What a Good Night’s Rest Can Really Do

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Posted by Wong | Posted on 16-08-2012

Category : Health, News and Information

Tags: , ,

If you want to live to 100, get more sleep and eat right. This is the research finding from UnitedHealthcare, which compared what centenarians say they do to what baby boomers practice in their lives. To enhance your chances of reaching your 100th birthday, sprinkle in a good mix of social connections, spirituality, and exercise.

Article originally published on Yahoo on June 22, 2012. Find the story here.

Ray

Want to Live to 100? Sleep

By Glenn Ruffenach | SmartMoney – Fri, Jun 22, 2012 10:02 AM EDT

Your chances of reaching age 100 could be better than you think – especially if you get some additional sleep and improve your diet.

New research from UnitedHealthcare looks at centenarians and baby boomers, asking the former about the “secrets of aging success” and evaluating whether the latter are taking the necessary steps to celebrate a 100th birthday.

The primary findings: Many boomers are embracing lifestyles that could lead to a long and rewarding life – with two exceptions. More than seven in 10 centenarians – 71% – say they get eight hours or more of sleep each night. By contrast, only 38% of boomers say they get the same amount of rest. And when it comes to eating right, more than eight in 10 centenarians say they regularly consume a balanced meal, compared with just over two-thirds (68%) of baby boomers.

The report – “100@100 Survey” – begins with some startling numbers. As of late 2010, the U.S. had an estimated 72,000 centenarians, according to the Census Bureau. By the year 2050, that number – with the aging of the baby-boom generation – is expected to reach more than 600,000. Meanwhile, an estimated 10,000 boomers each and every day – for the next decade – will turn 65.

How to reach 100? Centenarians point to social connections, exercise and spiritual activity as some of the keys to successful aging. Among surveyed centenarians, almost nine in 10 – fully 89% – say they communicate with a family member or friend every day; about two thirds (67%) pray, meditate or engage in some form of spiritual activity; and just over half (51%) say they exercise almost daily.

In each of these areas, baby boomers, as it turns out, match up fairly well. The same percentage of boomers as centenarians – 89% – say they’re in touch with friends or family members on a regular basis. Sixty percent of surveyed baby-boomers say spiritual activity is an important part of their lives, and almost six in 10 boomers (59%) exercise regularly.

Again, sleep and diet are the two areas where baby boomers come up short. Not surprisingly, the one area where boomers are more active is the workplace. Three-quarters (76%) of surveyed baby boomers say they work at a job or hobby almost every day; that compares with 16% of centenarians.

Finally, researchers turned to cultural affairs and asked centenarians and boomers to identify – from a list of 14 notable people (including President Obama, singer Paul McCartney and actors Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) – their preferred dinner guest. The top choice among centenarians and boomers alike: the comedian Betty White.

Education at Any Age

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Posted by Wong | Posted on 07-08-2012

Category : News and Information, Senior Spotlight

Tags: , ,

We can all use some uplifting news. Ann Colagiovanni of Ohio received a high school diploma at the age of 97. Read about the oldest member of the class of 2012. “97-Year-Old Gets High School Diploma” appeared on “Yahoo! News” on June 7, 2012.

97-year-old gets high school diploma

Claudine Zap

The Upshot – Thu, Jun 7, 2012

Here’s one graduate who may feel a little more senior than most: Ann Colagiovanni, 97 years old, is finally receiving her high school diploma.

The Depression-era student quit school at the age of 17, back in 1930s, to work in her father’s market.

The Ohio resident never returned to finish her education but instead became a student of life. She worked at the family store until the 1960s when it closed. She got married and has two daughters and 11 grandchildren.

Daughter Emilia Colagiovanni Vinci told Fox 8 Cleveland, “When I told her she was getting a diploma, she sobbed as if a pain had been relieved from her heart,” adding, “I never knew what it meant to her. She wanted this.”

Emilia noted that during the Depression, work was more important than an education.

But receiving a diploma certainly seemed important to the nonagenarian. The oldest member of the class of 2012 appears in the news video in a white cap and gown, at a special ceremony at Shaker Heights High School, which presented her with an honorary diploma–in her name–dated June 1934. “Finally, I’m going to be a graduate,” she says.

Grandma isn’t the only graduate this year: Her grandson, Thomas Vinci, will also receive a diploma from the suburban Cleveland high school one day after his grandmother.

Emilia Colagiovanni Vinci said, “She did what her father wanted her to do, even though she wanted to graduate. She put her father, her family, before herself.”

Seventy-eight years later, Ann Colagiovanni finally put herself first.

Article selected by Ray Wong

 

 

Ray M. Wong is a freelance writer and MOW volunteer with his family. His memoir, Chinese-American: A Journey of Discovery will be published by Kitsune Books in 2013. He blogs about education at www.citycounseling.blogspot.com. E-mail him at ray@raywong.info or through his site: www.raywong.info.

