Articles

Inside the Dementia Epidemic: A Daughter’s Memoir, a debut memoir by family caregiver Martha Stettinius, tells the compelling personal story of her long journey as a caregiver to her mother with dementia, while exploring the causes and potential treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Like many adult children of aging parents, … [Read more...] about Inside the Dementia Epidemic

In 2004, at age 66, soon after leaving Honduras as a Peace Corps health volunteer, I started a brand new career as an on-call Spanish interpreter, something I’d never done before. Previously, I’d worked in social work, juvenile probation, social policy research, and for an occupational therapy association. I already knew Spanish before going to Honduras … [Read more...] about A New Career at Age 66

Remember President George W. Bush? Well he's still affecting our economic lives. 

Let me explain. 

Before beneficiaries can receive any inheritance, an estate will have to pay various state and federal inheritance taxes on all assets it owns.

Then and only then will the balance of … [Read more...] about Opportunity To Save $$ On Estate Taxes Expires Dec 31 2012

Don’t you just love it when someone believes he or she is ‘fooling’ you and you

know they are not? It is so funny that it is difficult not to laugh out loud! I have often been the one to whom others don’t always tell the truth. I would say it might be because I am an old lady; what do I know? I can’t use that excuse as I was told many lies when I was 20 and 30 and … [Read more...] about She Who Laughs Last …

Do you experience compulsive thinking? Annoying, isn’t it? Especially how the voice yammers on and on and makes you feel worse… a true case of when more isn’t better. 

Compulsive thinking i a malady many people are afflicted with. It’s a stream of negative thoughts that bounces back and forth between an unresolved or un-reconciled past and a … [Read more...] about Understanding the Voice in Your Head

Okay; let’s talk about better balance! First off, good balance is a learned behavior; we are not born knowing how to balance, we practice it until we get good at it. And if we don’t continue to practice our balance, we will lose that ability.

While you may know how to balance intellectually, our body doesn’t work that way. The brain/body connection … [Read more...] about Improve Your Balance Today: 5 Daily Minutes to Better Balance!

Hormones control every system in the body. Sometimes, they can be out of  balance from an early age, but will certainly be out of balance as you get older. Knowing this, it is somewhat surprising that doctors receive very little information about hormones while they are training, and certainly no information about bio- identical … [Read more...] about Hormone Replacement: Which Doctor Do I Choose?

I'm probably the best private dancer I know. Wait, not the kind you're thinking of. I mean dancing alone in my own company. You see, I have a lot of Tina Turner in me. Ok maybe I'm being facetious but with music blaring and all obstacles out of the way, I can really 'do my thing'. If nothing else, I'm good enough to at least be one of her backup … [Read more...] about I Think I Can Dance …

 In 2005, at age 40, I became the main caregiver for my mother, Judy, who could no longer balance her checkbook, cook, or clean. I encouraged her to move from her remote lakeside cottage into my small home with my husband and two children. Since then she has lived in assisted living, a “memory care” facility for people with dementia, and now a nursing home. … [Read more...] about Fighting the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

We tend to save our non-holiday “celebration” efforts for rare occasions.  College graduations, golden wedding anniversaries, and the like.  That’s too bad because celebrating is good for all of us—both the person being feted and those doing the hurrah.  It’s not always necessary to make it a big elaborate deal either.

In the last two weeks, I have … [Read more...] about Celebrate More!