The Other Side of 50
Andrea Gallagher, President of Senior Concerns, authors a bi-weekly column for the Thousand Oaks Acorn titled “The Other Side of 50,” focusing on life planning, positive aging and Boomer transitions.
State master plan on aging deserves review
Recognizing that California’s over-65 population is projected to grow to 8.6 million by 2030, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order recently calling for a Master Plan for Aging to be developed by Oct. 1, 2020. The master plan will serve as a blueprint for state government, local communities, private [...]
Seniors at risk during outages
Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed his famous “hierarchy of needs” theory in 1942. At the time, he saw food, water, sleep and shelter as the most basic of all human needs. I would contend electricity has now become a basic human need. Without electricity, it would be extremely difficult to lead [...]
Are America’s seniors facing and ‘aloneness’ epidemic?
Recently, my coworkers and I have begun to see a spike in the number of seniors in our community who go days on end without human contact. Yet when asked if they’re lonely, they say no. These individuals are quite content with their daily schedule. In many cases, they’re proud [...]
More and more older adults picking up pickleball
I’ve never been a sports-oriented person. I’m not sure if it’s the required physical exertion or the competitive aspect that doesn’t excite me, but I’d much rather spend my days pursuing a host of other activities. So when my husband announced he wanted us to join a club and play [...]
Listen to this advice about hearing loss
On weekends, my husband and I walk our dog, Rolo, together. Rolo is blind and deaf, but is a joyful 10-year-old pup in otherwise good health. Me, on the other hand, while I am in good health, I’ve been having some trouble hearing. On our dog walks, we traverse a [...]
How safe is that safe deposit box
My neighbor John has been collecting gold coins for the past 20 years. Upon buying a coin, he would place it in the safe deposit box he and his wife, Caitlin, rented at their bank. John put the gold there for an obvious reason: security. A thick steel door safeguards [...]
Another reminder not to ignore symptoms of heart attack
A few weeks ago, as he was walking his dog around his neighborhood, my friend Jerry experienced pain and pressure in his chest. He’d forgotten his cellphone, so he continued up the hill to his house, stopping four times to catch his breath before arriving home. Once he was inside [...]
No gifts this birthday, plan memories instead
I recently visited New Hampshire to join my mother in celebrating her 85th birthday. While planning the visit, I asked my mother if she would like to go on a short trip with me—maybe a visit to Cape Cod or to Maine? My mother has temporarily lost her “partner in [...]
Want your legacy to live on? Consider a charitable gift
When most people hear the words “planned giving,” their eyes glaze over. In the over-50 population, there’s a general lack of awareness and understanding about the concept. This is too bad, because with the collective wealth of baby boomers, their planned gifts can have significant social impact. Planned giving is [...]
Wise friends can be of great value in our elder years
I’ve trained my mom to be a case manager for seniors. Well, not really, but linking our daily conversations along with her 85 years of life experience, my mom can give some pretty good advice when asked. Mom has known her close friend Bernadette since high school. They both married [...]
Divorce prevalent among boomers
Today’s baby boomers range from 55 to 73 years old. Studies show that “gray divorce”—marital splits among senior and nearly senior citizens— is increasingly common. According to a Pew Research Center report, the divorce rate for people in the United States age 50 and older is now about double what [...]
Artwork may hold the key to effective problem-solving
Many years ago I took courses at the Center for Creative Leadership, a world-renowned leadership-development firm. I worked for Dole at the time, and I guess they had high hopes for my changing the world, or at least improving my portion of the organization. One of the courses I took [...]
Winning the battle with robocallers
I just received my fifth email this month on the same topic. In the email, my friend informed me he’s canceled his landline service and has chosen to use only his cellphone for voice communication because of the abundance of robocalls and scams he was receiving. Unfortunately, this will not [...]
Giving time becomes its own gift
I volunteered to work at the recent Thousand Oaks Chili Cook-Off for a friend who was going out of town and didn’t want to leave the Rotary Club that puts on the event short-handed. It was to be an all-day assignment, so I asked my husband if he’d like to [...]
Long-distance caregivers have a role to play
If you live an hour or more away from a loved one who needs your care, you’re a long-distance caregiver. Based upon the needs of the care receiver, as well as the skills, abilities and limitations of the caregiver, every long-distance caregiving experience is different. I’ve been a long-distance [...]
Preparing for the ultimate loss: What to do when a loved one dies
I have a dear friend, Nancy, whose husband died unexpectedly several years ago. She was recounting the situation to me and how another friend of hers, a physician, wanted to give her some medication to calm her during the experience. Nancy’s response: “I have too much to do. I can’t [...]
What are we teaching our children about aging?
Aging is something we learn from family, our community and our culture. Sam, I’ll call him, is what can only be described as an 87-year-old curmudgeon. As a widower suffering from congestive heart failure, mostly homebound due to his fatigue and need for oxygen, he is bitter about his lot [...]
Attention to detail gets more important as we age
My husband is a finance guy, a CPA with a master’s in taxation. He is, by all accounts, a meticulous, detail-oriented individual. It’s nice to have one of those in a family. At least one of us should be reading the dishwasher manual when it malfunctions, checking a contract’s fine [...]
Honoring our caregivers can take many forms
Recently my mother returned home to New Hampshire after two wonderful weeks visiting me and my husband here in California. I had lots of goals for the visit, and we accomplished many of them. Two remarkable things happened that I did not plan for. Because we finally had some quality [...]
Deciding how to distribute heirlooms requires thought
My nephew Tanner is a pretty accomplished young man. He has a knack for mechanics. During his high school years, he worked for a company that made sensitive equipment parts for the military. On the side, he bought lawnmowers, dirt bikes, jet skis and other small vehicles that needed repair. [...]