Tag: Elderhood Project

Elderhood Project

I am headed off this summer to a place I’ve never been before, with people I’ve never met before, and I couldn’t be more excited.

Linda and I were asked to host a tour group to Nova Scotia. There will be ferry rides, lobster and bus tours and lobster and hikes and lobster and … did I mention there will be lobster?

My point is this – we [meaning all of us of a certain age] tend to get set in our ways and avoid anything that even remotely resembles a radical change. I am as guilty of that as anyone. But when this opportunity presented itself, Linda and I looked at each other and asked, “If not us, who? And if not now, when?”

So, here we go …

We will use all our high-tech tools to stay in touch with the folks here at Generations Magazine and at KHON2. But we will also make a lot of time during our daily routine to learn more about the people around us – and about each other. Even though Mrs. Matthews and I have been married 27 years, I still learn something new about her almost every day. For example, she is a much better golfer than I am, which means we’ll be eating more lobster than golfing on our little trip to the Great White North. See you in the fall!

I am headed off this summer to a place I’ve never been before, with people I’ve never met before, and I couldn’t be more excited. Linda and I were asked to host a tour group to Nova Scotia. There will be ferry rides, lobster and bus tours and lobster and hikes and lobster and ……
Elderhood Project

We take too many things in our lives for granted. I’m not the first person to say or notice that. But it has become abundantly clear to me in recent months that it is something I want to correct.

I’ve had a “health challenge” that involves radiation therapy five days a week. It also involves having my face covered with a mask and being strapped down to a table so I don’t move. And then they slide me into a tube.

The technicians are brilliant and as accommodating as possible. The first couple of times, as you might imagine, I was somewhat nervous about the entire procedure.

That feeling of anxiety didn’t go away and I wondered what I could do to help myself. Then, it dawned on me.

The technicians play music inside the tube and I asked them if I could pick my own music. They said, “Of course.” I brought a CD filled with old-time blues songs done by some of the people I used to play with “back in the day.” It was comforting on several levels. It’s almost—almost—come to the point where I look forward to my sessions.

Music, my friends, can turn your day around. When you hear that certain tune from your courting days, or your school’s alma mater, or Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, or whatever that song might be, let it lift you up. I will never take music for granted again.

We take too many things in our lives for granted. I’m not the first person to say or notice that. But it has become abundantly clear to me in recent months that it is something I want to correct. I’ve had a “health challenge” that involves radiation therapy five days a week. It also involves…