December is always a busy month: wrapping gifts, mailing Christmas cards, baking cookies, and visiting family you didn’t see over Thanksgiving. So at the beginning of each year, to make my life a little easier during the busy month of December, I have repeated the lessons I’ve learned over the years from listening to older adults who are much wiser than I am.

One of those older adults is Gary Young and instead of sharing my annual list of lessons learned, I thought I would share some of Gary’s 100-plus thoughts he has collected over the years. And it was not easy to reduce the list to 30.

1. Giving a young person something of yours creates a treasure and reduces clutter.
2. Death is too serious of a topic not to make fun of.
3. The James Webb telescope reveals creation and faith beyond my comprehension.
4. I’d put on a good face, but I like this one.
5. Death ends suffering, but not sorrow.
6. Being happy takes practice. Daily – perhaps hourly.
7. People seldom die on their own terms.
8. I have nothing left to be embarrassed about; just ask my nurse.
9. I am overburdened with alone time.
10. I’ve been wrong about many things, right about a few, and it’s hard to tell the difference.
11. Serious thoughts demand laughter.
12. Not everyone has the opportunity to grow old.
13. “If I donate my body to science, does that mean I’m finally going to medical school?
14. There’s no sense taking things to the grave; there’s no room.
15. Most things mean something else.
16. It’s best to face the music, you can hear better.
17. Would it really matter if my left hand knew what my right hand was doing?
18. Too often we don’t know the pain of others.
19. Being elderly, you can get people’s eyes to glaze over by saying, “When I was young…”
20. Always look for someone to take your place.
21. I don’t want to know the answer to: “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
22. Keeping your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel, is painful.
23. In Kindergarten my favorite time was afternoon nap. Being old, not much has changed.
24. The trouble with laughter is that we don’t do it enough.
25. When the phone was on a cord I could always find it.
26.      There are things I can’t remember, but I wish I could.
27. There are things I can’t forget, but I wish I could.
28. It’s always good to know where the nearest restroom is located.
29. Live as long you can, as well as you can, not a moment less, or a moment more.
30. If I sit on my porch and wave, a parade might just go by.

Now are there any life lessons you would add?

Brain Tease: All the letters have been advertently mixed! See if you can decipher these quotes taken from famous Missourians.

1. Ni awtkr am- Tpy geni revira tsu jtni ala ined. –
2. Namu rtsyr rah- Go date g not g nihs aw nid neir fat nawu oyfi.
3. Ar rebig oy- esl eere hwem osp ud nell i wuo ye rasecn ahc gni og eru oy ere hwwo nktn odu oyfi.

In the early 1960s, a group of entertainers including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford often appeared together in Las Vegas and in films. For this week’s “Remember When” question, what was the name given to this group of entertainers? Email your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail.com, leave a message at 541-296-4788, or mail it with a DVD of the 1960s movie Ocean’s 11.

Well, it’s been another week, wondering now that 2024 is over, what’s next? Until we meet again, have a safe and happy New Year!

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” –Oprah Winfrey

Nutritious home-delivered and in-person meals are available at noon Monday through

Friday unless otherwise noted.

Seniors of Mosier Valley (541-980-1157) – Wednesdays with music on 2nd and 4th Wednesdays; Mt. Hood Townhall (541-308-5997) – Tuesdays; Hood River Valley Adult Center (541-386-2060); Sherman County Senior and Community Center (541-565-3191); The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels (541-298-8333).

For meal sites in Washington, call Klickitat County Senior Services: Goldendale office

(509-773-3757) or the White Salmon office (509-493-3068), and in Skamania County call Senior Services (509-427-3990).

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