tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post2195238935976081755..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: Happy New Yearhederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-85545255368636302442010-01-06T09:43:14.235-08:002010-01-06T09:43:14.235-08:00I can't imagine retirement. I tell people the...I can't imagine retirement. I tell people these days I'm retired, but that's a lie. There are so many things I've wanted to do in my life, and I've done quite a few of them, but I'd need to live to be 120 to feel anything like satisfied. <br /><br />Books to read. Photographs to take. Fish to catch. Food and spirits to taste. Girls to watch. Exotic places to visit. Poems to write. Blogs to compose. People to meet. Stocks to trade. Cars to drive. Gardens to plant. Music to hear, and to compose. <br /><br />My god! Retirement? No way!!!!!Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-16148899430433984182010-01-02T12:11:47.526-08:002010-01-02T12:11:47.526-08:00Wow, boggart, what a cautionary tale! And what a...Wow, boggart, what a cautionary tale! And what a sad way to lose a dear friend.<br /><br />Something of the sort happened to my mother, I'm sorry to say, after she fell at her senior residence. She didn't break anything, but she wrenched her thigh badly and had to use a wheelchair for awhile, and by the time she could walk again she had lost the confidence that made her reach out, go on trips, and participate - she had been the treasurer of the residents' association. It was all downhill from there.<br /><br />This issue is one of the reasons I took 6 months to decide to retire, and what I would do after I retired. In the last 8 years I spent a total of about 6 months, in two lumps, where I was recovering from knee surgery and couldn't get out much. I didn't watch television because I DON'T watch television, but I was glad to get back to work both times; and I knew that I wouldn't be happy just sitting at home. It still bothers me that there are days when I'm working on computer problems and I don't get out of the house - I have to remind myself, you can always take a walk. But I definitely feel I'm not getting enough face time. I just haven't decided what to do about it yet.hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-62403446454608631162010-01-02T10:25:39.349-08:002010-01-02T10:25:39.349-08:00Whoa, human contact... Consider that a priority. T...Whoa, human contact... Consider that a priority. This last June a friend of 30 years duration moved in. She is old enough to be my mother, and acted as a grandmother to our child. She was, or used to be, a cheerful, upbeat person who was always involved in something. She volunteered, and as a retired professional secretary she had lots to offer. Expecting she would want to continue being involved, I researched the senior activities and volunteer needing organizations available locally and found a wealth from which to choose. <br /><br />However, she choose to sit and watch television day in and day out punctuated by the occasional trip to a doctor or to go shopping. She turned down the opportunities to get out and be involved. Eventually her entire focus became the television and me. Mind I work full time, and my schedule is varied and flexible. Quite often there are late afternoon meetings that mean I don't get home until six. I also have recreational activities that I am unwilling to give up in exchange for watching game shows, cop shows, and the food channel. <br /><br />The change over a period of almost six months from an outgoing, vital individual to an inward, starved for attention, needy person was gist for a lengthy academic shrink paper, for which I have neither the background nor the time to write. It was simply amazing. Before she left, as I felt my mental health was being compromised, she was an entirely different person than the one I had known for over 30 years. <br /><br />The good thing, is I learned that the low touch of human contact is vital. She was email computer savvy, and wrote both snail mail missives as well as email. They did not provide the depth of human contact needed for mental health. AS we age, it is essential that we make the effort to get out and talk face to face over that cup of tea.Boggartnoreply@blogger.com