Money is a big, big issue in retirement. While I am several years from my retirement, I think about my plans carefully, wondering almost daily what else I can to ensure my security. Managing finances for some of our aging parents is a challenge. And the older people get the bigger an issue it becomes, … Continue reading
Posted in May 2012 …
Pets Can Cause Falls
I watched it happen almost in slow motion. An elderly woman climbed out of her golf cart, and her medium-sized dog bounded out beside her. But then the dog saw another dog and without looking back, tried to take off, jerking on the leash. The woman held onto the leash, but she fell down. Her … Continue reading
More on Tracking Devices
Take a few minutes to read, Device Tracks Seniors Prone to Wandering, about tracking devices that use GPS sensors to keep track of people who wander and may get lost. This type of device will be useful for families worried about a loved on with memory loss. Writer Anne Tergesen writes for SmartMoney. The product … Continue reading
Uncle Sherman on Memorial Day 2012
It’s Memorial Day Weekend 2012, when we remember men and women who fought and gave their lives, largely to maintain democracy and religious freedom. Each year, I think about my Uncle Sherman, although I think about him lots of other times too, because while he did not die fighting, he made an ultimate sacrifice — … Continue reading
Longer Old Age but Lower Quality Near the End?
A few days ago I added a must read link to Michael Wolff’s New York Magazine article, A Life Worth Ending. It’s an eye-opening piece, detailing long drawn-out decline of his mother. Check it out — it really is a must read. For our parents there are no easy end-of-life answers. Those of us with … Continue reading
Very Basic Rules for Aging Parent Digital Devices
Are you helping to maintain and secure a computer for your aging parent? Do you find yourself spending lots and lots of time explaining why NOT to click on a button or an update screen, even when windows seem to swoop in and personally invite a user to click (or worse download)? Here is an … Continue reading
Relatives May Spot Dementia Symptoms First
In the early stages of dementia, indications of developing problems may be spotted by relatives, not by physicians, according to an article in the May 21, 2012 Washington Post Health section. Reprinted from the Consumer Reports Health site, the article points out that at the doctor’s office a patient may have good vital signs and be sharp … Continue reading
Thanks to the Elders Who Built My Church Community
Sometimes at my church in late October we sing the hymn, For All the Saints. At that service we remember the many dedicated and committed people who have died over the course of the year. For me, this service is always a time to think about long time members, most of them elders and many … Continue reading
Dementia Incidence Going Down? We’ll Just Have to Wait and See
Is the incidence of dementia declining? We really want this to be true, because it would mean a lot less suffering for our parents’ generation and in our own. It’s personal and as we age the threat of dementia feels closer and closer. Unfortunately, when we hear news about the incidence of dementia declining we … Continue reading
Technology: It Even Transforms Elders
The other day, at a pre-Mother’s Day weekend event, I sat in a room with hundreds of seniors — mothers, grandmothers, dads, grandfathers — and guess what? A good many of them had smartphones. I was amused to observe, that a fair number of people in that large room were texting or at least checking … Continue reading
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I know you are a bit frustrated by a few health issues right now, but I hope you know how much we all admire and love you. In all these years, as far as I can tell, you’ve never encountered a subject that you don’t want to learn more about. Sometimes … Continue reading
Woodland Park Green House Walls are Rising – April 28, 2012
The walls continue to rise above the foundations at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.
Finding and Wearing Protective Sunglasses After Detached Retina Surgery
Whether we are talking about the eyes of our senior parents or our own aging adult child eyes, protection from the sun is critical for eye health. Urgent, in fact. The solar shield sunglasses given to me after my eye surgery are comfortable and filter out a lot of the damaging glare and light. They fit right … Continue reading
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: an Entertaining Metaphor for Aging
The other night we went to see the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and boy, did we enjoy ourselves. A group of British retirees, most seeking lower costs and a bit of adventure, ends up as the guests in a seedy, formerly grand hotel in Jaipur, India. In fact, the hotel is terrible. It’s not what they expect, but … Continue reading
Detached Retina: Bubbles, Bracelets, and Sunglasses
Three weeks after the vitrectomy for a detached retina I see well out of my left eye. I mostly knew that my sight was returning after the first week of recovery, but other individuals with a detached retina may take much longer to know for sure. The concern about infection, less and less after that … Continue reading
Exercise, Computer Use, and Cognitive Impairment
A research study published in the May 2012 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds an association between computer activities, physical exercise and reduced mild cognitive impairment. The article Computer Activities, Physical Exercise, Aging, and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Population-Based Study (PDF) reports on an ongoing population study that randomly sampled 926 individuals in Olmsted, Minnesota … Continue reading
Does High Tech Mean a Better Outcome?
Many of our aging parents live with heart issues, and making treatment decisions is not easy. Weighing all the evidence is especially difficult when we must decide between a high-tech, surgical procedures (heart bypass surgery or cardiac catheterization) or medications combined with lifestyle changes, and it’s even more confusing when both of these treatment options have … Continue reading
Goodbye, Jessie: A Remembrance
My friend Jessie died about a month ago. Though I had not chatted with her for over three years, I counted her as a much-loved friend and colleague. I met Jessie in August 1984 when she dropped into my second grade classroom to introduce herself. I was new at the school, and she was a … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 