As you all know, when we reach a certain age, life has a way of taking preference over what we plan to do. This is the case with me and the reason Specifically for Seniors hasn't been dropping regular podcasts recently.
For those of you who are regular listeners to the podcast, you may remember that several weeks ago I interviewed Howard Gleckman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute about caring for our aging parents. We discussed when the time was right to suggest to our parents that it was time to stop living alone and consider moving to a senior facility where more support was available.
One of the main reasons that I invited Howard to speak with me was because I, at age 86, began to wonder about my own needs at this age and the continual and growing needs for care of my wife. We have no family in Florida. The friends we once had here become fewer with each passing year. We were becoming more isolated. It was time to move and to move back to the Boston area where we would be closer to family and to friends we have not seen in years. The decision to move to an independent senior living facility was a difficult one but the pros rapidly outnumbered the cons. Socialization at this age is critical to mental health, no worries about maintaining a house, availability of meals and the potential for continuing care if needed. My wife's needs outweighed mine, the facility I chose has a skilled nursing unit where she will receive the best of care. And, best of all, we will be under the same roof which means that I can visit more frequently, we can have meals together, and I will be able to take her to my apartment where she and I can enjoy a more home-like environment together at times and where she can play with our dog.
Moves like this, however, take time. Together, during our 61 years of marriage, we have moved approximately 21 times. With her, the moves were easy. Alone, the mental and physical stress has been all-consuming leaving no time to be able to produce podcasts that I would be proud to share. So the podcast has been put to the side until the move is competed.
We will be back in early November with a new and exciting podcast. We plan on continuing with "celebrity" guests but will be adding podcasts talking with our contemporaries about the stories of our lives. We hope to be able to present some live with an audience and with the ability to have you - our online audience - participate in the discussions. For those familiar with the podcast "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me", we are planning a senior version called "Wait, Wait, You Already Told Me That". We'll be asking questions to some of our celebrity guests and to you, with prizes for winners.
The best way to be notified is to sign up to receive emails about the podcasts right on this page in the sidebar and we'll be sure to notify you when we're back on the cyber-air.
See you in November.
Until next time, stay connected.
