Do
we always have to act our age? Do we really have to stop dressing up for
Halloween, or drawing with watercolors and crayons? Or telling corny jokes we
have all heard several times before (but I still find amusing)? But if you are
92, should you really climb under the house when your wife is afraid she will
have to call 911 to pull you out? (I don’t think you really want to be the
opening segment on the Channel 6 news: “Stubborn Geezer in over his head”.)
But
it is difficult realizing there are some things you really shouldn’t be doing
anymore. (Although I don’t have any qualms about no longer climbing ladders. I
never did like climbing higher than I could reach,) Because for me, if I stop
doing something, whether it is a job, working under the sink, swimming laps or
even something I don’t really enjoy such as changing a tire, I feel as if I’m
“giving up”; accepting the gradual loss of ability, of purpose which I fear
will continue downward to an eventuality I don’t want to think about.
But
I have to tell myself that is not really “giving up”. “Giving up” is being
unrealistic about what you should still be doing, and blind to the changes that
have taken place in mind and body. “Giving up” is worrying about the doors that
have closed, instead of opening your eyes to the new doors leading to more
adventures and possibilities.
And
I admit, I know will not always make the wise choices as I struggle to keep some
of the doors from closing. I just hope I don’t find myself on the evening news!
With the help of Ginny
McNary, the Center has scheduled four trips for this summer. The first trip is
to the Oregon Gardens in Silverton on July 29th which costs $35.00 and
includes transportation and admittance to the garden. The next trip is on
August 12th to Cascade Locks for a 1-hour cruise on the
Sternwheeler, followed by a no host lunch at the Charburger, and a trip over to
Stevenson to visit the Interpretive Center. That trip costs $50.00 for the
transportation, the cruise and admittance to the Interpretive Center. And the final
two destinations are Portland on August 26th for a two hour Portland
Spirit cruise with lunch for $60; and the Warm Springs Museum on September 22nd
for $30. All the trips are on Tuesdays and transportation is provided by
Sherman County Transit. There is only room for 20 for each trip and we are now
accepting payment to hold your spot on the bus. For the Oregon Gardens we
already have ten spaces filled.
Thanks to the generosity of
Flagstone Senior Living and the Mid-Columbia Area Agency on Aging, there will once
again be a “Senior Picnic in the Park” at the Wasco County Fair on Thursday,
August 14 (Free Admittance Day sponsored by Mel’s Sanitation) beginning at
11:
30. And you can let LINK do the driving! The bus will leave the Center at 10:00
and start the trip back after the picnic around 1:00 PM. The cost is $3.00 each
way and the seating is limited to only 14 plus two wheelchairs. Call the Center
to reserve your place.
“The
Dufur Boys” will be playing their crowd pleasing country music at the Center on
Tuesday, July 8th. Doors open at 6:00 and music starts at 7:00. All ages are
welcome and donations are appreciated.
The name of the popular series of children
books that included Pokey Little Puppy and was first published in 1942 selling
for twenty five cents is the Little Golden Book series. (And the winner of a free Saturday
Breakfast is Bette Nelson.)
Well, it’s been another week – what more can I say. Until we meet again, as Dave Lutgens once told me “Don’t take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive.”
“I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.” Ron White
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