One of life’s more astute philosophers, Charlie Brown, once mused “Sometimes I lie awake at night and I ask, ‘Why me?’”, then a voice answers “Nothing personal, your name just happened to come up.”
You may also find yourself wondering, “Why me?” Why does it have to be so painful to start moving in the morning? Why does it have to be so hard to breathe after climbing the stairs? Why couldn’t I have chosen different parents with a better gene pool? You may wish your chronic medical condition could be cured and it would all just go away. But you know it probably won’t. And yet you still have dreams and there is much you want to do.
A way to live better with a chronic condition is to take charge – by learning how to better manage your symptoms and medications so you can move to the point where your life isn’t controlled by your condition but you are in charge of your life.
For those who would like to learn more, the next “Living Well Workshop” starts tomorrow – Wednesday April 13th. (If that is too short of notice, there will be additional workshops later.) It is held once a week for six weeks on Wednesdays from 1:30 – 4:00 PM at the Center. This workshop “provides tools for living a healthy life with chronic health conditions, including diabetes, arthritis, asthma and heart disease. Through weekly sessions, the workshop provides support for continuing normal daily activities and dealing with the emotions that chronic conditions may bring about.” To help provide a little incentive, which never hurts, you will receive a free resource book and a $25 grocery gift certificate if you complete the workshop. To register call the Area Agency on Aging – quickly – at 541-298-4101 ext 219 or if you want to be the rebel just drop by and see if there is room.
For the 11:00 am Tuesday Lecture Series at the Center on April 19th, Dan Durow was to be the speaker but because of events beyond his professional control – he won’t be able to make it. The Center has rescheduled his “enthralling, mesmerizing, galvanizing and just outright interesting” lecture for Tuesday May 17th. So you are going to have to wait a little longer to learn more about the exciting plans for our fair city, The Dalles, Oregon. “But who is going to take his place?” you may ask. “I don’t know” I may answer. But I am sure I will find another “enthralling, mesmerizing, galvanizing and just outright interesting” speaker.
Tonight at the Center John Martin and Friends will be performing and next Tuesday on the 19th it will be Truman Boler playing your country favorites. But it won’t be quite the same. Last Thursday one-of-a-kind Carl Kramer who “lived to dance and danced to live” passed away. Just last month friends made sure Carl celebrated his 103rd birthday with dancing to music provided by Truman – one of Carl’s favorite musicians. And on Wednesday Truman stopped in to see Carl and sang a few of Carl’s favorites knowing it might be the last time. It seemed like Carl knew it was time to move on to a better place. But we will all miss him – his artistry, his independence and his love of dancing.
I only received one correct answer to last week’s question thanks to Don McAllister (this week’s breakfast winner) but I ran into a lot of folks who had an intimate and scholarly experience with these study guides call CliffsNotes while scrambling to pass their literature exams. (But I won’t name names of my fellow Rotarians!)
This week I will again use my mother’s acronym for conversational ideas – HELP, but instead of L for Literature, this week it is H for Hobbies. When I was a kid, I often read this magazine tantalized by the latest news on automotive and technological advancements and do-it-yourself projects (In 1961 it included a do-it-yourself aluminum cottage for less than $1000. I wonder if any of those are still standing!) First published in 1902 what was the name of this popular magazine? (And if you want to go down memory lane you can find most of the back editions on the Internet through Google book search.) E-mail your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, call 541-296-4788 or write it on the back of the plans for a 1961 prototype of a futuristic two way TV Intercom allowing you to watch your kids in another room.
Well, it’s been another week hanging on to the kite of life on a blustery day trying to keep my feet on the ground. Until we meet again – although we can’t do as much as we once did, we can often do more than we think we can.
“I never made a mistake in my life. I thought I did once, but I was wrong.” Lucy Van Pelt from the comic strip Peanuts
Wednesday (13) Beef Stroganoff over Noodles
Thursday (14) Chicken Breast in Alfredo Sauce
Friday (15) Salisbury Steak
Monday (18) Meatloaf
Tuesday (19) BIRTHDAY DINNER Pork Chops with Gravy
