MISHKIN
Continued from Page 7
© 2018 HCR Healthcare, LLC
For nearly 25 years,
Arden Courts has
cared for individuals
living with many
different types
of dementia.

arden-courts.com Visit Arden Courts today
to see why our experience
makes a difference.

Arden Courts of Warminster
215.957.5182 Arden Courts of King of Prussia
610.337.1214 Arden Courts of Yardley
215.321.6166 Regardless, your retirement years should be all you’ve hoped and planned for. Masonic Village can
provide peace of mind during trying times so you can continue to thrive and enjoy life, even amidst a
pandemic. Put your concerns to rest, because you have a team of people who care about you. Inside the
safety and security of our beautiful campus, all necessary services are available - and if needed,
delivered to your doorstep - so you can live worry-free.

dragonfl y on the top right, which I usually
go to,” she explained. “It is considered my
spirit animal inspirationally according to
spiritual traditions.”
Mishkin, for her deeply felt connection
to art and soul matters, wasn’t particularly
invested in either growing up. Th ere was
music in her Oxford Circle home, kept
by her mother, a homemaker, and her
father, a pharmacist, but not the bursts of
color that have come to characterize her
life. Mishkin recalls a teacher telling her
mother than she might consider sending
her daughter to art school, but the idea
was quashed.

“It wasn’t even thought of,” she said.

Instead, she went into education,
studying at Temple University, and spent
a long career working with the elderly
in various capacities (she put them to
work then, too, placing them in volunteer
positions). Just about the only constant
through that time was her husband, to
whom she’s been married for 54 years.

Nelson Mishkin, who is indisputably
77, saw his wife grasping for a creative
expression aft er her retirement, but he
said, she’d always found an outlet before,
brush in hand or not. Everything from her
demeanor to the way she decorated the
house was an expression of her creativity.

When she started sketching more and
more, graduating to acrylic painting and
birdhouse decoration, he knew she’d
found something special. A few years ago,
as his wife sought to do something more
meaningful than painting for herself,
Nelson Mishkin knew she’d fi gure out
something. When his wife turned to him one
morning with an epiphany — the one that
would become Th e Inspiration Project —
he was hardly surprised.

“She was always looking to help other
people, and do things for other people, to
bring joy to them,” Nelson Mishkin said.

Betty Organt, a friend of Barbara
Mishkin, has her paintings and photos all
over her home. When a friend of Organt’s
was feeling down, Organt sent her a
Mishkin; Organt’s friend called to let her
know that the card was now a daily fi xture
— a source of uplift propped up on her
desk. It was hardly a surprise to Organt, a
former teacher who met Mishkin through
their active adult community and was
drawn into her circle of volunteers.

SEE MISHKIN | Page 10
8 DECEMBER 17, 2020
THE GOOD LIFE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM