What surprises you most about growing older?
.jpg)
We celebrate birthday milestones with parties, funny cards and (mostly) good humor. As we’ve grown older, life has changed at every stage.
This week’s question for our Minnesota Public Radio and social media campaign is:
What surprises you most about growing older?
The link above will take you to a special web page to share your answer at ecumen.org/mpr or via Facebook and Twitter. (You don’t need a Facebook or Twitter account to participate, just click on the appropriate tab.)
The Changing Aging conversation is important not only to Ecumen; but also to our families and friends. The questions are ageless – we’re all growing older. Please share our weekly questions with the important people in your life so that together we can change the stigma of aging.
Thank you to all who participated in last week's question! A long list of family and friends received the most recognition for "aging in style" last week. We at Ecumen wholeheartedly agree!
How would YOU answer this question?
Today, Ecumen launched its first-ever social media campaign aimed at elevating the conversation around Changing Aging. Our goal is to get people thinking and talking about aging, perhaps even preparing themselves or loved ones for living fully in later years.
Jim Klobuchar: A Young Man Rolls the Dice
Four years ago at a family gathering on Thanksgiving Day in Arizona I sat next to a young man in his senior year in high school and in the midst of a decision.
I’d known him only briefly. For most of the people at the table I was what we once called an in-law. Today, in the more charitable description of an outsider, I’m a member of the extended family. David was an impressive kid, physically conditioned, well-mannered and deferring to the older folks in the cross-conversation the holiday dinner. Earlier his father had mentioned his son’s interest in the military as one possibility.
“I’m thinking of college,” the young man said. “But I’m also thinking of enlisting in the Marines.”
This was in 2008. American forces in Iraq were still taking casualties. In Afghanistan it was worse and was now formally being described as a quagmire. It was begun as a combined effort with allies to rout Osama Bin Laden’s al Quaida and its terrorist threat to the United States and the free world. In time the Americans and allies experienced some of the historic fate of invading armies in Aghanistan—the bogdown in its mountains and the wiles of its Taliban tribes.
David knew about all of that. My own choices had been narrower. I had served in the Army for two years, drafted at the time of the Korean War a few months after graduating from college. I hadn’t thought about volunteering for the service then. But I had served my two years and later remembered doing so with a gratitude I still feel: Wearing the uniform of one’s country.
It mattered. It still does.
But here was a young man with strong academic achievement behind him and a probable choice of scholarships ahead of him, yet thinking seriously about enlisting at a time when he was almost certain to be thrust into shooting war, either in Iraq and more probably in Afghanistan.
I didn’t ask him why. He did say that he admired the principles of the Marine Corps, the discipline it demanded.
He didn’t say, “The country needs people willing to serve.” He didn’t say, “I’m young. There’s a war. Somebody has to fight it. Am I strong enough to want to do that?”
And somewhere he might have felt it: “If not me, who?”
So this became the journey of a young man who didn’t have to fight. But this was a world he lived in; the citizen-soldiers around him were going back again and again in the National Guard. He felt strong, something tugging at him, and telling him he should be part of it.
Was there also something about the excitement of potential combat? A testing?
I don’t know. I would be surprised if there weren’t. He did enlist. He finished at the top of his class in practically all of his training and in the nails-tough Marine exercises and tests. He had the look of a leader. He advanced to sergeant in time and was assigned to Afghanistan.
I lost connection with him for several years, knew nothing of his action there until I talked to his father by phone a few days ago.
“Tell me about David,” I said.
“He was in the middle of it,” his father said, “in Helmand Province and places like that.” They had battles with the Taliban. Drones flying overhead. Improvised explosives, invisible but there. Sometimes it was a throw of the dice. Strategies and deadly tricks. “Our guys pretended they were pulling out,” his father said, “The Taliban fighters took the bait…and our guys hit them hard when they came.”
And the next day? More of the same.
I hesitated to ask. “And David?”
“He has served his four years and is back in the country. He’s glad he did it and proud to be among the men he served with. He felt he had something to give. And now he’s planning to enroll in pre-law in Pennsylvania.”
“His girlfriend has been studying there and it’s a perfect situation.” His father said he thought David would make it in law.
Would you have any doubts?
About Jim Klobuchar:
In 45 years of daily journalism, Jim Klobuchar’s coverage ranged from presidential campaigns to a trash collector’s ball. He has written from the floor of a tent in the middle of Alaska, from helicopters, from the Alps and from the edge of a sand trap. He was invited to lunch by royalty and to a fist fight by the late Minnesota Viking football coach, Norm Van Brocklin. He wrote a popular column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 30 years and has authored 23 books. Retiring as a columnist in 1996, he contributes to Ecumen’s “Changing Aging” blog, MinnPost.com and the Christian Science Monitor. He also leads trips around the world and an annual bike trip across Northern Minnesota. He’s climbed the Matterhorn in the Alps 8 times and has ridden his bike around Lake Superior. He’s also the proud father of two daughters, including Minnesota's senior U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar.
A Sad Farewell
Faye Florence Green, Ecumen Lakeshore Special Events and Volunteer Coordinator, passed away recently after a hard fight with ovarian cancer. Faye was just 65, and a beloved member of the Ecumen Lakeshore family since 2008.
“Faye truly was a gift to Lakeshore as an employee and lived a life of service to others,” says Paul Libbon, former Executive Director of Ecumen Lakeshore, now Ecumen’s Director of Managed Campus Operations. “She deeply impacted the lives of those she touched and I will always remember her with smiles.”
Faye kept working through all of her various treatments, even when they left her fatigued. She LOVED all of the residents at The Crest, and did such a marvelous job guiding the Auxiliary, coordinating volunteers, and was a wonderful event planner. “She helped with all of our parties, socials, and making sure there was a host of activities and programs to keep everyone engaged, busy and happy,” according to Roxanne Sternberg, Residence Director at The Crest. “I miss Faye's bright smile, enthusiasm and zest for life. May she rest eternal in Heaven.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Faye’s family and friends.
In Our New Old Age, Minnesota Must Move Beyond Medicaid
Many of us will spend away our life savings on essential services for our Alzheimer's and other chronic illnesses. There needs to be a better way than becoming impoverished. Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts discusses ideas in the Minneapolis Star Tribune for Minnesota to lead the way in public policy innovation for services most of us will need in old age to live empowered lives.
Ecumen Bethany Community celebrates new Memory Care and expanded Short-Term Rehabilitation
Ecumen, a nonprofit senior housing and services company, has expanded senior living and service offerings in Alexandria. Ecumen Bethany Community completed a $3 million renovation and expansion project to enhance short-term rehabilitation services and introduce memory care.
Ecumen Bethany Memory Care offers private suites with individualized services provided by specially trained nurses and caregivers. The new memory care area is now open, with tours. More information is available by contacting Patti Carey at (320) 763-1122 or patticarey@ecumen.org.
The remodeled short-term rehab unit is located entirely on one floor with easy access to the expanded therapy gym and dining area.
The public is welcome to an open house and outdoor dedication service on Thursday, July 26 at 6 p.m. Tours and refreshments will be available. This event will be held at Ecumen Bethany Community Circle Drive, 1020 Lark Street, Alexandria. If weather is unfavorable, the event will be moved indoors.
Ecumen Bethany Community offers independent and assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing care, short-term rehabilitation services, a senior fitness center and community outreach services for Alexandria area residents.
Ecumen Parmly LifePointes Customer's Gets Big Surprise as WW II Dog Tags Returned From Germany
The power of people and Google . . . . A neat story of honor from the Ecumen Parmly LifePointes community in Chisago City. Approaching his 100th birthday, Ecumen customer Emil Verges surprisingly received the "dog tag" he lost on a German battlefield in 1944. The tag was found recently and returned by a German shopkeeper and his customer.
The full story, which was captured by the Forest Lake Press can be read here. The photos are from Paul Dols.
Baby Boomers: Today's American Innovation Force
When people think of America's new start-up businesses, they often think of digital companies, e.g., Facebook begun by the 18 to 34 year-old demographic. But guess where the most entrpreneurial activities are coming from? Baby Boomers. That according to a new report by the Kaufmann Foundation. That bodes well for the future of aging. Dominic Basulto writes more in his Washington Post article: Why Baby Boomers are the Innovators of the Future
In Honor & Memory: Melvin Babcock, Ecumen North Branch
Ecumen North Branch lost a lovely soul this week, Melvin Babcock, age 92. It has been an honor to serve Melvin the years he was with us and we are grateful to his family for the love and care they showed him. Melvin and fellow Ecumen North Branch resident Hazel Eng were featured in a KARE 11 TV feature about Ecumen's Awakenings initiative.
From his obituary: Melvin R. Babcock, of Ecumen North Branch, formerly of Stanchfield, left us for heaven on Sunday evening, June 17, 2012. He was 92 years old.
Melvin was born May 26, 1920 in Webster, Wisconsin. His family moved to Markville, Minnesota, where he attended school and graduated in 1938 from Cloverton High School. He married Irene Witt in 1941 and they celebrated 70 years together. In 1949, their family moved from Markville to Sandstone. In 1959, the family moved to Stanchfield.
Melvin’s many skills included school bus driving, welder, mechanic, and all around handyman. Mel loved hunting, fishing, family, friends, and helping others. He will be greatly missed, but will be waiting for us at the gates of heaven with open arms
Melvin is preceded in death by his parents Herman and Olga (Fosmo) Babcock; 2 brothers and 2 sisters; son-in-law, Donald Shade.
He is survived by wife, Irene; children, Gary (Marie), Diane Shade, Roshan (Shivani), Lonny (Denise), Dan (Debbie); 9 grandchildren; 8 great-grandchildren; sister, Rosalyn (Leonard) Haus; sister-in-law, Lois Babcock; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Godspeed Mr. Babcock.
Ecumen Detroit Lakes: Ducks Deliver the Mail!
Life's more fun at Ecumen Detroit Lakes! Mail delivery volunteer Steve Score occasionally brings his ducklings, Peeper and the Pipettes, along for a visit when making the rounds. Watch the sweet story about their special delivery service at KVRR Fox TV.