assistedlivingconcerns

Life is full of surprises when you live with elders as I do here at an assisted living facility. Having breakfast one day, I was surprised to see one of my tablemates reach for salt and pepper and generously apply them both to her dish of pancakes. Then she added butter and syrup. Most of the residents put salt on their food even before they taste it. I rarely do, though I almost always put some black pepper on the serving. The food here is normally bland, but after living here a bit one gets use to it. To think that back in Roman times they paid soldiers with salt because it was relatively rare. Now it is so plentiful that food is rarely prepared without it. Marco Polo brought pepper back from the Far East and made a fortune selling it in Italy. Sugar is another favorite of our residents, who overwhelming adds it to tea or coffee. One resident has made it a rock-bound habit to carefully put 4 packets of sugar in his coffee, and then apply a hefty potion of cream and, strangely, doesn’t drink it. Delicately as possible I asked the lady why she put both salt and pepper on her hotcakes to which she replied matter-of-factly, ”It enhances the flavor and increases the appetite.”
“Of course,” I replied, realizing that it was stupid question and bit my tongue to avoid pressing the inquiry further.
“And,” she added, “the syrup helps abate the appetite enabling me to enjoy the food without eating too much of it.”
I never thought of why the order of serving food is fixed. The condiments encourage us to eat, as well as to enjoy the taste, but the sugar-laden dessert helps us to be satisfied with amount we have eaten. You can learn a lot living with elders. Believe me.

I need to apologize to my readers for failing to post their comments. I have now made it a promise to post all comments from this day forward. I’m obsessed with writing and have been remiss in acknowledging the very supportive notes from fans and those encouragements help me to press on. I try to be reasonably sure that the posts contain verifiable information, though some personal opinion does creep in at times for which I beg your forgiveness. One lady wanted me to voice my opinion on the economy and where I believe it is going. Giving financial advice is a no-no with me, even if I knew what was what, which I don’t. I will say that for me the NY Times columnist Paul Klugman makes for good reading in the field of economics. Living with seniors in an old folk’s home, as my wife and I do, we find so many stories from our neighbors in residence that we could fill a book. It’s fascinating to observe so many residents who are in there 90’s, still fully ambulatory and sharp as a tack. As a member of the Welcoming Committee, I frequently host new arrivals and get to hear about their very personal journey through life. A gracious crowd, and I am blessed to have the privilege to live among them. Now it’s up to you to comment.

Of the untold number of mysteries of life how more fascinating can any of them be than the journey of the Monarch Butterfly? Even when armed with the latest map, the average human adult has trouble finding a destination. But the Monarch Butterfly can travel thousands of miles to a place it has never been and find it, a place high up in the Sierra Madre in Mexico. More incredibly, that same creature never makes it back to its home but lays eggs along the way and then dies, but its heirs do. Then the new butterfly makes that same journey to that same spot in the Sierra Madre to begin the cycle over again. Biologists the world over have long sought the answer to this enigma of life without resolution. One possible aspect of life that might explain the circumstances of this mysterious conduct in migrating butterflies is the inexplicable notion that all life has a yearning to return to its ancestral roots. It is most evident in immigrants who wax with heartfelt desire to be reunited with their family back home. Consider the holiday season when millions, often at great expense, flock to grandma’s place, regardless of the distance, to enjoy the warmth of being where they belong among loved ones. Yearning, a powerful force lurks forever in our hearts, giving all life a feeling of purpose. Although the life span of butterflies is less than a year, at best, like all beings, no matter how long they exist; the allotted time is mainly spent with efforts to continue the species. The haunts of our past endures as a basic part of our nature. Along the journey of a life we seek comfort and joy as well as security, so with the butterfly happy to alight on a flower full of nectar, but always determined to find security at home to ensure the continuation of its kind.

Oh how we love to hear those great lyrics from the standards about how “Love is a Many Splendored Thing” and “Tea for Two,” a boy for you a girl for me that gave us the feel-good outlook on our future. Then those wakeup lyrics like “Say it isn’t So” that brought us back to earth or those songs about unrequited love, including “Begin the Beguine,” whose message we ignored as something that happens to others. Remember those tender lyrics of “What’s New,” awakening our hopes for a start-over? Then there were those songs that gave us a slap on the back promising us sunny skies in spite of stormy weather that we found in songs like, “Side by Side” and also in “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” And how I hoped for the day that came true when “My Heart Stood Still,” because I had spotted a “Stranger across the Crowded Room,” and a voice cried out urging me to never let her go. Cornball? Imagine life without music, especially those songs that stirred our spirits in “All the Way” or “I did it my Way.” Who could forget Sinatra singing “Fly Me to the Moon?” Do you recall how you reacted to Peggy Lee singing, “Fever” or “Is That All There Is?” What about those lyrics of devotion to love in spite of daunting prospects such as “My Man, ” or “Come Rain or Come Shine?” Those of us old enough to remember the Big Band days of the late thirties and early forties find comfort in the songs of that time, many of which have become standards and continue to warm our hearts. Are those lyrics cornball? Or was it an art form that helped America get through the dark days of the Great Depression and WW II? It’s your call. For me, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” was a true-life experience resulting in an everlasting romance. I’ve got nothing against the new music, but I am prejudicial believing that those beloved lyrics of yore were the pinnacle of music that healed and gave us dreams. The so-called “Oldies” makes us oldies feel young again with memories as pure as love in the Spring.