Senior Living
/Health

She once advised the president on aging issues. Now, she’s battling serious disability and depression
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
____
The GoFundMe request jumped out at me as I was scrolling through posts on LinkedIn.
Nora Super, executive director of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging and former director...Read more

She once advised the president on aging issues. Now, she's battling serious disability and depression
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
____
The GoFundMe request jumped out at me as I was scrolling through posts on LinkedIn.
Nora Super, executive director of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging and former director...Read more

Steve Lopez: A visit with my late mother's nurse, and a lesson on what you should know about hospice care
When my mother was dying, a private, for-profit hospice agency failed her — the assigned nurse was late for the first visit because of a staffing shortage. My mother suffered in misery without pain medication, and our family dumped the agency and switched to a nonprofit.
Karen Eshelman was the nurse who came to the rescue, calmly and quickly ...Read more

Steve Lopez: A visit with my late mother's nurse, and a lesson on what you should know about hospice care
When my mother was dying, a private, for-profit hospice agency failed her — the assigned nurse was late for the first visit because of a staffing shortage. My mother suffered in misery without pain medication, and our family dumped the agency and switched to a nonprofit.
Karen Eshelman was the nurse who came to the rescue, calmly and quickly ...Read more

Steve Lopez: An abrupt jump from living in a car to an apartment is 'almost a shock wave'
LOS ANGELES – Early on the morning of Oct. 12, David Mays woke up in the Chevrolet he had been living in for two years, knowing this day would be different.
Safe Parking L.A. had been a blessing, providing a covered space in a downtown garage, with on-site security and access to a bathroom. That was better than sleeping on the street with one...Read more

Steve Lopez: An abrupt jump from living in a car to an apartment is 'almost a shock wave'
LOS ANGELES – Early on the morning of Oct. 12, David Mays woke up in the Chevrolet he had been living in for two years, knowing this day would be different.
Safe Parking L.A. had been a blessing, providing a covered space in a downtown garage, with on-site security and access to a bathroom. That was better than sleeping on the street with one...Read more

‘Mama Bear’ Liz Dyer says faith informs her LGBTQ advocacy
DALLAS -- When Liz Dyer’s son Nicholas came out to her as gay, she had some hard questions for her faith.
The Fort Worth mom had grown up Southern Baptist and was then leading the women’s ministry at her Southern Baptist Church. She believed “God wouldn’t make someone gay” and same-gender relationships were “wrong” and “...Read more

Study: Listening to your favorite song could help relieve pain
The next time you’re feeling pain, you might want to hold off on taking that aspirin. According to a new study, music therapy could be the way to go instead.
A study, published in Frontiers in Pain Research, found that subjects listening to music experienced less pain than control subjects. The researchers used “thermal stimuli” on the ...Read more

Road Trips & Recipes with Kathy Witt: Yes, Orlando is a haven for relaxed pre-holiday family fun
What could be better than a morning spent surrounded by palm trees, children’s laughter and the sounds of rushing water? How about one where all to-do lists are forgotten while you float along a lazy river and relish some we-time with the family before the onset (onslaught) of the holidays? And if that morning unfolds at Orlando’s gorgeous ...Read more

Cardio, weights and the right foods: Keys to staying healthy over 50
Keep moving.
Do you want to stay healthier as you push past 50? Ward off arthritis and other conditions that come with age? Then get up and get active.
That’s what Dr. Nicholas Van Der Ahe, a primary care physician with Atrium Health Floyd, said would be of great benefit to folks over 50.
“Try to get at least two-and-a-half hours of ...Read more

At 94, West Virginian Lou Maiuri is a torchbearer for Appalachian and Italian-American foodways
"I've already canned most of the tomatoes this year," Lou Maiuri says on a late September afternoon. "I still got to dig up that whole field of potatoes, though."
Two days later, those potatoes were drying atop the fertile soil of the Summersville, West Virginia, garden he's tended for seven decades.
"I've been doing this since I can remember,...Read more

So you want to retire and become a writer? Here's some inspiration
LOS ANGELES -- For some people, retirement is a long-awaited chance to sleep late, relax and celebrate the joys of life without pressure or deadlines.
For others, it's an opportunity to finally get to work.
Within a span of a few days, I heard about two retirees who had long dreamed of becoming authors, but their jobs kept getting in the way. ...Read more

So you want to retire and become a writer? Here's some inspiration
LOS ANGELES -- For some people, retirement is a long-awaited chance to sleep late, relax and celebrate the joys of life without pressure or deadlines.
For others, it's an opportunity to finally get to work.
Within a span of a few days, I heard about two retirees who had long dreamed of becoming authors, but their jobs kept getting in the way. ...Read more

After retired Chicago-area priest loses life savings in scam common among seniors, friends and parishioners step up
The Rev. Robert Banzin had saved up about $61,000, which he planned to use to replace his 20-year-old car and pay for medication and other expenses. But these plans are now on hold.
The 85-year-old retired Catholic priest was robbed of his life savings in a financial scam, which friends and colleagues, who say he’s a “wonderful” and “...Read more

Medicare expands the roster of available mental health professionals
Lynn Cooper was going through an awful time. After losing her job in 2019, she became deeply depressed. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and her anxiety went through the roof. Then her cherished therapist — a marriage and family counselor — told Cooper she couldn’t see her once Cooper turned 65 and joined Medicare.
“I was stunned,” ...Read more

Older adults want to ‘age in place,’ but their options are limited in most states
As older adults begin to outnumber young people in the United States in the coming decade, advocacy groups are challenging states to shift away from single-family zoning in favor of housing solutions that allow older adults to “age in place.”
By 2035, the U.S. will have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18, a first in ...Read more

After retired Chicago-area priest loses life savings in scam common among seniors, friends and parishioners step up
The Rev. Robert Banzin had saved up about $61,000, which he planned to use to replace his 20-year-old car and pay for medication and other expenses. But these plans are now on hold.
The 85-year-old retired Catholic priest was robbed of his life savings in a financial scam, which friends and colleagues, who say he’s a “wonderful” and “...Read more

Older adults want to 'age in place,' but their options are limited in most states
As older adults begin to outnumber young people in the United States in the coming decade, advocacy groups are challenging states to shift away from single-family zoning in favor of housing solutions that allow older adults to “age in place.”
By 2035, the U.S. will have more people over the age of 65 than under the age of 18, a first in ...Read more

One of the first Black women to work at Campbell Soup, this 100-year-old is known as ‘the Queen’
A retired Campbell Soup Co. employee who helped break racial barriers at the company’s flagship plant in downtown Camden, New Jersey, Daisy Riley began celebrating her 100th birthday this month in grand style in her Parkside neighborhood.
Although she never believed she would reach this milestone, Riley has embraced her new status as a ...Read more

One of the first Black women to work at Campbell Soup, this 100-year-old is known as 'the Queen'
A retired Campbell Soup Co. employee who helped break racial barriers at the company’s flagship plant in downtown Camden, New Jersey, Daisy Riley began celebrating her 100th birthday this month in grand style in her Parkside neighborhood.
Although she never believed she would reach this milestone, Riley has embraced her new status as a ...Read more