Robert Gilmore

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Posted by Wong | Posted on 18-04-2012

Category : Senior Spotlight

Tags: ,

Author’s note: My family and I volunteer to deliver food to seniors in East County once a month through the nonprofit, Meals On Wheels (MOW). Robert Gilmore is a MOW customer who graciously agreed to share his story for readers. The following article appeared in the Jan. 26th 2012 “East County Californian.” After this article appeared, State Senator Joel Anderson’s office contacted me because they want to recognize Gilmore with an appreciation for his service to the community.

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Gilmore just turned 81. At the age of 12, he made Eagle Scout and painted a bust statue of the “Old Man and the Sea” that still sits on a shelf of prized possessions in his living room. He was in ROTC for four years in high school and served our country in the Navy for twenty years after that. While in boot camp at Great Lakes,Michigan, he participated in over 500 parachute jumps from airplanes flying at 5000 feet and has titanium in his hips to show for the stress of multiple parachute landings.

Gilmore, now a robust man with a thick mane of silver hair and a beard to match, reached the level of commander on the USS Swordfish, a submarine with a crew of over 100 people that fought in WWII. After retiring from the Navy, Gilmore graduated valedictorian with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Northern Colorado. He has taught swimming and scuba diving at Grossmont College in El Cajon.

He has accomplished many things in his life, but the one that touches him the most is the work he performed as a minister after the military. A Navy chaplain on the USS Swordfish inspired Gilmore to pursue the ministry. “I liked what he did for people,” Gilmore related. “He was very caring. You could tell that (he) affected the men. We were all very frightened, and he made us feel more secure.”

After he retired from the Navy and completed his sociology degree, Gilmore earned a Master’s degree from the Illif School of Theology in Denver,Colorado. He worked for the next ten years as a Methodist minister, where he preached from the Bible, visited parishioners, performed wedding ceremonies and comforted those grieving at burial services.

What prompted Gilmore to go from being a Navy commander to a minister? Part of the reason was a sense of guilt at having taken lives through serving in the military. After he retired from the Navy, Gilmore wanted to reach out in a different way, and he did. “I was of great service, and I just loved that,” he said. When he was asked why he wanted to become a minister, Gilmore wiped a trail of tears from his face and said, “Because I wanted to help people.”

Ray M. Wong is a freelance writer in El Cajon and a MOW volunteer with his two children, Kevin and Kristie. Wong’s memoir, “Chinese-American: A Journey of Discovery” will be published by Kitsune Books www.kitsunebooks.com in 2013. He writes a column called “Family Matters.” Contact him at ray@raywong.info or through his site: www.raywong.info.

With 50 in the Rearview Mirror

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Posted by Wong | Posted on 10-04-2012

Category : Community, Health, News and Information

Tags: , ,

Now that you’re over 50, do the things that really matter. Here’s a sample: learn another language, write a book, adopt a child and provide a loving home, try skinny dipping. Read on.

Introduction by Raymond

 

 

by: Jacquelyn Mitchard | from: AARP Bulletin |

Fifty is not the new 30, but the way some people act — and bravo! — it darned well might be the new 40. I’ve spent time remonstrating with you, my peer and gentle reader, about what we oughtn’t to do, now that we’ve attained double majority plus 10 or so. Beyond that, time is running out for at least one thing we ought to do. As Ella sang, it’s to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and latch on to the affirmative.

What time there is, is prime time.

So use it well.

Don’t forget, the proof is all around you, that you really can do your greatest work, and your greatest good, after age 50. Picasso did. William Styron and Ann Tyler did. Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence. George Bernard Shaw wrote Heartbreak House, his masterpiece. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein wrote the score of The Sound of Music. Jennifer Grey won on Dancing With the Stars.

  •  Learn to speak Italian, if not Mandarin, at least a little.
  • Fall in love with a younger man, or an older woman, at least a little — if only in courtly fashion.
  • Learn to sing, at least a little, and do it in front of someone.
  • Write a novel. Write a play. Write letters to all your grandchildren, even those not yet born.
  • Become a mentor, but to someone your own age.
  • Slowly, but a little more each day, get in better shape than you were at 30. It’s entirely possible.
  • Tell the truth, every day. If nothing else, it will catch people off guard.
  • Adopt an older child. If you have an empty nest, and don’t feel finished, remember that if a child knows the love of one relatively sane adult before the age of 12, nothing else matters. If a child doesn’t, nothing else matters.
  • Give away something you love and that squeezes you to part with — even if it is your time.
  • Commit to memory this phrase: “I’d love to, but I can’t.” Do not elaborate.
  • Purge. Sell or give away the bread machine and Crock-Pot you’ve used once. Donate your unopened makeup, ’80s outfits, and all your thick, embroidered Swiss sweaters (unless you live in Switzerland or even a chalet). Do it before your children or before your grandchildren know the definition of the word “hoarder.”

