PRESQUE ISLE — Friends and family of Edith Bull gathered on March 25 to celebrate the rededication of the Edith C. Bull Family Room at Aroostook Health Center (AHC).
The room was established in 2001 by Edith Bull’s family to give nursing home residents in their final days an opportunity to reflect with family and friends in a comfortable space. The room was recently relocated and new furniture was purchased thanks to a special fund set up by the Bull family. Future contributions to the fund will be used to purchase additional items for the room.
Melissa Graham, AHC administrator, began the dedication by talking about how residents and families may use the room.
“This room is meant to give families a place to grieve together and have privacy with their loved ones during the dying process,” said Graham. “This family room is a great accomplishment for this facility and, most importantly, for the community.”
Kristine Bondeson, one of Edith’s nine daughters, also shared some thoughts about the family room and Edith’s time as a resident at AHC.
“When mom was dying, of course we all wanted to be around her to talk to her, to hear what she wanted to say to us,” said Bondeson. “It was hard because the room was small and there was nowhere to congregate. In talking among ourselves, we conjured up the ideal room, and of course in our minds, it was like our mother’s tiny kitchen at the farmhouse where endless cups of coffee and tea could be made, food prepared and stored, and comfy chairs pulled close for conversation. Such a room would be a comfort to families who needed the privacy to confer, mourn, laugh, eat together and reconnect.”
After remarks from Graham, Bondeson, and Joy Barresi Saucier, TAMC vice president of organizational advancement and a former AHC employee, those in attendance had lunch and gathered in the family room to tell stories and view a new wall plaque with a picture of Edith.
“I want to thank the staff here for helping our family in realizing our vision for a family room,” added Bondeson. “It is our way of perpetuating or paying forward the love our parents gave us.”
According to Graham, the Bull family’s gift is a special one that will be of benefit to residents and families for many years to come.
“The passion displayed by the Bull family while we were developing the hospice room was contagious,” added Graham. “It is this kind of passion and commitment that Aroostook Health Center will continue to convey to all who benefit from this room for end-of-life care.”
Edith was born Dec. 7, 1912, in a small town near Oslo, Norway. In 1929, at the age of 17, she moved to Cambridge, Mass., with the rest of her family. She married Arden Bull in 1935, and shortly after, the new family moved from Massachusetts to Arden’s family farm on the Parsons Road in Presque Isle. Edith, an accomplished seamstress, cook, knitter and gardener, raised 13 children.
The Aroostook Medical Center is a member of EMHS. EMHS stands behind its members as a tireless advocate so that both immediate and ongoing healthcare services will be available when and where they are needed.
Photo courtesy of TAMC
A recent donation was made by the Bull family to The Aroostook Health Center, on behalf of Edith Bull. Pictured at the presentation are some of her children, from left, first row: Lief Bull, Martha Crouse and Linda Davis. Second row: Sarah Morrison, Kristine Bondeson, Nancy Dow and Judith Ellis.
