Novel idea brings Juniper Carramar residents together

A combination of personal recollections and inspired ideas from residents at Juniper Carramar have helped shape a captivating new novel.

Headed up by Juniper Chaplain John Dendy, the book project was developed as a tribute to the memories of residents at Juniper Carramar Residential Aged Care Home in Morley.

While the story of early 1800s Australia in The Wandering Seagull is fictional, the novel draws on the reminiscences of residents who grew up around Australia and the “hand me down stories” they heard about from parents and grandparents across the years.

“Overall, it was a very good exercise,” John said.

“As it was said, I would write down bits and pieces and then added to the story over several months.”

John said there were also a few “corridor conversations and little discussions” with residents who wanted to contribute to the entertaining tale in a smaller way.

Following a series of weekly group conversations with residents, John then shaped the various yarns into an overarching story for the 102-page novel.

All up, the book project took close to five months from start to finish.

“As they spoke about stories, it ignited the thoughts of other residents to share stories,” he said. “I hope it will spark more projects like this.”

John took great pride that the novel could preserve stories shared by Juniper Carramar residents including Helen, Edna, Gwen, Brenda, Eva and Muriel for future generations.

“It’s making people feel that they are worth listening to and has enabled them to be heard,” he said.

Fifty copies of the book have been produced to be given to residents and their families.

“Just the satisfaction of being able to come together, laugh and share stories has made it such a worthwhile project,” he said.

The dedicated chaplain divides his time across three Juniper aged care locations each week, supporting residents and staff at Juniper Carramar in Morley, Juniper Karinya in Embleton and Juniper Elimatta in Menora.