Maryan Pelland's Blog
Posted by Maryan Pelland
Here are some of the things we were reading and writing about during 2006. It’s great to be part of a majority, isn’t it?
Story #10. The oldest Baby Boomers turned 60 this year. We, as a generation, are a goldmine of statistics, trends, medical research subjects, commentary and a huge target for advertising messages. Together, we can create positive change – or negative. Remember the 60s?
9. This year, for some reason, stories of grandparents who are now parenting their grandkids flooded the media. Grandfamilies aren't a new concept, though it appears to be a growing trend. There is little help for the grandparents, but many states are working on the problem.
8. Major companies, and minor ones, too are putting more trust in older workers. Seniors in metropolitan job markets are finding it easier than it once was to find work as employees or consultants after age 50. That’s spurring a trend for retirees to “quit” retirement and go back to work – for the love of an endeavor. The oldest worker this year? Waldo McBurney, age 104.
7. ABC News began the year with a report on how we have changed the complexion of retirement and aging. They said,
“Jan. 10, 2006 — Think retirement still means long days at the golf course or leisurely strolls along the beach? Think again.
Baby boomers have reshaped what it means to grow older. Compared with their parents, boomers are healthier, better educated and living well into their 80s and beyond. The increasing lifespan has given boomers the chance to reinvent themselves and pursue new passions at any age.”
And here’s what 94 year-old Art Linkletter says about being old.
6. Drivers older than 80 are becoming a problem and will be more so as time goes on and seniors become the largest segment of our populations. Canada, the U.S. and other countries are considering options now for new laws and new auto designs.
5. Seattle Times writer Darlene Superville reported that George Bush made the top of AP-AOL list of villains chosen by public vote. He also made the top of the same organization’s heroes list. America’s identity crisis, I guess. Oprah and Michael J. Fox ranked high as best role models – Britney Spears and Paris Hilton didn’t. Maybe by the time they're seniors....
4. Celebs’ age milestones – Ray Liota, 50; Eli Wallach, 90; Kirk Douglas, 90; Patty Duke, 60; Diane Keaton, 60; Dolly Parton, 60; Albert Finney, 70; Alan Alda, 70; John Coltrane, 80; Bea Arthur, 80; Beverly Cleary, 90; Walter Cronkite, 90; Olivia De Havilland, 90 and actor Bruce Bennet and scientist Albert Hofman are 100.
3. We lost former President Gerald Ford, making George Bush, the elder, our oldest living president. I won’t run through notable deaths here – aren’t they all?
2. Execution of Saddam Hussein. There is nothing to say about this except that a man who was gleefully, directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people has left this earth. May God have mercy on his victims.
1. Blogging becomes the medium of today and seniors are rapidly becoming the CNN of the common people – that’s us. Because there are so many of us older people, it’s not hard for us to become the “fastest growing segment” of almost anything, but we’re truly making an impact on the Bloggosphere. You can Google for “senior blog” and find major news stories across the nation about our writing and reporting. You can visit sites that catalog us, like The Ageless Project http://jenett.org/ageless/. We’re good. Damn good.
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Posted by Maryan Pelland
The year ends. How'd it go for you? Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting headlines in the subject that occupies our thoughts often as we get used to being older. Health issues – headline fodder every single day.
Number 10. Cruise ship woes. Viral infections, food poisoning, mystery ailments, ship malfunctions. My husband and I considered a cruise this year and then decided there might be something better to do with our time and resources. I had conversations with several friends who took cruises and had major problems that never made it to the headlines. Maybe all those cruise lines need to step back and rethink how they’re doing things.
9. Bird flu. A real scare early in the year. Maybe it still is, but where did it go – and where are those headlines?
8. Plan B contraceptive pill was approved in August by the FDA for over the counter dispensing to women over 18 years of age. Those under 18 will need a prescription.
7. For the time being vitamin D is a superhero. This the year we learned it helps with Multiple Sclerosis. It might have an affect on breast cancer, ovarian cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and others. Some studies seemed to show it reduces bone loss. It affects blood pressure. Oregon State University has a page of info about this miracle vitamin – a little bogged down in science, but worth reading.
6. Brain exercises promote fitness of the mind. Many studies showed that brainular jumping jacks can keep your mind healthy and ticking like a Swiss watch for a long time. Video game companies, like Nintendo jumped on the bandwagon aiming new game sets at seniors and families. Brainage is one. But crossword puzzles, word games, math quizzes and similar complicated activities will do the job.
5. Americans seem to be eating fewer high-risk foods because of constant publicity about them. We consume less pink hamburger or ground beef, far less raw fish or oysters, not much unpasturized dairy, undercooked or uncooked eggs and we’ve slowed down on alfalfa sprouts. This according to WebMD.com.
4. Transfats got whacked by the government and everyone else on earth. About time, I think. Ask any cardiologist – he or she will tell you transfat is suicide on a plate. It will kill you sooner than later. With all the choices we have, there’s no reason to keep eating foods that contain transfats.
