WHEN DID WE GET OLD?
AGE 18
The first morning we got up feel-
ing terrible, even when we didn’t
have a good time the night before?
Or maybe it was our first “senior
moment.” Our first gray hair? The first
time our spouse whispered, “Dear,
you already said that?”
OBER 2009 / P
When You Need Help
Or was it when we learned that
OCT
Giving Care...
our knees could predict the weather
better than Channel 8? The day we
ADULT DAY CARE
decided holding our stomach in wasn’t
ADULT DAY HEALTH CARE worth the trouble? The moment we re-
alized we were now reading the obits
ALZHEIMER’S CARE
before the news?
CAREGIVER SUPPORT SERVICES
We’ve grown up,
Caring Is Ageless
By Frank Kaiser
this class of ’57.
Standing in a cafeteria line at my
Sun City/Menifee Valley • (951) 672-9536 29995 Evans Rd., Sun City But we haven’t
45th college reunion last week, the
Adult Day Services
Riverside • (951) 509-2500 4130 Adams St., Suite B, Riverside
woman from the class of ’58 asked of
Quality Care Since 1978 online:
www.careconnexxus.com • email:
info@careconnexxus.com
grown old.
no one in particular, “When did I get
old?”
Standing in that cafeteria line, I
All conversation stopped. My first
had been thinking that we all looked
Our Outstanding Services Include:
thought: Since I’m from the class of ’57,
pretty good, for codgers. Most all of
White’s my classmates were fit. Some even
Love & Care
• Nutritional home-cooked meals prepared
I must be older than old.
had hair. But it was the sparkle in
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in an old-fashioned American way with
Geez!
their eyes and ready laughter from
snacks also served throughout the day.
Someone suggested that we got
ig
ig
RESIDENTIAL old the first time we received a senior
their hearts that really took me back
• Senior exercise programs and special
citizen discount without asking. Another
to those days of 1957 when we were
h
h
ELDERLY
indoor/outdoor activities.
blamed it on AARP, declaring that their
all so young.
bo
bo
Like yesterday.
HOME
• Supervision and assistance with letter inviting membership was indistin-
I’d been at DePauw two days
personal care such as bathing, dressing guishable from a death knell. A third
rs
rs
now. I’d compared life stories with
and personal needs. laughed and said, “I got old exactly at
maybe 50 of my classmates. I’d yet
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• Housekeeping and laundry services.
the point when my arms were too short
to hear anyone complain. Now, let’s
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to read the newspaper.”
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W
face it, we were all on our best be-
Home is licensed by the State of California, We were talking Suddenly Senior
S
Department of Social Services, to care for elderly people.
havior. But I’d spoken with some for a
P
S
here, that moment in time when — out
License # 336410192
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P
of the blue and contrary to that 23-
half hour or more. And instead of re-
P
A
We provide a family, home-like atmosphere where the grets, I heard nothing but confidence
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P
staff treats residents with love, dignity and respect.
year-old living inside us — we realized
R
E
R that we were geezers to the rest of the
in life and in the future.
Owners are hands-on in running the home to ensure
world.
All have grand plans: To build a
the best quality care for all residents.
When did we get old? Was it the
country house, to visit China, to learn
Where your Loved Ones Will Receive
first time we had to get up in the middle
to play the dulcimer. Most all chose
Love and Care
of the night to pee? Our first colonos-
retirement as a time to learn and
For more information call: Jacquelyn at
copy? The first time we declared, “Back
grow. And forgive.
(951) 712-8701
in my day…?”
We’ve grown up, this class of
’57. But we haven’t grown old. None
of us. I don’t care what AARP says.
More than ever, we wonder at
the stars, now made nearer by Hub-
ble, and we’re challenged by change
and work to make the most of it. For
us, for our children, for our communi-
ties and our country.
We may be Suddenly Senior, but
amazingly — to me, anyway — our
hearts are still young, our appetites
childlike, and our joy in each other
endless.
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We are today’s seniors. The world
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had better get out of the way.
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Frank Kaiser is a nationally syndicat-
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ed columnist to newspapers from Key
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Largo, Florida, to Olympia, Washing-
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ton. His weekly column and lots of
dd
dd other good stuff is online at http://
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www.suddenlysenior.com.
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