February February by David Kowalczykbleak, bitter, barrendull, dreary, dismal gray, grim, grindingstark, shriveled, sullenFebruary doesn’t get much respect. Valentine’s Day provides a flash of red roses and foil-wrapped chocolate, but mostly what is written and said about February is that we want it to be over. It’s been a mild winter so far, but also a gray... Read more
Caring About the Caregiver Over the holidays, I took advantage of a few days off and caught up on some books I had been intending to read. Over the past several months I had picked up quite a selection of books. This one looked interesting. That one was by an author I had read before. Another one suggested by... Read more
Home for the Holidays There’s a lot of things I like about the holiday season. One of my favorites is the music. Some people may tire of the Christmas carols, but not me. I will admit, I’d like to hear them after Thanksgiving, instead of right after Labor Day, but hearing a favorite carol helps put me in the mood for... Read more
Care Partners Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging held its annual Caregiving Conference earlier this month. This year’s theme was Supporting Families Impacted by Dementia. We had a full house in the conference center: caregivers, service providers, researchers and health care professionals coming together to discuss the importance of informal caregivers, the challenges many of them face in meeting... Read more
The Medicare Advantage The open enrollment for Medicare plans began on October 15 and it got me thinking about a recent incident with my father. A few weeks ago, I was home visiting my parents. While we were sitting at the kitchen table, my dad got a phone call. It was the nurse from his insurance company. At... Read more
Senior Center Month September is National Senior Center Month. This year’s theme, “Senior Centers, the key to aging well” provides an opportunity to highlight the success of senior centers in promoting health, reducing social isolation and promoting community support of older adults. The National Institute of Senior Centers (NISC) estimates that there are more than 11,000 centers nationwide.... Read more
FaceApp In mid-July, FaceApp took the world by storm. Millions of people downloaded the app to their smartphones and posted “aged” pictures of themselves online. The FaceApp Challenge went viral. Celebrities from Kim Kardashian to the staff of the Today Show posted “aged” photos of themselves 30 years older. The app has a variety of filters... Read more
Finding a Home "Are you looking on the east side, or the west side?" This was the question I was asked most often when people found out I was moving to Cleveland. The question was often followed by a recommendation or a suggestion of why one area, one side of town or one neighborhood was best: the commute,... Read more