3. In 2006 we learned with more surety that women, seniors and minorities are not the same when you’re talking about health. Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of everything needs to be specific. Studies repeatedly show that race, sex, gender, age, cultural barriers, and socioeconomic factors are primary reasons why some groups consistently experience poorer outcomes in major health areas from cancer to heart disease, says Newswise .
2. Vaccination for cancer. I like this one. The new vaccine is against human papillomavirus (HPV) and should immunize us women against infection by two strains of HPV, which seem to be the cause of about 3/4 of cervical cancers.
1.Food contamination. This had to be, for me anyway, the biggest. It felt like every other week, someone found a problem with our food supply. The stuff sci-fi movies are made of, no? It was E Coli in spinach, then green onions at Taco Bell, then NOT green onions, but lettuce. Then I read about 300 cases of something in diners who ate at Olive Garden Restaurants. Then, there was nothing more. It just disappeared like it never happened.
Keep healthy – read the headlines, but keep them in perspective. Have a prosperous, productive, enjoyable and peaceful 2007.
Posted by Maryan Pelland
The world's oldest living woman died at 116 years old in Memphis, Tennessee.
Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bolden was the record holder for about a quarter of a year, but it counts.
Lizzie, born on a cotton farm in Fayette County, Tennessee, was daughter to freed slaves. For the last two years, she was seriously impaired as the result of a stroke in 2004, but life was long and good from reports I've read. And it will only get better for those of us who reach such ages.
The latest stats say if you are alive in the year 2010, your life expectancy rises to 120 years. So Lizzie's age won't be all that exciting when we look back from the last third of the 21st Century.
But what about quality of life? When I told the factoid above to my husband, he said, "Holy smoke, how will anyone afford to live?"
Good question - and it's never too late to start planning. Do some research and get yourself a plan.
I spoke to entertainment veteran Art Linkletter this week, doing an interview for an article I'll post on Suite101 very soon. He's in his middle 90s and his advice to you is threefold:
- Get a great family doctor and see him or her a couple times a year.
- Find something you love to do and do it regularly. Volunteer, work at a career that really satisfies you, develop some hobbies that challenge you.
- Make your family your shelter. Bury all past spats, accept all family members for who they are and treasure your good fortune in having them.
Good advice. Then you can live long and prosper. They say Zabani Khakimova, in Chechnya, is 124 years old. The photos I've seen of her show a smiling lady who looks tickled to be here. We can emulate her, reduce stress that surrounds us if we're not careful, and consider ourselves to be just about middle age at 60.
Another thought - researchers at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Aging report that resveratrol, a natural substance found in red wine, offset the negative effects of a high-calorie diet in mice. In their study, weight-related deaths were 31 % fewer for pudgy mice given the chemical as a supplement. The resveratrol mice lived longer than they should have and were happily leaping, frolicking and working out in the mice-gym instead of slumped in a corner of their cage like other geriatric rodents. They didn't get skinny, but they stayed healthy.
One journalist, more in tune to humor than news, I guess, said the mice were given an amount of the resveratrol that equates to you or I drinking 100 bottles of wine per day. But the study results I read said the mice's diets were supplemented with grape extract, grape skins, and pure juices. The quantities were not huge.
The chemical is found in wine, grapes, peanuts and other nuts.
Now, I wouldn't go off the deep end and hang in bars sucking down massive quantities of wine. Likely, the health consequences would make body fat look pretty healthy by comparison. But if you choose wine this holiday season, or anytime, choose red. If you drink juice, make it grape juice sometimes, add some pomegranite to your juice choices, snack on some peanuts and do all things in moderation.
Except maybe the mistletoe tradition. Go ahead and overindulge...
Merry Christmas.
Posted by Maryan Pelland
Consider these ideas when you shop for seniors on your list or even when your family asks you to give them a list of what Santa can bring you.
- Books- always a good idea, but consider comfort. There's a new book size, called premium mass market. The covers are soft, print is bolder, pages a bit larger than a regular paperback, margins wider and more space between lines. Ask booksellers.
- Perfumes and other scents are not a good idea unless you know exactly what scent to buy. Body scents are a very personal choice. Don't buy whatever's on sale!
- Music. A wonderful gift. If you have a big budget, consider a CD player or portable. Or even an MP3 player, not necessarily that really expensive, popular one.
- Portable DVD player - again, depending on budget. This is an item that's perfect for seniors who travel by car or by air.
- Memory or card upgrade for the computer. Better yet, a laptop. Take it anywhere - and you can store DVD movies on it for traveling, as well. Keeps recipes, books on tape, address book, games, memos and memoirs. Laptops have come down in price to the very affordable range.
- The traditional warm gifts like sweater, gloves, scarf, and hats if the receiver is in a cold climate. Make sure, though, that Mom doesn't have a closet full of unused gifted sweaters she never wears like my grandma did. If Dad lives in a warm climate, go for a pair of wild swim trunks, a flowering plant for the garden, a folding chair for fishing trips or lanai.
