Challenges and Courage
Is Your Wonton Soup Endangered?
Picture a world without wonton soup, fried rice, and General Tso’s chicken. Imagine no chocolate ice cream and fortune cookies for dessert. Impossible? Think again. According to the Orange Man in the White House, Climate Change is a Chinese Hoax. Fake news. The truth is that the endangered species list is no longer reserved for tigers, pandas, and ...Read More
Hooked on Adventure
At nineteen years of age, it was the trip of my lifetime. One of my very first travel adventures was in the early 70s when I went cross country as a passenger on a motorcycle. My parents were probably terrified for me, but my boyfriend was a good driver, gasoline was $0.29 a gallon, I had $400 in cash and a plastic coat. What could go wrong? Leavin...Read More
Arkansas (the Ozarks) & a Splash of Branson Music
Here’s a great little trip you can take, especially to see the fall foliage in the Ozark Mountains, but also good in late spring or during the summer. The Ozark Mountains in Arkansas beckon you. I wrote once about Mountain View, a mountain music and crafts center mecca but this area is also great to visit. Let me tell you a little about the Hot...Read More
Time to Edit?
Do you live in black & white? Maybe it’s time to edit – add color to your life. The French call it joie de vivre. Las Vegas holds a “life is beautiful” festival every year. Mallory Hopkins wrote, “Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.” Wear purple sneakers with hot pink trim. Look at our peers – George H.W. Bush celebrate...Read More
The Financial Burden of Alzheimer’s Care
By 2050, Alzheimer’s disease is expected to cost the nation as much as $1.1 trillion, afflicting 13.8 million people. While caring for an Alzheimer’s patient can cost $174,000 or more over their lifetime, many people have no plan when it comes to this debilitating disease, according to new research from WebMD and Shriver Media. Great fi...Read More
Where Angels Gather
Nowhere is God’s grace more evident than when a Hospice Angel walks through the door. When Tom’s daughters had a heart-to-heart talk with him last April, he was the picture of a man at the end of his rope. Five months of caring for his wife, Jenny, had kept him awake most nights. Occasionally he catnapped in the afternoons, but it was n...Read More
Stressed? Here are 7 Strategies to Help You Cope!
We all know that experiencing a high degree of stress, especially for a prolonged period can be debilitating and even deadly. Scientists have known for some time that conditions such as cancer and heart disease can be induced by living a stressful life. Stress can also affect our mental state resulting in anxiety or a complete mental breakdown. The...Read More
Caregiver Needs a Bunch of TLC!
Dear “Oh Carol:” I’m a caregiver. This is how I make my living. I’m late 60’s. I was married, had one son, then we divorced. My former husband died about 5 years ago. The divorce left me financially devastated and I work under the table. But I do okay because I’m good at what I do. I have a nice circle of women friends...Read More
Pill Poppers
My husband and I would love to travel. It used to be on our “to do” list when we were young and unencumbered. I remember one lovely weekend, early in our marriage, when we simply decided to take a long weekend in San Francisco. You could still do that, in those days. Plane fare was relatively cheap and you didn’t have to plan six months in advance ...Read More
The ON Button. The ON Button! Where’s It Gone?
The kids call me Techie Nana. So why can’t I find the “on” button? In the old days there were two buttons, on and off. They were basic like vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Then we upgraded. On and off morphed into a “power button”. Wikipedia calls it a power symbol. As technology went global, someone decided that English words should be rep...Read More
Recently Widowed – And Now Soooo Many Changes
Dear “Oh Carol:” Was married for almost 46 years. My wife past last spring. I’m gonna move about 500 miles away to be much closer to my daughter and young grandkids. I don’t either want or expect her to spend time either entertaining or “taking care of” me. So, as a start, I want to make some new friends – but I am kind of scared about that. I...Read More
Amazing Possibilities – YES – Even In Retirement!
So here it is; retirement is looming. Some enter this phase of life with trepidation, while others transition in a seamless way and never look back. The options today in retirement are endless. We all have choices. Some plan ahead and things work out just fine, but for some, this new period, despite the planning leads to unhappiness, boredom and lo...Read More