ClareOaks SENIOR LIVING Dulcimer tones at Clare Oaks via Appalachia When Dona Andersen travels out of town, you never know what she'll bring back. The former nursing professional spent five days in tiny Jabez, Ky. (two hours south of Lexington) in 2018 learning to play the three-string Appalachian dukcimer, a 19th-century American cousin of ancient zithers. She didn't own a dulcimer at the time. But she returned with a resonant instrument purchased from a fellow student. Since then, she has practiced it at her apartment in Clare Oaks, the continuing care retirement community in Bartlett where she has lived since 2017. Dona's most recent trip, in December, took her back to Appalachia-Ripley, West Va., to be exact. There she learned Christmas songs for a dulcimer as well as little-known regional folk tunes, thus furthering her now avid interest in the area's music. And this time, she returned Clare Oaks' resident Dona Andersen when she had trouble handling the guitar, she began "looking for an instrument I could sit on my lap, and still play the melody and chords." The dulcimer fit the bill. She soon discovered with a receipt for a custom-made psaltery, to be delivered in January. a course offering the chance to build her own dulcimer and learn to play. But when she signed up a year later, the construction portion of that course was no longer offered. Although Dona didn't get to build a dulcimer then, she still might. A skilled handywoman, she did most of the work on the 75-year-old house she bought in the 1980s, from knocking down walls to rehabbing bathrooms to building walk-in closets. And although her move to Clare Oaks freed her from handling home maintenance on her own, she couldn't help herself. "Even after I decided to move here, I brought a saw and a drill. They're just smaller." The psaltery is a far older member of the zither family that is referenced in the Old Testament; played with a bow, it sounds something like a violin. There were several psalteries on site, and one day she sat down and just figured it out. Music remains a constant in her life. "My mother taught me to harmonize when I was six, and I played piano as a kid," she says. She later took up guitar and continued piano for her own enjoyment-especially when her two daughters were teenagers engaged in heated arguments. "Then I played very loudly!" she laughs. At Clare Oaks daily Mass, she plays piano several days a week and spins tunes on the baby grand in the pub. During her 37 years as a nurse, including nearly three decades with Hospital Corporation of America, Dona's nursing career included a range of responsibilities from bedside specialties to management. She concluded her last 10 years with HCA at its corporate headquarters in Nashville, which is situated on the edge of Appalachia, which she had visited as a child. About Clare Oaks Since 2008, Clare Oaks provides independent living apartments and cottages as well as a continuum of care for nearly 300 residents on its 41-acre campus. Lifestyle and healthcare programs include independent living. assisted living, memory support, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Clare Oaks boasts an overall five-star rating, the highest for skilled nursing and short-term rehab, as well as a rare five-star rating in all categories-health inspection, quality measures and staffing-from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In both 2018 and 2019, US News & World Report named Clare Oaks among the only communities nationwide to earn top marks for both Overall and Short-Stay Performance. "We took annual family vacations to different parts of the country, and on one trip we traveled to eastern Kentucky to see some distant relatives. I clearly recall the wood stove in the middle of the dining room," she says, noting the music she now plays on the dulcimer occasionally evokes memories of that visit. There's a certain synchronicity to this because Dona, now 69, never set out to learn For more information about Clare Oaks, 825 Carillon Drive, Bartlett, Il., call 630.372.1983 or visit ClareOaks.org. Appalachian music at all. Several years ago, ClareOaks SENIOR LIVING Dulcimer tones at Clare Oaks via Appalachia When Dona Andersen travels out of town, you never know what she'll bring back. The former nursing professional spent five days in tiny Jabez, Ky. (two hours south of Lexington) in 2018 learning to play the three-string Appalachian dukcimer, a 19th-century American cousin of ancient zithers. She didn't own a dulcimer at the time. But she returned with a resonant instrument purchased from a fellow student. Since then, she has practiced it at her apartment in Clare Oaks, the continuing care retirement community in Bartlett where she has lived since 2017. Dona's most recent trip, in December, took her back to Appalachia-Ripley, West Va., to be exact. There she learned Christmas songs for a dulcimer as well as little-known regional folk tunes, thus furthering her now avid interest in the area's music. And this time, she returned Clare Oaks' resident Dona Andersen when she had trouble handling the guitar, she began "looking for an instrument I could sit on my lap, and still play the melody and chords." The dulcimer fit the bill. She soon discovered with a receipt for a custom-made psaltery, to be delivered in January. a course offering the chance to build her own dulcimer and learn to play. But when she signed up a year later, the construction portion of that course was no longer offered. Although Dona didn't get to build a dulcimer then, she still might. A skilled handywoman, she did most of the work on the 75-year-old house she bought in the 1980s, from knocking down walls to rehabbing bathrooms to building walk-in closets. And although her move to Clare Oaks freed her from handling home maintenance on her own, she couldn't help herself. "Even after I decided to move here, I brought a saw and a drill. They're just smaller." The psaltery is a far older member of the zither family that is referenced in the Old Testament; played with a bow, it sounds something like a violin. There were several psalteries on site, and one day she sat down and just figured it out. Music remains a constant in her life. "My mother taught me to harmonize when I was six, and I played piano as a kid," she says. She later took up guitar and continued piano for her own enjoyment-especially when her two daughters were teenagers engaged in heated arguments. "Then I played very loudly!" she laughs. At Clare Oaks daily Mass, she plays piano several days a week and spins tunes on the baby grand in the pub. During her 37 years as a nurse, including nearly three decades with Hospital Corporation of America, Dona's nursing career included a range of responsibilities from bedside specialties to management. She concluded her last 10 years with HCA at its corporate headquarters in Nashville, which is situated on the edge of Appalachia, which she had visited as a child. About Clare Oaks Since 2008, Clare Oaks provides independent living apartments and cottages as well as a continuum of care for nearly 300 residents on its 41-acre campus. Lifestyle and healthcare programs include independent living. assisted living, memory support, short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. Clare Oaks boasts an overall five-star rating, the highest for skilled nursing and short-term rehab, as well as a rare five-star rating in all categories-health inspection, quality measures and staffing-from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In both 2018 and 2019, US News & World Report named Clare Oaks among the only communities nationwide to earn top marks for both Overall and Short-Stay Performance. "We took annual family vacations to different parts of the country, and on one trip we traveled to eastern Kentucky to see some distant relatives. I clearly recall the wood stove in the middle of the dining room," she says, noting the music she now plays on the dulcimer occasionally evokes memories of that visit. There's a certain synchronicity to this because Dona, now 69, never set out to learn For more information about Clare Oaks, 825 Carillon Drive, Bartlett, Il., call 630.372.1983 or visit ClareOaks.org. Appalachian music at all. Several years ago,