Senior Lifestyles

Avenidas’ 16th annual Caregiver Conference, this year with the theme “Caregiving Reimagined,” drew a sizable a crowd to the Mountain View Senior Center Sept. 28.

The hundreds of participants could choose to attend three of nine workshops focusing on self-care, dementia care, family role reversals and more. Dozens of vendors introduced services ranging from senior residences to home-care help and preserving loved ones’ life stories on audio. Following the workshops and a lunch provided by BridgePoint at Los Altos, a Caregiver Cafe enabled participants to share their experiences.

I ran across one of my few attempts at cowboy poetry and thought you might find it to possess a certain rustic charm. Who knows? Perhaps it’s even a useful comment on those lessons from life that are often learned the hard way.

One of the advantages of being age 55 or older is the availability of senior discounts. Following are some of the local offerings. Contact the business for the latest details, and don’t forget to bring ID.

What is a relationship? The dictionary defines it as “the mutual dealings, connections, or feelings that exist between two parties, countries, people, etc.” The word “countries” in that definition is redundant. If the leaders or people of different countries don’t have a relationship, then the countries won’t have a relationship.

Mary Larsen/Town Crier
BridgePoint at Los Altos resident Bob Hodson’s plectrum banjo was made in 1930 – the same era as much of the music he plays.

For Bob Hodson, a resident of BridgePoint at Los Altos, retirement meant finally finding time to pursue a lifelong interest. After playing piano and clarinet in his youth, the banjo resonated with him in college, but learning to play it would have to wait several decades.

There are two ways to receive your Medicare benefits.

The more popular way is Original Medicare. With Original Medicare, you can choose any doctor, hospital or other health-care provider you wish, as long as they accept Medicare. When you receive medical services or goods, Medicare pays the provider directly.