Within the last year we addressed here an experience in senior citizen communal living. After a year of living with extended members of our family, it is time to revisit the pros and cons of such an arrangement.

Simply put, communal living is an arrangement by which persons choose to live together in a shared domicile. The dimensions, agreements, contract, understandings have all been agreed to. The partners in the agreement choose to live out a specific period of time together.

We knew we were embarking on a trail that had little if any directions or maps. We knew there was almost nothing available to tell us how to create a communal living arrangement. We were three sisters and husbands of two of the sisters. We knew we would have fun, challenge, convenience, and irritating moments. Communal living offers all

Here is the “official” travel guide to planning an Oregon vacation. This is a “one stop” link that seems to have it all together. The interactive map is loaded with several links to explore the state from the 363 miles of Pacific coastline to the eastern snow-capped peaks that look down on rolling hills, complex [...]

It’s a little unusual to find a listing of major tourist destinations worldwide in one place.  But that’s just what I’m attempting here.  These are the top attractions on each continent, as well as by cultural activity.  Here you will find lots of very interesting attractions that will help in your travel planning and keep [...]

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are two of the more insidious and troubling conditions facing many families today. Less discomfiting than Alzheimer’s, dementia has enough of its own characteristics and challenges to create stress in any family. Whatever the experience, increasingly these conditions affect the individual in ways that distance him or her from the family, to the point of not knowing names, being unable to recall any common experiences, and of course, in the case of Alzheimer’s, complete loss of memory for ordinary activity, e.g. eating, finding one’s way around in their home, and so on.

For those caring for the patient, it may feel very much like you are a stranger in your own home as well. If you are not known to the loved one who is stricken with Alzheimer’s, how utterly isolating and alienating that feels. The

Senior citizens around the planet are increasingly knowledgeable about their health.  We know maintaining good health, eating well, exercising and remaining engaged in the world around us keeps us young in body, mind and spirit.  So today SCJ addresses important nutritional information that we all need to learn about… omega-3 fatty acids or OFAs as [...]

Hey, Seniors.  The word is in.  Another poll by McClatchy Newspapers reports a majority of Americans want to keep the new health care bill, contrary to what some politicians are reporting.  The article about the McClatchy-Marist poll said, “Driving support for the law: Voters by margins of 2-1 or greater want to keep some of its best-known [...]

I’m sharing some of my favorite senior citizen travel sites with you today.  My list of favorites is very long, and these are just the ones that came to mind today.  Travel sites are extremely popular, especially among seniors and especially for holiday travel, because you can do all your travel planning online; that includes flights, hotels, [...]

Senior citizens are deeply concerned about the national debate over the ‘Bush tax cuts’.  We read and hear so many conflicting statements that it’s hard to know what to believe.  Some people on the national level who ought to know and share the truth about the effects of extending the cuts versus letting them expire [...]

Many senior women are in to finding shortcuts and money-saving steps in their life management.  Some of us have a home and family to consider.  Some of us are alone or with a partner.  No matter the life situation, we all find ourselves looking at ways to conserve our financial resources. During the past year, [...]

You probably know the type… the ones who challenge your patience, endurance and tolerance. People who are always right, no matter the subject, make it difficult for us senior citizens to extend grace.

No matter what position one takes, they always take the opposite one. No matter the subject at hand, they always can find something to disagree over it. No matter the conversation’s direction, they can attempt to redirect it to their point of view. It is a real conundrum. You may want to share the company of the person, but you really find it too much to try to engage in a one sided, “By damn, I am right” experience.

Each time it happens it is even more draining. It is as if the individual’s whole persona depends on their being right