Imagine finding yourself outside on a warm windy evening in your folding chair, masked and seated 6 feet from a stranger who has just asked you to catalog what your community lost on March 17, 2020: Dining room – closedPicking up mail from the mailroom – suspendedActivities – canceledVisitors – noneChairs in the common areas – goneLaundry room – by appointmentMusic groups, … [Read more...] about Closed Doors Create Unlikely Cheer at The Gardens at St. Elizabeth
The Gray Zone
Neighbors Support One Another: Through Thick, Thin, and a Pandemic
As COVID-19 stay-at-home orders rolled out across the country, one mighty little nonprofit in Colorado turned on a dime to re-engineer its services and onboard over 500 new volunteers in the Denver metro area, all the while absorbing and implementing new safety protocols. Maybe you’ve seen their yard signs around the neighborhood. A Little Help was an essential service … [Read more...] about Neighbors Support One Another: Through Thick, Thin, and a Pandemic
Older Drivers Stay in the Driver’s Seat
Aging brings a host of twists and turns. But after decades of navigating change, older adults have established ways of being ready for the next thing coming around the corner. Changes to driving habits are among many adjustments made as life unfolds. As it turns out, the older driver who stays in tune with shifts in their body and surroundings—and adapts accordingly—is a … [Read more...] about Older Drivers Stay in the Driver’s Seat
Find Your Way as a Family Historian
My phone buzzed with a barrage of texts from a distant cousin. I scrolled through vignettes and photos connected to my birth family. Referring to a great great grandmother I never knew, this cousin’s 75-year-old sister wrote, “Katie…was creaky and croaky. Smoked like a fiend, had long fingernails and raised Merlin while Grover lived in the woods.” I thought to myself, “Wow, … [Read more...] about Find Your Way as a Family Historian
It’s a Matter of Perspective: How COVID-19 Impacts Us
I reached a 90-year-old family member by phone on his first day under a stay-at-home order. I was taken aback when he broke into a story about his mother going through nursing school in New York City during the 1918 flu pandemic. He went on to describe what daily life was like in the US while WWII was being fought abroad. He didn’t sound worried about COVID-19, despite his age … [Read more...] about It’s a Matter of Perspective: How COVID-19 Impacts Us