Cherish Old Things

This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Books descriptions follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com

Now, on to my blog: 

We cherish old objects. We put them in a special category: “antiques.” We treasure them and assign them special places in our homes: the living room, the mantle, a dedicated wall. But what is the good of this old junk?

Antiques remind us of our ancestors. They give us a connection to history. They are beautiful, even when technically ugly. Even the creaky joints and out-of-date functions of some are tolerated due to their age.

What about old people? Do they have the same attributes? Do they command the same respect? They should! They are our tribal elders. They are the living recallers of the past who connect us with what went before. They hold and preserve our heritage. I have written on this topic before in this forum. (Click here to read my blog of 2-17-20: “Tribal Elders.”)

Several years ago, I had a classmate in a community Spanish class, Rose Freedman, who was 100 years old, vivacious, and full of personality. She always arrived well decked out with her homework completed. Rosa, as we called her in class, was the last survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which had occurred in New York City in 1911. It caused the death of 146 garment workers, mostly young immigrant women and girls. One day, Rose held us spellbound as she recounted how she had survived by following the supervisors upstairs to the roof and over the catwalk to the next building instead of trying to go down the smoke filled staircases. BTW Rose lived to the age of 107. She was fascinating, vibrant, and engaging until she died. (I have written about this remarkable women before in this forum. Click here to read my blog of 12-24-17 “The Time We Have Left.”)

As we enter old age ourselves, are we cherished? Do younger generations realize the value that we offer? Not always. Often, the realization does not come upon people until they themselves are entering old age as to how special a place it is. It’s a club with exclusive membership and certainly not for lightweights.

If you are in your dotage, set an example of that demographic. Show the world that you are proud, positive, and have worth. Flex those senior muscles by demonstrating your smarts and your savvy. Instead of whining about your latest ache or pain, drop a nugget of knowledge about the current political scene or the winning sports team. A line or two about the (fill in the blank), how to repair a (fill in the blank), or what to do in case of an (fill in the blank) wouldn’t hurt, either.

Be a role model instead of someone to be avoided. You hold an important place in society that only you and your peers can fill.

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BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN

Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors.  A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me.  This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever.  I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book.  I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting.  As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill.  I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

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Please forward my blog in its entirety to anyone who might be interested, and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at: gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.

There’s More to Life than Just Getting Through It

This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Books descriptions follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com

Now, on to my blog: 

Some people seem to slog their way through life as though pulling an invisible ball and chain along with them. Their waking hours consist of dragging themselves from one necessary-for-survival function to another. Many of these folks may be depressed, discouraged, or just have an overall pessimistic view about most things. Others are on two speeds:  breakneck or catatonic. Those are also avoidance techniques.

Being alive is indeed frightening and anxiety provoking. However, it’s sad when life’s only purpose is just to get through it. That, of course, is one component of “we all are born and must die.” However, along that journey from Point A to Point B, what else is going on? Is there anything worthwhile about the getting-through-it part?

The truth is that it’s all around us hiding in plain sight. