Last Titanic Survivor Dies - Sold Her Treasures to Pay for Long-Term Care
Last October we wrote about Millvina Dean, the last living survivor of the Titanic. She had to sell her Titanic treasures so she could afford long-term care. Ms. Dean died this weekend at 97. Below is video of an interview she gave last October.
Senator Kennedy to Introduce Long-Term Care Coverage as Part of Sweeping Health Care Reform
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sen. Ted Kennedy will soon introduce a health care bill that will include coverage for long-term care.
Sen. Edward Kennedy plans a new disability-insurance program that would automatically enroll all American workers as part of the sweeping health-care bill he is preparing to introduce, aides said Friday.
Premiums would automatically be charged, and in many cases deducted from workers' paychecks, unless they choose to opt out of the disability program. The idea is to give all workers a basic level of protection in case they become disabled. But it could draw complaints from people who see it as a de facto tax, given that few workers are expected to opt out.
On average, premiums could not exceed $65 per month, according to a Senate aide who described the provision in detail.
Participants would be entitled to a cash benefit of at least $50 a day if they become so disabled they cannot participate in at least two or three activities of daily living, such as eating, bathing or using the toilet. The money could be used for expenses to support staying in one’s home.
If all American workers participated, one estimate found that the program would collect $320 billion in its first year, the Senate aide said.
Kennedy’s father Joe you’ll recall suffered a stroke and was disabled for sometime with a broken body and a still sharp mind. His sister experienced a lobotomy and was institutionalized in Wisconsin. No doubt these life experiences have played a role in his passion for disability rights and his reported upcoming inclusion of long-term care financing reform as part of health care reform.
Fran Tarkenton Now Dedicated to Improving the Quality of Life of Seniors, So He Writes
You might have heard the former Vikings star quarterback express his opinion on Brett Favre this week, but did you know that Fran is now a senior blogger?
Fran, 69, says he’s loving being a senior. His post Senior Momentum is here. Tarkenton, also owns Tarkenton Financial, where he says he’s focused on one thing: Improving the quality of life of senior citizens.
An Idea: Here’s how Fran could combine financial planning and improving the life of seniors: he could join other Americans in lobbying Congress to include long-term care coverage as part of health care reform - that could dramatically improve seniors’ quality of life by helping them get the services they need where they most want to live.
Fran apparently has an autobiography coming out soon, what a great public service tie-in for his book tour.
Attention Fran and Changing Aging Readers: We have another congressional call-in day scheduled for June 4th. More details coming . . .
Spirituality of Aging and The Gift of Years By Joan Chittister
“We go on growing right to the edge of the grave. So grow …"
That’s the summary message of a new book called The Gift of Years by Sister Joan Chittister, popular author and Benedictine nun in Erie, Pennsylvania. Here are other nuggets on the spirituality of aging from The Gift of Years:
The Buddhists tell the story of a man fleeing from a tiger who went plunging over a cliff and saved himself only by catching hold of a small strawberry plant growing between the rocks of the precipice. Caught between the tiger above and the gorge below, the man clung to the bush with one hand -- thought for a moment -- and with the other hand picked the most luscious strawberry he had ever eaten in his entire life.
It is age that teaches us to enjoy life, to savor every moment of it, to spend our time on what counts, to be present where we are and see it for the first time.
Indeed age simply teaches the rest of us that we have nothing at all to fear from any stage in life. The aging of any of us gives the rest of us permission to keep on growing, keep on changing, and keep on living!
Or as Gelett Burgess puts it: "If in the last few years you haven’t discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead."
What we celebrate when we celebrate the passages of life is the valor of people who every day of their lives teach the rest of us clearly that we, too, can learn the three great lessons of life:
Happiness in little things;
Fearlessness in everything,
And the presence of strawberries everywhere.
In every situation, clearly, we too like Abraham and Methuselah, like Sarah and the Prophetess Anna, like Moses and the matriarchs, can learn to live life well, to taste life wholly and, most of all, to pass on the meaning of life to those who come stumbling after.
A tourist tramping the mountain villages of northern New England came upon a grizzled old woman sitting in silence on her cabin stoop. "Have you lived here all your life?" the visitor asked.
"Not yet," the old lady replied.
Is life over after retirement has come and golden jubilees have been passed and the gold watches are all passed out and the home has been sold and work is no longer the reason we get up in the mornings? Are the markers of life simply subtle but insidious signs that all the really important things of life are really over? Oh no, my friends, not yet, not yet, not yet.
And how can we be so sure? That’s simple: because the rest of us still have so much to learn from those who are going the way before us, who have tasted life and found it full of every flavor and come to appreciate them all -- because you and I still have so much life yet to live and because we still have so much to learn about happiness, about fearlessness, about tigers and strawberries.
There is no doubt about it: in a world where newness has become the neurosis of the age, we need the elderly now more than ever, so that as Jonathan Swift counsels -- we may learn to live all the days of our life.
It is just then, when all the baubles and bangles of life fall away that people begin to teach the really important lessons of in life: how to live without living for things; how to love without loving for personal gain. How to last beyond the million little deaths of life.
It is just then when younger people need the older generation most of all. It is just then that the older generation achieves its greatest stature and carries its greatest responsibilities to the rest of us. It is time for this world to discover a new respect for wisdom; to bring new attention to the spirituality of aging. It is time for the aging to realize their value and claim their responsibilities to the spiritual development of us all.
Indeed, the book of Proverbs teaches us well: "The beauty of the aged is their gray hair." Because scripture knows well that when a world loses its memory, it loses its way.
Media Needs to Get Hip to the Age Wave
Ecumen CEO Kathryn Roberts was doing an interview yesterday with the Associated Press on including long-term care financing reform as part of health care reform. And out popped another sign of America’s Age Wave: AP, the country’s premier wire service, has designated a reporter, Matt Sedensky, to cover the beat of "aging."
AP sees aging is changing America. But so many media avoid aging-related coverage because they don’t think the subject falls into a high-spending advertising demographic (meaning younger people) or they don’t have the people who engage in the subject or they think it’s boring. Hello … . more people than ever before in this country’s history are aging. And that means there’s fascinating stories of aging changing America from housing to technology to family relations to product development to finances to public policy … . and on and on.
Jim Klobuchar: The Confirmand
Below is a new post from Ecumen Guest Blogger Jim Klobuchar. Enjoy.
She was the last to speak in a church ceremony we still call confirmation. There were obligatory hymns, families spread gregariously from end to end in the pews, the up-tempo informalities of the church elders presenting the class, and then Pertinent Remarks by the graduates.
The assembled adults craned nervously for every word from the honored scholars, hoping to be enthralled but bravely prepared for something less.
This was the confirmands' graduation exercise, an ancient rite escorting eight young people into that marvelous and nebulous age that mixes whacky adolescence with an expanding awareness of both the possibilities and the solemnities of life.
It was a reasonable and appealing cross-section of America’s teen society. There was talk of faith and commitment. There were giggles and affirmation, and there were a few frank admissions of doubt about the direction of the spiritual search now supposed to begin in earnest.
My granddaughter concluded the speaking program. She wore a kind of semi-formal dress because this was, well, an occasion; and she needed occasionally to guide her descending hair away from her eyes. She spoke softly, and I regretted missing some of her words because of that.
She was droll and serious by turns, needling her mother’s travel schedule as her state’s only current senator, having fun with her family, telling of her discoveries of another world--and the pain and poverty of that world--on a trip to Guatamala with her schoolmates.
She was Abigail. I remembered the day of her birth, when she almost died of a breathing congestion on the first day. I remembered writing an inscription in a book in which I collected stories of little-known people who lived extraordinary lives, and called it "Heroes Among Us."
"This book is for Abigail," I wrote, "born in 1995 into a world where there is still room for heroes."
And now here she was, not quite an adult, seasoning some of her light-hearted bewilderment with the world with a brief remembrance of her own-of a grandpa who had changed the course of his life and called it "Pursued by Grace."
I didn’t realize she had read it.
Poll Finds Americans See Long-Term Care Services As a Priority for Health Care Reform
It’s coming … it has to … health care reform, that is. And no health care reform is complete without long-term care coverage.
Mark your calendars for another call-in to Congress on June 4th. Each time we’ve had more callers and we need to do it again.
Ecumen participated in on a conference call today with other senior services leaders from around the country and former Minnesota U.S. Rep. Vin Weber, who is lobbying on this effort … . there is more momentum building for reforming long-term care financing than at any time in recent history.
AAHSA-Mellman Group Poll
According to a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults released today by AAHSA and conducted by the Mellman Group, long-term care services are seen as a priority - not an option - for health care reform. Key findings include:
- 85% of Americans believe long-term services and supports should be included in national health care reform.
- More than half of Americans (51 percent) feel strongly that with so many Americans needing help caring for seniors and disabled Americans, no health care reform plan is complete unless it addresses long-term services and supports.
- A majority of adults believe that offerings like care for people with Alzheimer’s disease (61 percent), assisted living (57 percent), and assistance for an older or disabled person in taking their medications (64 percent) will be covered when health care reform is enacted.
Thank You Monsignor Patrick McDowell for Building Community at Ecumen’s Lakeshore and Bayshore Communities in Duluth
Monsignor Pat McDowell and Deacon Alice Olson at Ecumen's Lakeshore Community
Below is a remembrance of Monsignor Patrick McDowell from Deacon Alice Olson, who serves at Ecumen’s Lakeshore and Bayshore communities in Duluth, Minn. "Father Pat" died Wed. morning. He was a superstar to so many. And he was an actual move star, appearing in the movie North Country as a priest. (the role came naturally). Past posts featuring Father Pat are here and here.
Now From Alice …
Yesterday morning Ecumen’s Lakeshore and Bayshore communities in Duluth lost a wonderful friend and a man of God with the passing of Monsignor Pat McDowell. Father Pat lived fully to the very end of life, learning and growing, and empowering and honoring others while doing so.
I remember sitting in the Lakeshore chapel with Father Pat, when I first started serving as chaplain at Lakeshore. We instantly became friends as his gift was his love of all people. We talked about our ministries and how one continues their call to ministry. At that point he wasn’t sure where his would take him, now that he was living in an assisted living community, outside the daily life of his parish. That led us to a discussion about how one’s call to ministry doesn’t have to stop just because of retirement or change in lifestyle.
He loved his life at Lakeshore, I feel it fulfilled him in ways he never imagined. I will miss seeing him at lunch in the café', he would see me and call me over to meet whoever he was with. He would introduce me as Alice Olson, the Chaplain, she’s an Episcopalian Deacon and a Finlander.
Msgr. was unique in his ministry. He loved people for who they were, in his eyes everyone person was equal. Msgr touched everyone’s heart at Lakeshore and Bayshore and we all appreciate how he helped us exercise our value of spirituality and creating welcoming, inclusive communities.
We shared in celebratory interfaith services along with Lutheran Pastor Cy Solberg. These included Stations of the Cross, Good Friday, Blessing of the Animals, a beautiful service honoring our country, and a service honoring our veterans.
Father McDowell had lived on Park Point for many years where there is an Episcopal Church and a Catholic Church. Over the years he made many friends in the Park Point community.
I serve at St. Andrew’s by the Lake Episcopal church on Park Point and recently we celebrated our new remodeling with our Bishop. Father Pat shared in our celebration. It was a grand day as he worshipped with us and had great conversation with our bishop and friends.
I will remember the worship services we shared, the Holy Spirit was with us and around us. Before he died he let me know he will not leave me and will remain with me in spirit as he will be with us all. He opened his heart to everyone he met.
Msgr. McDowell brought Mass to the people at Bayshore for many years and continued to do the same at Lakeshore. He said Mass 5 days a week and brought communion to those in our short-term rehabilitation center. He let everyone know how happy he was living at Lakeshore, and he was a truly a Patriarch in our community.
Last week Msgr. and I discussed the lesson appointed for the 6th Sunday of Easter.
John 15:9-17
Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
Msgr. talked about his priesthood and realized in this lesson that God chose him. And for that I say thank you.
Have You Ever Experienced Volunteer’s High?
You’ve probably heard about "runner’s high" … but what about "volunteer’s high?" Is there such a thing?
I think I sensed it in Ecumen’s Home Office recently when Ecumen colleague Linda Willard shared at our all-employee meeting the personal reflection above about the volunteer work she does at the care center at Ecumen’s Parmly LifePointes community in Chisago City, Minn.
Richard Adler wrote an article several years ago posted here at Civic Ventures about research that highlights the positive effects of volunteering on life quality and aging, especially in older adults. Volunteer’s High - it’s a good thing.
Could Work be an Answer to Preventing Alzheimer’s?
It’s the beginning of the work week. Do you think working longer could help you prevent Alzheimer’s?
New research from Great Britain suggests that working later in life could help delay it.
According to the BBC, Researchers at King’s College in London analysed data from 1,320 dementia patients, including 382 men. They found that for the men, continuing to work late in life helped keep the brain sharp enough to delay dementia taking hold.
Those people who retired late developed Alzheimer’s at a later stage than those who opted not to work on.
Each additional year of employment was associated with around a six week later age of onset.
Researcher Dr John Powell said: "The possibility that a person’s cognitive reserve could still be modified later in life adds weight to the "use it or lose it" concept where keeping active later in life has important health benefits, including reducing dementia risk."
Two years ago when we conducted a study on Minnesota baby boomers' views on aging, most boomers said they were going to continue working and many said tha t they’d work because of the intellectual stimulation.