Go ahead – type in “nursing home.” Is it the best source for info? Maybe not, but they try hard to have the info well cited and I appreciate that. The other thing I appreciate is that it is a symbol of collective knowledge – something we work for in the process of culture change. But here’s the thing, take a look a the Wikipedia entry for “nursing home,” particularly the stuff under “trend” and “ resident-oriented care.” It just doesn’t seem quite right. (If for nothing else than they refer to residents as “patients.”) Is it just me? Let’s submit some new info. What’s it missing? What needs to be changed?