Next: Try something that won’t kill you but scares you. >>

  • Dance outside, at night in a country where a Romance language is spoken.
  • Skinny dip, outside, at night, in any place where romance is spoken.
  • Scuba-dive, if it scares you. Zip-line, if it scares you. Do ropes, if it scares you. Try to master something that won’t kill you, but that scares you.
  • Collect great lines, and great moments, instead of owls, frogs or beautiful plates.
  • Photo albums cost about $9. Take those photos out of the drawer and put them in chronological order. Start with your wedding. You will feel cleansed, virtuous. You may feel thinner.
  • Have the courage to stick to what you believe to be true. Without losing your temper or your dignity, stand firm. It’s not “unpleasantness.” You’ve lived long enough to pick a side.
  • Take care of your feet. No one wants rough, moldy oldies. Attractive, springy feet change your mood, and your life. Wear the best shoes you can afford. Get pedicures — as a couple (yes, guys do!).
  • Honor sleep. It really does make you better looking.
  • Earn enough to retire, then don’t

AARP Bulletin |

http://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/life-long-learning/info-08-2011/over-50-things-to-try-once.1.html

Ray M. Wong is a freelance writer in El Cajon and a Meals On Wheels volunteer. His memoir, Chinese-American: A Journey of Discovery, will be published by Kitsune Books in 2013. Contact him by e-mail at ray@raywong.info or through his site at www.raywong.info.

Book by Book, She Makes an Impact on Children’s Lives

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Posted by Wong | Posted on 30-03-2012

Category : Community, News and Information, Senior Spotlight

Tags: , , ,

After 9/11, literacy volunteer, Pat Taylor, vowed to make a difference in children’s lives by exposing them to the love of books.

Raymond

 

Original article written by Karla Peterson

So what’s all this, then? Children absorbed in text that is not a text message? Young heads bowed reverently over handheld entertainment devices not made by Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony? No iAnythings? Anywhere?

Strange, but shockingly true. Counter to everything we think we know about today’s plugged-in kids, the students who gathered in this McKinleyElementary School conference room are up to their happy eyeballs in books. They are reading even when they don’t have to read, and they are giving up recess and lunch hours to come to this room and tell Miss Pat all about it.  Because everyone at the schools where she volunteers knows that Miss Pat is a little nutty about books, and she will make you nutty about them, too.

“I think it’s electric, what happens in that room,” Pat Taylor said over coffee after this week’s McKinley visit. “So much of what these kids do is pencil and paper or on the computer. That’s why I say, ‘I just want to talk to you about your book.’ ”

Every week, the 66-year-old Taylorspends a full day at McKinley Elementary in North Park and part of another day at Logan Elementary inLoganHeights. She reads to students and she listens to their oral book reports. She mentors teachers, supervises craft projects and helps with fundraising. She makes quilted pillows for the kids to curl up on and collects foreign coins to give out as rewards for reading. But mostly, she gets students fired up about books and keeps them that way.

“Miss Pat is committed to reading, and they know it,” said McKinley Principal Julie Ashton-Gray. “They know she is waiting for them and they want to share their reading with her. It’s mutual respect.”

Most recently, Taylor used a $3,000 literacy grant she received from the Rotary Club of San Diego to finance a visit from poet and children’s book author Gary Soto. The author will be reading at both schools on Feb. 24. Thanks to another $3,000 donated by a friend,Tayloris also adding to the schools’ collections of Caldecott and Newbery award-winning books and giving each student a copy of a Soto book to take home.

All of this is very rewarding for everyone involved, but none of it was supposed to happen. After spending 18 years teaching in schools in Connecticut,Georgia and Minnesota, Taylor moved to San Diegowith her husband, Don, who grew up in La Mesa.  (Their daughter, Mandie, is a teacher in Atlanta.)  The plan was to take care of Don’s mother and enjoy their retirement. Then 9/11 happened, and a cushy retiree’s life of quilting and gardening just wasn’t going to cut it.

“After 9/11, there was entirely too much blame going around, and I couldn’t stand it,” said Taylor, who speaks precisely and at a quick clip. “I thought about John F. Kennedy’s ‘Ask not what your country can do for you’ speech, and I thought, ‘What can I do? I can inspire kids to read.’ ”

Within a month, Taylorwas mentoring a young teacher at McKinley.

Over the years, her duties expanded to include the Independent Readers’ Club, where students earn points for reading and giving oral reports on their books.

Thanks to the “Reading is Rewarding” program started by Sammy’s Woodfired Pizza, frequent readers can also earn free ice cream sundaes at a Sammy’s restaurant.  But a lot of the students would be coming in anyway, because when Miss Pat says, “Just blab about your book,” they know she is really listening.

“It is their special reading time,”Taylor said of students, who come bounding into the conference room with books and pillows in hand and leave under great, foot-dragging protest. “Why do I have to go?” one club member said when a classmate arrived to summon him back to class. “I didn’t even get to do my book report!”

A few years ago,Taylor began volunteering at Logan Elementary, where she and Don are part of the Rolling Readers program, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on Valentine’s Day.  At Logan, Taylor does a lot of reading aloud, and she encourages the students to draw pictures of what they hear. When Taylorsent some of the Logandrawings to Soto, a friendship blossomed between the author and the students. Literacy blossomed, too, just as the former teacher and forever book lover knew they would.

“I knew I could impact what happened in individual kids’ lives,”Taylor said, “if I could just feed them the right books.”

This article was selected on 12/16/11 by MOW staff from The UT San Diego online publication

The original article may be found at:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/11/tp-blabbing-about-books-and-making-them-matter/?page=1#article

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