Category Archives: Change

Food Is My Medicine

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For about the last year, I have been eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. OK… so my grocery bill is high, but it occurred to me that there has been a good trade-off here.

For about the last year, I have been eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. OK… so my grocery bill is high, but it occurred to me that there has been a good trade-off here.

My peers are a group of aging people.  I hear plenty of talk about the cost of medications that seem to be prescribed like a “mixed cocktail” that sometimes necessitates elaborate plans on the part the patient to make sure it all goes down at the right time, in the right dose.  In fact, this is so common that one might assume that it just has to be that way.  I disagree. Continue reading →

Eternal Value

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This new venture with my son has me thinking about the importance of investing in the spiritual lives of children and in their character development. This morning I heard a speaker say... “Professional success without a successor is failure.”

This new venture with my son has me thinking about the importance of investing in the spiritual lives of children and in their character development. This morning I heard a speaker say... “Professional success without a successor is failure.”

Recently my youngest son asked me to join him on Sunday mornings for the whole summer to teach the bible to young children who are 6 and 7 years old. I was thrilled to say yes! Our teaching team will get together each Saturday morning for the summer season to eat breakfast together and to and plan for the next days lesson. Although I do not know all the adult who will be on the team as yet, I am looking forward to the whole process.

We will focus on the life of a Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus who began as a fisherman and became a great spiritual leader whose influence has impacted generations. Continue reading →

Pay it Forward

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Find a younger person that is living in the storm of life right now that you have lived in the past. There are no NEW problems, just recycled ones!

Find a younger person that is living in the storm of life right now that you have lived in the past. There are no NEW problems, just recycled ones!

As we get older, there is a natural drift toward isolation. Senior men and women begin to feel marginalized as their world shrinks and the choices are not as wide open as they were in the past. So how can we find meaning and purpose for our lives during the final season? How can we invest ourselves during the final season?

We live our lives forward, but we understand them by looking backward. Continue reading →

Change is Hard

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The fire started in the kitchen which is often the case in apartment living for seniors who for a variety of reasons find the kitchen to be less manageable as they age.

The fire started in the kitchen which is often the case in apartment living for seniors who for a variety of reasons find the kitchen to be less manageable as they age.

I know a woman whose home was damaged in an accidental fire. The fire started in the kitchen which is often the case in apartment living for seniors who for a variety of reasons find the kitchen to be less manageable as they age. Independent living including the regular tasks of housekeeping can create fire hazards as we age. In this case, cloth items were on top of the stove. While emergency personal were taking her out of the apartment for a medical need, the stove was inadvertently turned on resulting in the fire which started while no one was at home. Continue reading →

Learn it & you own it!

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The class was full of young people and the teacher and I were the only older folks in the class, but I loved it!

The class was full of young people and the teacher and I were the only older folks in the class, but I loved it! 

When I was 10 years old we got our first TV set, not because my parents needed more entertainment, but because a family friend gave it to my dad. The only reason he wanted to get near a TV set was to find out “how” it worked. He had already disassembled a few of them to discover what made it work. He was also a ham radio operator conversing with people all over the world and we had a big towering antenna attached to our house to bring in the signals. Continue reading →

A New Plan

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Management is problem solving every day and I have chosen to see this responsibility as a privilege.

Management is problem solving every day and I have chosen to see this responsibility as a privilege.

Retirement is not in my plan.  At age 65, I started a whole new career as housing has always been and area of interest.  After communicating on line with with Mary Peterson at The Hamilton in Savage, I came over for a visit to see the property for myself.   I asked Mary to describe in a nutshell, what it was like to manage a big apartment building.  She said, “It’s just like taking care of a very large home.”

Glendale Place was right next door, so I took a tour that same day.  Continue reading →

Knee Work

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“Knee work bears fruit.” It means that prayer is the starting place that will lead me to the next step I must see in order to find my way.

“Knee work bears fruit.” It means that prayer is the starting place that will lead me to the next step I must see in order to find my way.

Who are you listening to? What voices are fueling your thinking?

We all build a structure of living that works for a time, but unforeseen, sometimes sudden upsets bring those structures down like a house of cards. Fear becomes a reaction that is understandable and can be paralyzing. If the downfall included the trauma of emotionally devastating loss or rejection such as divorce, death, catastrophic illness or economic disaster, the sinking feeling can take you down fast. Continue reading →

No Time to Waste

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boarding 24 additional hoarse for weekend riders in the area.

Her husband and adult son were the type of men that quickly turn anything they like into a business, so these days they are boarding 24 additional hoarse for weekend riders in the area.

Flexibility and change are NOT the usual character traits I see in my peers. But exceptions are to be found. While caring for tiny babies on Sunday in church, I met a women whose moved to Minnesota from Florida. Who does that? I was intrigued.

Turns out they started in Minnesota and then moved to Florida. They were not golfers so found it hard to connect with new people and a summer there….. well, she referred to it as the two showers a day season. Hot and humid was the norm. Continue reading →