After a wonderful trip visiting our children in California, Rita and I are back in the Gorge, gradually returning to our regular routines and fighting the urge to fly back to San Diego whenever the temperature drops below 40.
Besides hanging out with our children, I learned a couple of things on this trip.
I didn’t know when scanning your carry-ons while going through airport security, you don’t have to take your shoes off if you are 75 or older. That was a pleasant surprise until I thought, “How did they know I was over 75? Was it that obvious?”
But what was most valuable is I gained a better understanding of how the sometimes complicated relationship with your children can evolve over time. During the trip, while staying with my son and his wife, we would take short trips, and every time, I sat in the back seat. When it was time to get out of the car, my son would run around and offer to help me extricate myself out of the back seat.
My response each time? “No, I can do it!” as I struggled to bend my knees to my chest, twist around to get out the door, and stand up.
But later I realized that simple gesture was a way to say he cared, and, instead of pushing him away with my “can do” attitude, I should have accepted his help. Why should I disregard his sense of caring that is important to him? And I did need the help! So the lesson I learned is when your children want to help, let them and show your appreciation. Now don’t get me wrong, there are limits. If they start to tell me where I should live, someplace safe with more care, then I’ll have to tell them lovingly, “No, way!”
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Now that we have seen the streets and hills painted white, it’s time for that annual reminder to “walk like a penguin”: Pointing your feet out slightly; bending your knees and keeping them loose; extending your arms out to your side and hands out of your pockets; and taking short steps or waddling.
It’s also helpful to assume all wet and dark areas on the pavement are icy — especially around snowbanks where the melt–off freezes overnight.
Whether it’s icy or not, it’s a good time to remember falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries among older adults. So, if you need to go outside in the ice and snow, don’t rush, stay focused, and “walk like a penguin!”
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Brain Tease. This should be a simple one. What does this mean, T RN?
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For the last three weeks of the “Remember When” questions, let’s see if I can get it right.
For Dec. 18, the answer was Matchbox Toys. I received correct answers from Katherine Smith, Rebecca Abrams, Rhonda Spies, Debbie Medina, Eva Summers, Craig Terry, and Donna Mollet. I also received other answers you may remember. Kathy Bullack answered Tonka Toys (the Winifred Museum in Winifred, Montana, has a collection of more than 3,000 Tonka Toys!); Craig Terry preferred Dinky toys; Judy Kiser remembered Tootsietoy, and Donna Mollet remembered there were Corgi Toys before Matchbox.
For Dec. 25, Donna Mollet’s favorite Christmas present was a bicycle she named Jamie, for Marny Weting it was “Robert the Robot” and for Becky Podvent it was a large Davy Crocket doll she received when she was 5.
For Jan. 1, the name of the group of entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford was the Rat Pack. I received correct answers from Debbie Medina, Craig Terry, Bruce Johnson, Lana Tepfer, Judy Kiser, Steven Woolpert, Nancy Higgins, Pat Evenson-Brady, Linda Frizzell, Keith Clymer, Melissa Hayes, Rhonda Spies, Dave Lutgens, Mike Yarnell, Rebecca Abrams, Ken Jernstedt, Donna Mollet and Doug Nelson.
The winners of the quilt raffle tickets for the last three weeks are Katherine Smith, Becky Podvent and Craig Terry.
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Many of the books we read as children were created in the early 1900s by Edward Stratemeyer: The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and my favorite, The Hardy Boys. With the success of the Hardy Boys, Stratemeyer created another mystery series about a fictional teenage girl amateur detective.
For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the name of the heroine in that book series first published in 1930? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788, or mail it with the first book in the series The Secret of the Old Clock.
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Well, it’s been another week, wondering what I should expect during this new year. Until we meet again, walk carefully, stay warm, and keep smiling.
“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
— Cesare Pavese
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Nutritious home-delivered and in-person meals are available at noon Monday through Friday unless otherwise noted.
Seniors of Mosier Valley (541-980-1157) — Wednesdays with music on second and fourth Wednesdays; Mt. Hood Town Hall (541-308-5997) — Tuesdays; Hood River Valley Adult Center (541-386-2060); Sherman County Senior and Community Center (541-565-3191); The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels (541-298-8333).
For meal sites in Washington, call Klickitat County Senior Services: Goldendale office (509-773-3757) or the White Salmon office (509-493-3068), and in Skamania County call Senior Services (509-427-3990).
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