Here’s the question for the week. What do communities need so, if we want, we can stay in our homes – a place familiar and secure? Safe neighborhoods? Accessible sidewalks? Places to connect with friends? Adequate public services? Maybe even fast and reliable Internet service?

For many, staying in their home means being able to continue getting from one place to another: to shop, to attend church, to see the doctor. Most of us still drive but one day we may decide to turn in our car keys or worse yet someone will tell us, and then what do we do to stay engaged and connected?

In the Gorge. the local public transportation providers are working together to help. Through the Gorge Translink Alliance, they have developed a seamless network of transportation services within the Gorge area while linking those services to Portland and Vancouver, Washington.

The alliance includes all five public transportation providers in the Gorge: Columbia Area Transit in Hood River County (541-386-4202); The Link in Wasco County (541-296-7595); Sherman County Community Transit (541-565-3553); Skamania County Public Transit (509-427-3990); and Mt. Adams Transportation Services in the Goldendale area (509-773-3060) or the White Salmon area (509-493-4662).

They provide both Dial-a-Ride services that pick you up at your home and take you wherever you need to go within their service area and sometimes between counties; and fixed-route services that run regularly on a set route and schedule.

To make your trips simpler and more affordable, you can now purchase a GOrge Pass for unlimited rides on all Gorge fixed routes including to Portland. The cost is $40 through December 31, 2022. If you have questions, you can call 833-3GO-PASS (833-346-7277), email (info@gorgepass.com), or visit their website at https://gorgepass.com/.

One of the greatest unmet needs has been medical rides to Portland to access medical services or visit loved ones who are receiving medical care. Responding to that need, CAT now offers on Tuesdays and Thursdays a first-come-first-serve reservation-only shuttle service from the Gorge to five medical facilities in the Portland Metro area for $20 each way. To learn more and whether this service will work for you, call CAT at 541-386-4202 or The Link at 541-296-7595. And sorry the fares are not covered by the GOrge Pass.

Through the Gorge public transportation providers, there are accessible and affordable options for older adults to get around in their communities and stay engaged and connected. For more information about these transportation options, call your local public transportation provider or visit Gorge Translink at https://gorgetranslink.com– Your Gateway To Getting Around The Gorge!

You must take time to read this month’s “Through the Eyes of an Elder”: a beautiful and touching story by Daera Dobbs of life after the loss of her husband.

The name of the German Shepard and star of the television series that ran on ABC from 1954 through 1959 was Rin Tin Tin. I received correct answers from Steven Woolpert, Dave Hanson, Judy Hanson, Donna Mollett, Margo Dameier, Elaine Kirby, Rose Schulz, Barbara Cadwell, Linda Frizzell, Jess Birge, Lana Tepfer, Gene Uczen, Doug Nelson, Julie Carter, Joe and Terry Wiederhold, and the winner of a quilt raffle ticket is Dennis Morgan who watched The Adventures of Rin Tin Tinevery Saturday morning and still remembers the main characters: Lt. Rip Masters, Sgt. Biff O’Hara and Rusty stationed at Fort Apache. And I would have bet fifty cents (which is as much as I bet when it comes to my memory) that I included Steven Woolpert last week, but my mind played tricks again.

Reflecting the news of this last week, I have a geo-political question from the cold war. The invasion of Ukraine reminded me of when I was in the sixth grade and assigned to help a young boy learn English who was one of the 200,000 refugees who fled this eastern European country. For this “Remember When” question in 1956 what country did the USSR send troops to suppress the popular uprising against Soviet domination? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788, or send with the November 1^st,1956 Universal-International newsreel that reported on the situation.

Well, it’s been another week, trying to find my new rhythm. Until we meet again, enjoy the last weeks of spring.

“For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.” Hasidic saying

 For fourteen years I have been writing this column, and I found this 2009 column worth sharing again. I want to thank to Dick Lafever who helped me and many others to better understand what it means to forgive.

As we age, we all gain different insights: it’s okay to slow down, and that “this too shall pass”. Hugh Downs, the TV personality you may remember, shared with Connie Goldman and Phillip Berman for their book “The Ageless Spirit” one of the most valuable insights he has learned: he didn’t have to hate anybody. “When I was very young, I had a lot of hatreds that came from fears. Now there’s nobody to fear, and therefore there’s nobody I hate. That’s a great freedom, because hate, as somebody said, is a weapon you wield by the blade, and it just cuts you up. But if you don’t fear, you don’t hate. There’s a great liberty in (that).”

For Hugh Downs hatred came from fear, but it can also grow from anger or feeling injured. And as with our fears, we can let go of our sense of injury or anger by forgiving. Forgiving can free us from our self-absorption with past injustices and because we are no longer shackled to the past, we can move forward to a brighter and more positive future. And the beauty of forgiving is that it’s about you and not the other. It is within your power to forgive. It is within your power to just let go.

There is a time to forgive, to heal, to move on, but when and how is unique to each individual and may take time to travel the road towards forgiveness. It is a personal choice, a heartfelt choice to forgive and let go without any consideration of the forgiven. It is unconditional and without reciprocity. And as it is important, it is not easy. A Gallup poll found that 94% of the folks sampled said it was important to forgive, but 85% said they needed some outside help to be able to forgive.

In many ways, forgiveness is misunderstood. It is not about minimizing the hurts and wrongs which are real and painful. It is not about forgetting, but we need not let the offense dominate our lives. It is not about condoning or excusing the act, although there may come a time when the reasons are better understood. It is not the same as reconciliation for the offender does need to be a part of our future. And forgiveness is not a sign of either weakness or saintliness, but an expression of human strength.

We carry with us conscious and unconscious hurts that bond us to the past; unable to enjoy and explore the future with passion and love. And although it is extremely difficult and may take time, forgiveness can set us free. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said, “without forgiveness there is no future”.

The name of Beatle’s twelfth and final studio album released on May 8^th, 1970, almost a month after they broke up, was Let It Be. I received correct answers from Rose Schulz, Doug Nelson, Rebecca Abrams, Kim Birge, and Gene Uczen this week’s winner of a quilt raffle ticket. And last week, Diana Weston’s answer seems to have disappeared in the cloud somewhere between here and there.

Seeing the picture of Commander, President Biden’s new German Shepard puppy, reminded me of this TV star who he and his kin starred in twenty-three movies and were featured in film, radio, and television including a television series named after him that ran on ABC from 1954 through 1959. For this week’s “Remember When” questions, what was the name of this dog who was found in a bombed-out dog kennel during WWI and was named after the finger puppets given to American soldiers by French children? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788, or mail it with a case of Ken-L Ration.

Well, it’s been another week, trying to stay on the bright side of the street. Until we meet again, take your shoes off, sit back and relax. As the Old Farmer from Fossil said, “Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway”.

“Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” Robert J. Sawyer