- Nostalgic gifts. An antique toy for the garden, old-time candy (find lots of stores on line) reminiscent of childhood like bull's eyes, Snaps, and Blackjack Gum. Think about old-time stuff - it's very fun and the price range is anything you want it to be. How 'bout a newspaper or magazine from their birth date or year?
- Gift cards that don't have fees or expiration dates if the recipient can get out to shop on her own. Don't forget about specialty stores like coffee shops, bakery, or the candy shop. Phone cards, if mobility is a problem.
- A video of grandkids, family and family activities. Make sure there's some humor involved.
- Plan for next year - do a photo album of the year's events in the family. Make it a party - everyone brings some pictures, you chip in for the decorative embellishments and the book, sip cocoa and put the pages together one at a time. We did that for my nephew's high school graduation and he adored the finished product. Each page had a personality.
- A subscription to a favorite magazine. Think about Guideposts, Ideals, Organic Gardening, Woodworking, or Grand Magazine. Math the periodical to the personality.
- A winner - Simple Start Car Battery Charger from Black & Decker. For safety's sake, think about this one. A small cube-shaped charge that plugs into cigar lighter and charges a dead battery in about 20 minutes. Good Housekeeping Institute says it works well.
- Gift certificate for a favorite restaurant. This is a favorite among those who are perceived as "having everything." Better yet, phone up a restaurant that delivers and arrange to have dinner sent out on a day when your love done will be home. What could be nicer than a day off for the cook or a surprise meal for the non-cook.
NOTE: If aging has brought physical changes, you might consider a gift that aids mobility, makes hearing easier, or helps with vision. There are a broad range of such accessibility items like amplified phones, alarm clocks that work by light, not sound and slippers with non-slip bottoms.
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Posted by Maryan Pelland
A young mother is registering her child at Amazon.com so people can buy the child the right gift. for the holidays She's hoping for electronic toys and ride ons and computer gadgets. Her daughter is less than a year old.
And she'll likely get some of those gifts at a time when the baby would rather explore the boxes they came in.
Then there are the parents who want to yell, "STOP it!"
They have no space for huge electric ride-on toys grandma and grandpa give them. They have no desire to see their children learn that any holiday is a harbinger of loot instead of a time to celebrate our relationships with other people.
In a Minnesota paper's op/ed section this week, a father lamented that grandparents go overboard. Parents can't find a good explanation for the value of holidays when the kids are so distracted with glitter, lighted diodes, buzzing electronics and inflated price tags.
Open any publication during this winter giving season and you'll find pages upon pages of ads for expensive things we might never think of acquiring for ourselves, our grandkids or anyone else, at another time of the year. Why now?
Is it because we fear the other side of the family will out-give us? Ok, maybe they will. But they can't out-love, can they?
Do we get nutsy at Christmas because we're caught up in the swing of things and just carried along? That's where I think the root of it all is. When I was a kid, my mom had a bright orange, brittle plastic 78 rpm recording of a guy named Yogi Yorgeson singing "I Yust Go Nutz at Christmas."
Bright and peppy at first, it got a bit frantic toward the end as the comedy-singer chronicled his need to go overboard for the holidays. Thinking back on that, it starts to look clear to me that extravagance isn't new to the 21st Century. Americans, especially, have tended to over-do for a long time.
And my family isn't in the clear, either. When my 28-year old son was about 4 or 5, I found him crying into his pillow a few weeks before Christmas. He had his piggy bank money scattered around in his blankets like Robert Louis Stevenson's soldiers in the counterpane of poetry. After I soothed him, we got to the root of the concern.
"I want to be able to buy something for grandma," he said. I thought that was a very sweet thought, until he explained that he felt obligated because grandma, in his estimation, had so little money but bought present upon present for 12 grandchildren and 4 children and her children's spouses.
As he hiccupped out this explanation, I felt like that amount of pressure shouldn't fall on a kid.
We talked more about the concept of money and giving and holidays. I don't know what affect, if any, it had on his life.
I do know that his grandma, while not fabulously wealthy, has enough, along with charge cards, I guess, to squeak by with her need to spoil everyone. But there's no reason for any of us to do that.
We send a shabby message. We demonstrate to our loved ones, perhaps, that unable to fill their hearts with high self-esteem and warm feelings of love, we fill their homes with stuff.
A few years ago, my husband and I determined to find a way to express ourselves in the gifts we bought and make them personal for the receiver. We buy books, now. We spend a good amount of time finding beautiful or fascinating books that match our family members' personalities. We also quietly put a little cash in bank accounts for the grandkids. Whatever we can afford. We don't announce that because we don't want to.
It's working. We love the shopping for books because we love books. We like the reactions of the people who get the books. Usually. We feel like we've done something that works for us, sends the message we prefer to send, and encourages our loved ones to enjoy something of beauty they might not have found on their own.
We're not thinking we're some icons of the true meaning of Christmas -- we had many motives for making a change, some selfish. But see what happens if one year you slow it all way down and do something unexpected.
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More on gifting from Suite101.com
Dad wants grandparents to slow down in giving extravagant gifts
