This issue takes a broad look at “legacy.” What we leave to our families and our extended community can take many shapes. Sometimes, we know how our actions or gifts help others. Other times, the good we do goes without recognition, but in either case, our hope rests with the generations to come. Enjoy learning about how our contributing authors look at legacy.
Summer graduations and wedding celebrations mark important family milestones. As elders, we may be seated up front or have our plate brought to us instead of standing in the buffet line. Perhaps we help with food preparation or keep track of grandchildren during the bustling event. Whatever the role, celebrate your family and be thankful for a joyous opportunity for all generations to mingle. Create good memories, laugh heartily, stay out of direct sun, use mosquito repellent and drink water to stay hydrated.
We look forward to seeing our Generations family of readers, contributing experts, advertisers and partners at our Generations Magazine’s Aging in Place Workshop in the Ala Moana Hotel Conference Center on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. This event celebrates our 10th year! Mark your calendars for a full day of learning from top experts. Bring a friend who needs to know more about aging well.
One of the few annual events for seniors living in Leeward O‘ahu is the Senior Health & Fitness Fair at the Hawaii Okinawan Center in Waipi‘o on June 17 from 9 am to 1pm. Admission is free, and workshops will be full of valuable information.
Another reason for gathering is to honor our departed loved ones. In April, Generations Magazine Feature Photographer Brian Suda lost his mother, Tokiko Suda. She lived a full 98 years at home. Brian and his wife, Pamela Cunningham, cared for Tokiko many years and helped her meet the challenges of dementia at the end of her life. Brian and Pamela are grateful for the friends, professionals, agencies and organizations that kindly assisted Tokiko, and helped them honor her.
Every Day is Brand New!
Katherine Kama‘ema‘e Smith, Associate Editor
That’s how members of the 115-year-old Honolulu Lodge 616 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks describe charitable work. Lodge members helped the community from the beginning, raising funds for charities through minstrel shows, baseball games, carnivals, circuses, dances, rodeos and boxing matches. From 1946, Ladies of the Elks, and after 1962, the Emblem Club, raised money with fashion shows, bingo and rummage sales.
From the 1930s, Elks funded lunchtime milk for schools. In the 1950s, Elks funding came from managing the Hula Bowl; “Termite Palace” football games featured milking competitions and Milk Queen contests. In 1951, Honolulu Rapid Transit and Art Rutledge’s striking Teamsters provided Hula Bowl busing. Members have also distributed Thanksgiving food baskets, children’s Christmas gifts, and hosted Kalihi Orphanage outings at Hanauma Bay and Christmas parties at children’s hospitals. They entertained students and teachers from Waimano and Diamond Head schools. A successful 1949 community toy-and-book drive filled donation barrels with Christmas gifts for children in hospitals and orphanages.
According to doctors and research groups from Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Centers for Disease Control and the University of Michigan Medical School, signs of aging and chronic disease have one thing in common—inflammation. A recent Time Magazine article also points to inflammation as the root cause of “old-age” aches, pains, fatigue and aging skin.
Broad symptoms like arthritic joints and sore muscles are easy to relate to, but inflammation can occurs in the cells of the heart, arteries, nerves, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, lungs and liver if stressed or attacked by disease.
All cells are bathed in some kind of fluid: lymph, blood plasma, saliva, urine or spinal fluid. Our bodies are 60 percent water. Heart and brain tissue are 73 percent water; lungs, 83; blood and lymph, over 90. Now, researchers are looking at how pathways of enzymes, and interacting proteins and gases move in and out of our cells, flowing from one fluid system to another. Maintaining normal amounts of water in your body allows complex pathways of intercellular reactions to function normally.
While scientists are finding cures for chronic diseases that all seniors face, the least we can do is to stay well hydrated. Drinking 2 to 3 liters (1 liter=1.06 quarts) of water every day takes some discipline; before starting, ask your doctor if you can tolerate increased fluid intake. If you can, you may find that some of your aches and pains were just a result of being “a quart or two low.”
Giving is a tradition in Hawai‘i, extending as far back as the original ancestors and including the many people and cultures that have since arrived on our shores. Chances are, you or someone you know has been a beneficiary of the generosity of others; chances are you also have given to people and causes that are important to you. And because of giving, our community thrives, lives are made better and a sense of ‘ohana is nurtured.