Since we are in Father’s Day Month, it seems timely to address the value, the wonder, the sneaky ways grandchildren have at capturing your hearts. They are much like cats. If you have read the book, “The Silent Meow,” you will know what I mean. They slip surreptitiously into your heart. They know how to manifest and express love in ways that catch you off guard. They are ever and forever there in front of you with that mystic smile, those endearing words, those enchanting manners.

Affection which comes by way of grandchildren, however identified, is a gift without price. It catches you in moments you don’t expect. Our youngest comes by way of a second marriage, thus she isn’t biological, but she is a miracle of love, kindness, sensitivity, warmth, happy snuggles and

Those words, without a lot of embellishment, are words to set your heart alight. An adolescent grandson, ending a conversation with those words becomes the most treasured gift of all. He had major car trouble over the weekend. It put me to thinking about when I went through a similarly disgusting, embarrassing experience some 50+ years ago. It seems life’s lessons have a way of rearing their ugly heads over and again. His spirits, I must admit, sounded much better than mine, as I recall them, from so many years ago.

We chatted about the mishap. Sounds as if it was the radiator, which may mean, you know what, a cracked block. Oh my! My experience, in those days was as serious, but less expensive. We live and hopefully we learn. At the end of our conversation, he said, in a spirit of everything is going to be fine, let’s

They may or may not know just how special they are. They may or may not realize the magnanimous gifts of sensitivity, genuine caring, thoughtful appreciation they have shared with us. They are jewels, brighter than the sun. They are precious, more luscious than the brook that runs by their Colorado home. They are stronger than the horses they allow us to ride through the mountain sides near their home. They are friends, family, precious, loving, caring human beings who have allowed us full welcome into their lives.

Time rushes by and we still know when we speak or share or communicate our special and exclusive words of affection that they are genuine, reserved, set aside only for them. Even their names are poetry… Joyce and John. They are animal lovers, but they are also lovers of the earth, caretakers of felines, rescue dogs, beautiful horses they share with others.

A recent SCJ Editorial Staff meeting found several editors comparing notes about dealing with financial issues with their aging parents.  SCJ Editors are all seniors themselves, and they all have elderly parents for whom one level of care or another is required.  The results of the discussion were notable, and this post describes what we [...]

Is it likely that you are really smarter than you think? Is it likely that with all the wild, misdirected craziness going on in our world today, you possess more insight, more credible, clear thought about what is really happpening all around you than you give credit to yourself? I think so. I think most of us in our senior years have more sane, clear, ready reading of what’s going on around us, than we really realize. And, admitting that will help us live more deliberate, more serene, more lucid lives. This mixed, up, crazy, mad, mad world is leading us in directions from which we can direct ourselves to other clearer destinations.

For one, I am ready to declare that most of us seniors really are brighter, more incisive, clearer, better informed, wiser, more directed, wiser than we think.

There is no more valuable asset a senior citizen has than time. Taking your time to enjoy the day, a trip, someone’s visit, a phone call, a sunset, a sunrise, a cup of coffee is a gift without measure. “I don’t have time” is a statement loaded with a curse. Not being able to be in control of how you spend your time, what you do, how you do it, with whom you do it ought to be the things that are the components of full retirement. “I don’t have time” is filled with turning over control of your entire life to something else, somebody else, somewhere else that should have no influence, importance, impact upon your person.

Taking your time means having the capacity to sit. It means you can do, think, exercise, wander, muse in any direction, at any time whenever and wherever you wish. My favorite is early morning with a cup of coffee or late afternoon with a cocktail. My favorite is alone or with someone. My favorite is when the sun is setting or rising or setting. My favorite is

Knowing when to speak and when to keep one’s silence is an important lesson of maturity for senior citizens. The wonderful film, “Forrest Gump,” illustrated that well when Forrest knew to say “That’s all I’ve got to say about that.” Brilliant. Some of us seniors are still at the task of learning how to control our tongues. Verbosity is really not a virtue. Elders deciding that having an opinion on every subject is not an indication of intelligence. Listening is. Listening to others as they weave their story or share an insight allows for learning. Interrupting or refusing others the chance at speaking are both rude and unpleasant.

Coming to the time when one recognizes the “Forrest Gump” method, is that time when adult maturity has begun to set in, no matter your

We have just completed an 1100 mile trip across Texas, New Mexico and southern Arizona. It was a harrowing trip. Semi-truck and automobile traffic was heavy. Worse yet, the indifference and oblivious attention many drivers pay to their habits and other’s safety is scary. Every moment requires alert and quick response to what’s going on all about you. On this trip we encountered no fewer than four close calls, none of them created by us, but all of them requiring evasive action to avoid a serious collision.

In each case, the driver of the other vehicle was guilty of actions that were potentially extremely dangerous: i.e. delivery truck failing to yield to traffic as he entered the interstate from an on-ramp; vehicle speeding in inside lane on our left when we were attempting a left-hand turn ; truck with dangerous load

Waking up to the need to do things differently, especially now, is becoming more and more a necessity. During the Depression of the 1930′s, lots of people loaded up their raggedy vehicles, with their equally ragged possessions, and headed west. They were being driven by the Dust Bowl in the Midwest, the crash in the economy, the philosophy of an indifferent government. They had to find some means for caring for and supporting their families. So friends, relatives, neighbors pulled together what resources they had and moved across country. Frequently ending up in “Hoovervilles”, named in “honor” of the then president, it was a hardscrabble existence.

In those withered times, it was mandatory to keep moving, to find work, to share what substance one family had with another. Interdependence was not so often discussed as acted out by watching and caring for persons

A funny story has been making the rounds lately, for the ump-teenth million time… it’s the one about the Old Rooster and the Young Arrogant Cock… A chicken-farmer, concerned about the dwindling production of eggs in his coop, acquires a stud rooster. Upon being installed in the coop, the young cock (pardon the obviously intended pun), [...]