Articles, activities for boomers & seniors
What’s Your Legacy?
A Call to Boldness to Invest in the Next Generation - As part of the application process to a seminary eighteen months ago I created a resume. The exercise forced me to document major accomplishments in my life. After printing the final draft of my curriculum vitae I felt a great sense of fulfillment to see my modest personal and professional achievements on paper: entrepreneurship as a teenager, participation in college athletics, study abroad experiences, fluency in a foreign language, multiple professional achievements and awards, steady civic engagement, and the creation of successful businesses.
Lifelong Learning
Improve Your Mental and Social Fitness
Researchers at Stanford University found that memory loss can be improved by 30 to 50 percent simply by doing mental exercises. The brain is like a muscle - if you don't give it regular workouts, its functions will decline. Suggestions include:
- Keep up your social life and engage in plenty of stimulating conversations. Here in the Valley we have many venues for socializing. Lehigh Valley Active Life in Allentown has daily programs meant to keep you active and engaged with other folks.
- Your community centers also have activities for you to try. They have outings and trips that you can enjoy and usually at affordable prices. You have the added benefit of meeting new people when you try these activities.
Things To Do With Grandkids - Winter 2019
Cooking
You may already from time to time have the grandkids help with cooking. What about getting them more involved in the whole process. Teach them why you use certain spices instead of just having them dump the spice in the mix. You can plan a whole family meal together and do all the cooking yourselves (start small). Go through the whole process of planning, shopping, prepping, cooking and serving the meal. Oh, and don’t forget about the clean-up.
Smile - Life Can Be Bear-y Funny
A priest, a minister, and a rabbi want to see who’s best at his job. So they each go into the woods, find a bear, and attempt to convert it. Later they get together. The priest begins: “When I found the bear, I read to him from the Catechism and sprinkled him with holy water. Next week is his First Communion.”
“I found a bear by the stream,” says the minister, “and preached God’s holy word. The bear was so mesmerized that he let me baptize him.”
They both look down at the rabbi, who is lying on a gurney in a body cast. “Looking back,” he says, “maybe I shouldn’t have started with the circumcision.”
Doris, Your Day Has Come
Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff was a Hollywood legend, leading singer, and animal welfare advocate. She left us on May 13 at the age of 97. Doris Day, the typical all-American girl, passed away after contracting a serious case of pneumonia. She was surrounded by loved ones, including her “precious four-leggers,” as she passed.
Best Loved Christmas Movies
Herein we offer an opinion as to the best loved Christmas movies. This is just one view.
Other contenders include Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street, Bad Santa, The Muppet Christmas Carol and A Christmas Carol.
It’s a Wonderful Life
Few films define Christmas like Frank Capra’s 1946 fantasy starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, who, on the verge of committing suicide, is visited by an angel who shows him the true importance of his life.