everal years ago I was reading something, perhaps The Encyclopedia of Immaturity but I’m not sure, when I discovered that one alternative to traditional funeral practices is to have remains made into artificial diamonds. I remember jokingly telling my daughters that they could split me into two diamonds and wear me forever. I’d forgotten about it until I happened on ... Read More »
There’s a relatively new book about caring for people with dementia. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but the review I saw excerpted a few tips that sound useful and right in line with what I’ve read other places and heard in presentations over the years. The book is A Caregiver’s Guide to Dementia: Using Activities and Other ... Read More »
esterday I found the Readers Digest at my place at the breakfast table. My husband had left it conspicuously open to an article about how doctors die. The gist of the article was that doctors rarely choose CPR, being placed indefinitely on a respirator, having surgery that most likely won’t improve their quality of life. The doctors have been in ... Read More »
We’ve just reached the 6 month anniversary of my mother’s death. Of course that got me thinking, reflecting on life in general and my mother’s final months in particular. I think if I’d had to be her full time caregiver I’d have gone stark raving mad. I’ve seen daughters and sons lovingly take care of their parents’ every need. I’ve ... Read More »
Like many of you reading Today’s Gray Matters, I was saddened to hear that Robin Williams, actor and comic genius, had hanged himself this week. I never quite got the fascination with Mork, but I loved the genie in Disney’s Aladdin and Williams’ character in Good Will Hunting. I’d seen Patch Adams Dead Poets Society, and One Hour Photo. Robin ... Read More »
o you remember The Great Recession that we Americans experienced that officially lasted from December 2007 until June 2009? I was young enough to be able to rebuild some savings, but many elderly people lost everything they’d saved for their retirement years. People are still worried about how they’ll manage in their later years. Elderly people, especially those who are ... Read More »
My sister recently brought me a box of newspaper clippings from my mother’s estate. Among the old, yellowed newspaper I found something dated 1938. I can’t tell what paper it came from, only that the author is Edgar A. Guest. His words ring as true today as they did when they were written. As we age we experience more and ... Read More »
here I was one day, minding my business at home when my phone rang. I mean my ancient artifact, a landline phone, rang. It was a real estate age that I’d never heard of. She let me know that she had a client looking for a house in the school distinct I happen to live in, that the client didn’t ... Read More »
Have you ever been in a hospital when over the intercom you’ve heard “Code Blue, code blue”? Have you seen the organized chaos that occurs in a room when a patient’s heart has stopped beating and the medical team is doing everything they can to revive the patient? When I was the on-call chaplain at a trauma hospital I saw ... Read More »
Strategy? What strategy?! I don’t know that many people who make a practice of contemplating their own deaths. It’s just not most people’s idea of fun, and some are even superstitious that if they think about death or prepare for it, they’re inviting it. I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news. Maybe it depends on how old ... Read More »
Todays Gray Matters Valuing the Wisdom & Purpose In Aging Well