Whats up from the Sunshine State, the place laughter and good well being go hand in hand.
As we speak, we embark on a whimsical journey evaluating two seemingly unrelated occasions: a senior well being truthful and trick-or-treating. The similarities could shock you.
Once we walked into the truthful on the clubhouse final Saturday, I seen that everybody (besides me, after all) was older.
Once we checked in, the volunteers gave us a “deal with” bag to carry our goodies. We then went from desk to desk accumulating “goodies” from representatives of assisted dwelling services, rehabs, nursing properties, listening to support specialists, dentists, medical doctors, nurses and funeral administrators.
I used to be a little bit shocked that the funeral administrators had been there. I remembered that Florida is God's ready room.
As we scanned the tables, we picked up a bag filled with issues like sweet, cookies, rulers, pens, a magnifying glass, toothbrushes, a compact mirror, sunscreen, hand cream, hand sanitizer, and extra pens.
Once we received dwelling, we dumped our bag of sweet on the kitchen desk and divided them, reminding me of what Good-looking Son and Expensive Daughter used to do each Halloween.
Surprisingly, each trick-or-treating and the well being truthful additionally supply alternatives for bodily exercise. The well being truthful options yoga and mild aerobics lessons. In distinction, trick-or-treating includes numerous steps as younger individuals run from home to deal with.
Then there are the setbacks with the locker room. On the well being truthful, seniors often expertise wardrobe malfunctions, corresponding to a poorly positioned toupee or an open zipper. Trick-or-treaters are sometimes challenged by costumes that hinder mobility and trigger tripping.
Talking of tripping, the well being truthful supplied me the chance to speak to a rehabilitation therapist about how you can enhance my stability. Devoted readers know that I’ve bother staying upright.
The irony of all that is that 30 years in the past, once I was working as a reporter in Florida, the editor assigned me to cowl a well being truthful at a senior retirement neighborhood very similar to the one I'm visiting now.
Once I returned to the newsroom, the editor requested me about it. My response was one thing like this: “They had been only a bunch of outdated individuals getting a bunch of free stuff.”
God he certain has a humorous humorousness.
Ditto for Florida's hottest bumper sticker: “If I'd identified grandkids had been a lot enjoyable, I'd have had them first.”
I used to roll my eyes.
Now, after all, loyal readers know that the apple of my eye is Pleasant Granddaughter. She talks about karma!
There you’ve got it. What goes round comes round.
As we speak, I’m grateful to be alive lengthy sufficient and wholesome sufficient to retire and revel in it.
'Till subsequent week, hold your studying glasses useful as a result of Shelley Terry is bringing you extra retirement hilarity from Florida.