Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America, started her practice in New York in 1851. Not only was she unable to find patients–no one would even rent her a room once she mentioned that she was a doctor. After weeks of trudging the streets, she finally rented rooms from a landlady who asked no questions about what Elizabeth planned to do with them.

Quaker women, who had always been receptive to the goal of equal rights, became Elizabeth’s first patients. But no hospital would would allow her on its staff. Finally, with financial help from her Quaker friends, Elizabeth opened her own clinic in one of New York’s worst slums.

Best estimates currently are that 60% of senior citizens over 60 will need long term care in their lifetime. Those seniors at risk for early onset Alzheimers and Parkinsons will likely need care before the age of 60. Seniors everywhere need to look seriously at purchasing long term care insurance.

SCJ’s advice is that before one more day passes, set up an appointment to apply for Long Term Care Insurance coverage. The sooner you explore this option, the more likely you are to be very pleased with your intelligence and foresight. Waiting or putting off the decision will simply cost you more in the future. Or, it will create less likelihood of your being accepted.

The process is simple. Go to your primary care physician and have a conversation with him/her about the advantages of long term

Retirement, for many, begins almost like a romance. Infatuated with its desirability and what seems like limitless options, one is hard pressed to narrow down the priorities and tempted to do it all at once. That is impossible, of course. Thus, one is confronted with having to sort out what the realistic options are for your retirement, and to act on them with some kind of practical timeline.

Getting caught in the trap of “cookie cutter” choices, many commit themselves to limiting their options early on. Settling in somewhere is the first consideration that brings with it multiplied implications. If you stay where you are, there are predictable advantages; if you relocate, you automatically impose numerous new obligations and time consuming demands on that choice; if you do the motor-home thing, you are constantly free to go where you wish, but bound to always looking toward the next

The next eleven months are likely to produce more consternation than satisfaction. Expecting a miracle is likely a vain endeavor. America’s political and social climates have been reduced almost to ashes. The fury looms large, as it seeks to decimate those who are declared candidates. One by one the lustre of their shine dulls and the promise of their leadership dims. Can anyone withstand the furious anger and the dynamite charges to reputation and background?

While hope springs eternal and some are forever optimistic, some of that is fed by machinations and manipulations that would shame even the most naive. Can we expect anything good to emerge from so much that is bad? If America is so committed to the principle of “In God we Trust,” who among those who claim God’s inspiration can be trusted? Is there any demonstration of truth and integrity that can be unearthed?

Vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste are all essential to our daily existence. There are no guarantees that they will always and forever function well as we grow older. When various conditions develop which alter the sharpness of any of these senses, we are met with a sudden and dramatic realizations of how critically important and vital each of them is.

A recent diagnosis of macular degeneration has offered both a surprise and an adjustment I was not quite ready to make. Over the past year, however, I had become aware, since receiving my last correction in my eye glasses, that I was having difficulty making out signs at a distance and recognizing people across a room. These were obviously symptoms that were bothersome and telling. Indeed they were. For when I went to two physicians to get independent opinions, I was met with the same verdict. Increasingly, computer work, reading chiron on television, making out images at a distance have all become more of a challenge.

The prospect of losing your driver’s license looms large as certain of our faculties begin to slow. It is not a prospect most of us face with candid and resolute willingness. Many fight against it, to the bitter end. Many refuse to allow the realities of declining sharpness to be acknowledged. It will come and it will insist upon its own way.

Some of the issues that meet us with their frank openness and literal demand are easy to observe: Limited mobility for getting into and out of a vehicle, ability to park within necessary lines, managing the knobs and controls of your vehicle, visual recognition of warning lights and other read outs in your car, seeing behind you when backing up, clarity of vision for reading signs, recognizing stop lights, warning lights, crosswalks, etc., exiting your car with necessary brakes applied, shutting off certain instruments, being sure the car is in the proper gear, dealing with distractions while driving, e.g. conversations, etc.

I remember an elderly couple, to whom I was related, with whom I stayed in Houston a number of years ago. I was there for a major youth event sponsored by the then Methodist Church.

The incidentals of the occasion have almost escaped me. It was during my high school days. Being active in the youth activities of the church exposed me to a variety of experiences and eye opening encounters. Having grown up in a modest east Texas town, every experience outside that limited and limiting circle made for enriching wonders.

The couple, by now, had reached gentle maturity. My greatest regret is that I had so little time with them, so little opportunity to plumb the depths of their life experience. Each morning we would assemble around the small breakfast table, enjoy the repast, but

Before you book a flight to Florida, this column is not about the Fountain of Youth. Before you purchase the latest anti aging formulae this is not a sales pitch. It isn’t based upon Jack Lalayne’s exercise program, the latest gadget for a miracle exercise program to keep you young.

It is based on an incisive quote from author Franz Kafka (1883-1924): “Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”

It is about discovering how to preserve the magic of youth, how to cultivate those behaviors and disciplines and practices that instill a youthful sense of being and behaving. It is about refusing to give into the physical and mental deformities that take over, if we allow them, and ruin our sense of self worth and energized being.

If you are caught wondering what it is you can do that demonstrates compassion and offers a means for service to others, here are twelve suggestions.

1. Recognize that you can do something. Create a special ONCE A MONTH calendar. On this calendar post one thing you can do to be helpful to others.

For example: January: Offer your services to your local food bank, providing pick up of food goods from grocery and other stores who are willing to make sizable donations. Identify persons/families who need the food. Connect the two.

Three wonderful pets remind us every day, just how much of their lives center on us. Their care and keeping, their safety, their diet, their daily routine rests with us to meet and provide. It is nice to be needed. That is one of the essentials provided by a pet. They let you know that their world is about you and them. They help you understand the need for affection and the rewards that are associated with it. They start the day with you in mind. They quit the night when snuggled in, perhaps in bed with you, and they know all is well.

It is not too much to keep them well assured that they too are a central part of your universe. It is not too much to stop for a moment to pet them and let them know love is returned. It is not too much to give them your lap, your hand upon their head, your smile, your affirmation.