Where are you in your life’s journey? Do you have aches and pains, doctors and specialists, trouble with mobility and activities of daily living? Perhaps you’re not there yourself yet but are taking care of someone, perhaps an elderly parent, who is. Either way, it’s easy to get sucked into negative thinking about life’s burdens. Let’s look at it another ... Read More »
How well do you know your doctor? Even more important, how well does your doctor know you? In Knocking on Heaven’s Door: A Better Way to Death Katy Butler writes that more and more doctors practice as skilled technicians with their own agendas. She states that “something precious–our old faith in a doctor’s calling, perhaps, or in healing that is more ... Read More »
Have you ever noticed that the language that we use can influence how we feel? Sometimes even a subtle change makes a big difference. Are you going to face the future or enter the future? Cope with old age or enjoy old age? Imagine what you’ll want or get to do instead of dwelling on what you’ll no longer have ... Read More »
Last night I visited my mother at her assisted living apartment. It was one of those challenging visits where she complained about everything including the fact that she’s not getting physical therapy and her care team won’t let her get up and walk on her own. She’s bed or wheelchair bound, in hospice care, and has fallen many times over ... Read More »
Many years ago when my daughter Tracy, now 26, was in elementary school she loved to do the hidden pictures puzzles in the Highlights for Children magazine. One morning we were doing the puzzle together and we couldn’t find some of the pictures that were supposed to be there. We became more and more frustrated until one of us had ... Read More »
We’re in the middle of the winter holiday season. Retailers are hoping to sell you a lot of things, television is showing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and other Christmas specials, the mailbox is full of catalogs proclaiming holiday deals. It seems there are a lot of things we’re supposed to do: be happy, shop, eat, get ... Read More »
Talk of Thanksgiving, food, and family swirls around me. My daughters are coming home, a meal is planned, and we’re looking forward to each other’s company. None of us knows what really to expect, however. Two weeks ago we were led to believe that my mother would no longer be with us by Thanksgiving. We all gathered and said our ... Read More »
Sometimes people in retirement communities need more help than their care package provides. People in independent living apartments enjoy living “on their own” but could perhaps use help with laundry or basic household tasks. Residents of an assisted living facility may want to remain in their familiar apartments even when they become unable to take care of themselves and could ... Read More »
Maybe I’m nuts (my family would say definitely), but when I was younger I thought it would be fun to be a hermit. Perhaps it would be nice to live like Henry David Thoreau at Walden Pond. I’d just commune with nature, float through life in sync with the universe but all by myself. I’ve discovered through the years, however, ... Read More »
Todays Gray Matters Valuing the Wisdom & Purpose In Aging Well