Stop the insanity

Old people like me are at risk for Covid19. But no more so than the flu, falls and pneumonia. The shut down/lock up is hurting us more. There are shelves of research showing that being social is key to being healthy in old age; that moving even 45 minutes a day can extend your life, maybe more than 3 hours at the gym. Mall walking with a friend or shopping or a stroll in the park help us more than it helps young whipper snapper reporters opining about the evils of people who want the lock down to end. We may not remember the sermon, but we need our Sunday School class or choir participation or working with the ladies in the kitchen to connect. And yes, Alzheimer's doubles every 5 years after 65, but it's those tiny little strokes, the ones you can't detect on the phone, that really slow down our brains over time.

Governor, stop the insanity. You're killing us.

The power of YET

Joan Shaw Turrentine, retired teacher, pastor’s wife, mother, grandmother, blogger and FaceBook companion writes:

“I was reminded again this morning of the power of "yet." Even at my age, YET sometimes keeps me going. When I retired, I couldn't paint, or play piano, or write meaningful poetry, or read the Bible through yearly, or truly understand "big picture" economic or political issues, or relax enough to see the beauty in the stress of relationships, or turn loose of (and forgive myself for my part in) the stress generated through daily living - YET.

I still can't paint or write or forgive myself or understand those "big issues" like I really want to - YET. But I HAVE learned to add "yet" instead of a period when evaluating my life and accomplishments.

So, advice from this old lady to my young friends: Quit putting periods at the end of your self-evaluating statements/thoughts. When you come to the end of the statement, add "yet" and keep trying.”

Haggis, neeps and tatties

Today is Robert Burns birthday (b. Jan 25, 1759) the traditional time for Burns Suppers in Scotland and serving haggis, neeps and tatties. We're going to a Burns dinner this week-end and it's traditional for the guests to perform and the hosts to serve the food. Not sure what they'll serve or we'll do. But we missed several Christmas and New Year's events due to my husband's cold, so we're a bit starved for some good food and conversation. Yup. This is how old people party.

Here's a note from last year's blog about this event. "My husband and I both have surnames that travelled with invaders to Britain during the Norman invasion in 1066, which means our origins were French, then again into Scotland, but with so much mixing and matching over the centuries, especially in the British Isles, who knows really? We are both 8th or 9th generation Americans, with families that originally settled in Pennsylvania after getting off the boat before the Revolution, then traveling further west and south in the next generations and intermarrying with boatloads of Germans, some of whom kept their language for almost 100 years. Lots of Presbyterians in our family trees. . . his more recently than mine."

What is haggis? "Haggis is a meat dish which is made by stuffing a sheep or cow stomach with offal, oatmeal, and an assortment of spices, and then boiling the dish until it is thoroughly cooked."

What is neeps? Peeled and chopped turnips. I actually like this dish and used to serve it to the family on mystery vegetable night. Lots of Scots descendants in Appalachia and grandpa loved his turnips.

What is tatties? Mashed potatoes.

How do you find the time, Part 2

These are tips on how to be a good non-grandparent. I'm a little new at this, so if you don't have grandchildren, perhaps you have more ideas. I always thought I'd be one.

1. Find some friends in the same boat. These people might be available for movies and dinner out. We find grandparents have a very tough time scheduling because they are always on call. If dinner is at 7 p.m., they'll call at 6:55 with an emergency and you're already at the restaurant.

2. Find some new friends whose grandchildren are grown and live out of town. They still might not be around on holidays, because even college age grandchildren sometimes drop in for a day or two for 3 hots and a cot. However, these days even gramps might be checking the e-mail and texting his grandson. Be patient. You'd be doing the same if it were you. There's a corollary: if you meet someone who moved to your town to be near their grandchildren, it might be best to just pencil them in. If they made that kind of effort to be near the grandchildren, they aren't looking for a social life.

3. Meet grandparents your age somewhere neutral. We recently tried this with my sister-in-law and husband. We had to drive 100 miles to a Bob Evans, but we had an uninterrupted meal and a good time. We did get to talk to our nieces via the cell phone who found us at the restaurant. And no clean up!

4. Always ask about the grandchildren and admire the photographs. This works best, for some reason, right after "Hello, it's great to see you." These are the days of digital cameras and even the cell phones are loaded either with stills or video. Grannies are getting very good with this technology. It's a whole lot more interesting than the back surgery, arthritis or golf game.

5. We contribute money to causes that will save lives of children. We're the stand-in grandparents who didn't insist on aborting, but who think shacking up is a dumb idea for the long term solution. And say so. We know that you can't overcome poverty, AIDS, poor reading skills or autism by killing the children before you know what the outcome will be. Besides, haven't you noticed how many middle class children are now afflicted with the very problems we used to think only other people had?