I have written lately about forgetting things. That was easy and obvious. We elderly people are famous for forgetting. Some days are full of small disasters caused by misplacing objects, failing to show up for scheduled events and getting confused. Did I take my meds this morning? Usually I write appointments in the appropriate spaces […]
Continue reading
Politics in the Elder Care Community Jack rides his bike for exercise, as well as to the P.O. for some stamps and to the polling station on election day. Mary is sad about the state of the world and fears she will not live to see it get better. Lori still drives her car, […]
Continue reading
How Much Storage Space will I Have? When you are touring retirement homes, trying to make the decision of where to live in the final years of your life, there are so many questions for which you want answers. Big questions about cost. Little questions about the meal schedule. Some questions sound a little trivial […]
Continue reading
A Question to Ask: Is There Memory Care? A home for the aging is not complete without a Memory Care ward, though we all hope never to need it. And the happy news is that most of us will not need it. We don’t belong there just because we are forgetful. Forgetfulness is normal. […]
Continue reading
When choosing a place to spend the final years of your life, you want to know: Is it just a place to retire or is it a community? Signs it is a community: Residents propose to the administration changes they think they would like, and the administration listens. Residents organize interest groups: book clubs, gardens, […]
Continue reading
My phone just rang. The front desk was calling to say I have a package, so I ran down (not quite literally possible at 95) to get it. Then I knew from the size and the weight: it was the fruitcake I always get from my sister. In this elder community from which I […]
Continue reading
From somewhere I got a message ‘way back last January: “This is not the year for you to get everything you want; it is the year for you to be grateful for everything you have.” Because I wanted to quote this and not commit plagiarism, I looked up the origin of the saying, and I […]
Continue reading
When you are moving to a retirement home, the question arises: can I take the car? Will I need the car? Without a car, how will I have transportation when I need it? We Americans love our cars. They give us a feeling of independence. A car in the parking lot means: We are not […]
Continue reading
One of the reasons people move to elder communities is that they begin losing their ability to handle the necessary chores of living: cooking, dishwashing, laundry, shopping, and transportation to multiple medical appointments. This makes it crucial to know before we move exactly how much help we can expect […]
Continue reading
Debbie, a neighbor of mine fell the other day, in front of her own door, with her little dog on a leash. Joyce, who lives just around the corner, heard the crash and the barking and ran to investigate. Seeing the gash on Debbie’s head, Joyce pushed an emergency button and help was on […]
Continue reading