Tag: Kirk Matthews

  • A Time to Ask . . . A Time to Listen

    By the time you read this, I will have traveled to Oregon to visit my mother. I am lucky to have her in my life. I was one of the original baby boomers, born when my dad returned from WW II. During our visits, we drive to many of the places where I grew up.…

  • Peace & Love. Not War.

    Peace. That’s a word we hippies used for “goodbye.” (Yes I was, and yes, I had hair down to my shoulders.) Peace is easy to say. As a concept, it may be harder to understand. It’s not just the absence of war. I first learned about worldwide peace when I was 16 and had the…

  • Never Ever …

    Retired. No gold watch. No pension. Just — retired. Now what? Since I have been retired, I realize there is really no such thing. Life goes on. You may spend a little time watching “Family Feud.” You may spend more time working on your golf swing or with friends and relatives you haven’t seen for…

  • The Joy of Retirement

    I was tired yesterday and I’m tired today. So I guess I’m re-tired. It’s an old joke, but one that sort of fits my situation. At the end of September, I left KHON2 after 27 years. It was time. I will miss my friends at the station, and I will miss having the chance to…

  • Editor’s Note

    I can still remember my first conversation with myself in early 2010 when I took over Generations Magazine (GM), I said to myself, “now what do I do?” Well, my first call was to my classmate and partner Wilson Angel, GM Art Director and to make a long story short, he said “he was all…

  • The Greatest Generation

    Refugees don’t flee FROM America, they come TO America. There is promise here. There is hope. “The Greatest Generation.” That’s what Tom Brokaw called my parents and their peers, with good reason. They were asked to defend and support their country in whatever way they could. My father was in the Navy, served as a…

  • Don’t Be Limited By Your Fitness

    On the KHON2 Elderhood Project, we meet many seniors and the ones who impress me most are those who stay active. Recently, our cameras went to a softball tournament where we watched seniors as they laughed and joked with each other. But when the gloves were put on and the ball was pitched, they were…

  • Represent: Neighbor Island Seniors

    I was attending a legislative hearing some years ago dealing with senior issues. The hearing went on for some time as the committee members talked about significant health care problems affecting seniors in Honolulu. At some point, a respected senior advocate from Maui raised his hand and said, “Excuse me, this NOT the state of…

  • Caregiving, Near or Far

    My mother fell and hurt her knee. She’s 86 years old. I am thousands of miles away. My sister lives in the same town as my mother which makes her, by default, my mother’s caregiver. I feel guilty. That is not uncommon for siblings who are not able to provide assistance to parents who live…

  • International Adventure

    Mrs. Matthews and I just returned from a trip to Europe. We went to Lisbon, Portugal for a Rotary International Convention and then to Munich, Germany to visit with friends. The thrill of international travel can often be marred by the fact of international travel. Plane delays, for example, often derail plans and force travelers…

  • “It’s Not Like It Was, But It Will Work”

    My dad had a saying when he was trying to fix things around the house. He was a wonderful man, let there be no question. But when it came to being a “handy-man” — not so much. When he would finish a project, no matter how big or how small, he would finish with this phrase — which was…

  • Change is Inevitable

    Change is inevitable. We all experience it on almost a daily basis. How we adapt to that change can make the difference between moving forward — or not. It may be an easier task for seniors to adapt to change that you might think. For one thing, and I know you have heard a senior friend say…