Back in Texas at Concord Lodge.  How utterly beautiful.  Profuse green, almost tropical, birdsong around and above us, reminds us of home, which it has been for over ten years.  This time is different, however.  The  process for dealing with aging has come down to eliminating lots of stuff.  What has taken 35 years plus to accumulate [...]

This is the ‘other’ Dr Elrod, filling in for Jerry today. I’ve been wanting to share some thoughts and experiences and I guess this is the most available opportunity. So here goes!

The first disclaimer is that, as a woman who is in her senior citizen years, my perspective is that of observer, albeit in my case, a very loving observer. My husband was diagnosed with very aggressive prostate cancer 18 months ago. He is 70; I am 65. I’ve had some experiences in the past 18 months that I hope will be helpful to other senior women, wives, significant others and observers of men with prostate cancer.

We women don’t walk in shoes of men who have prostate cancer, and we cannot know how it feels and how it affects them. Don’t judge. And don’t be critical of their responses, even when you want to choke them.
Honor his choices. If the diagnosis is highly aggressive cancer, as it was in my husband’s case, honor his choice to live even when it means losing some dignity…

One of the things I love most is my fellow senior (and junior!) citizens who find compassion to be the emotion they express most. The other day I was with two of my granddaughters who have cultivated unusually healthy doses of compassion. They enjoy speaking to people they meet in passing; they love to open and hold doors for older persons. They share a sense of life’s goodness with others, without expectation of any return.

In this current deteriorating climate when hate seems to both epidemic and endemic to our times, it is refreshing to run across any one who has set aside the treasure of kindness, goodness, thoughtfulness and find themselves willing to share it with others.

Poetry was once a means for communicating genuine good thoughts and feelings. It is almost a lost art. Prose was expressed in ways which was aimed at hitting the heart with warmth, tenderness, and caring. We are now beset by so much bitternesss and hate and rancor and wicked behavior that it becomes difficult to find positive signs of conduct.

Some of the past 200-plus posts on this blog have dealt with longevity issues for senior citizens. Many of us have tried to find the proverbial fountain of youth in a variety of pills, boxes, salves and other potions that supposedly have curative and life-preserving qualities. A distillation of research, however, reveals the ‘secrets’ of long life aren’t in something one can buy. Rather, the secrets are in three simple life style choices.

Diet: The more healthy one’s diet, the more healthy is one’s life. Another traditional way of stating this obvious choice is, “You are what you eat.” One research study after another tells us that the more fruits, vegetables, fiber, lean protein and EFAs you eat, the healthier your body will be. The most amazing discovery many people make when they seriously take a look at diet is this: You can eat well, with a lot of diversity in foods, and with great tantalizing taste, feeling full after each meal… and contribute to longer life in the process.

Everything I am reading dealing with aging, becoming and remaining a productive senior indicates that having a very healthy social life, lots of friends, interactions, and contacts with persons you enjoy adds years to your life.

Finding out if that is so only requires a few interactive occasions with persons whom you are willing to spend enough time with to come up with an honest evaluation.

How in the world do you cultivate all the qualities to be the person you want to be?  Most persons who read this are likely older (classified as seniors, genarians of one decade or the other). However, being the person you want to be is not limited to age issues; it is attached, quite universally, to [...]

Some books discovered and read of late are worthy of recommendation.  Because I have been foolish enough to loan some of them out, they are not all presently in my library, requiring that I may ask you to research one or another author.  Excuse my laziness, but that is a quality I have come to develop in [...]

A best friend sent a series of Steven Wright quotes the other day. His uncanny mind and extra planetary humor is totally outrageous and funny. I will see that these quotes are posted soon. But his warped mind helped to develop today’s topic: “If you don’t read this, why am I writing it?” That’s a little like, “If I dialed the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?”
None of us who writes for a general audience, particularly in the blogosphere, has any idea who or how people decide to read us. Some days are better than others. Some days audiences reach an enormous 3 or 4 readers. Sometimes more, gratefully!

Aging brings with it making choices from a variety of behaviors.  Our daily walk, with our dogs, illustrates the point well. The walk surrounds an absolutely beautiful pond and fountain.  The fountain is reputed to be the highest in the world.  Persons from the community assemble here daily for their morning constitutional and walking their variety of [...]

Imagine yourself at  80 or 90.  Imagine your personality.  It won’t be the same as in years past.  Imagine your body.  There will be changes there too. Imagine your social circle.  Again, changed.  Imagine your habits, your health, your mind, your domicile.  More changes.  Imagine whether you have a partner or not.  Imagine your ability [...]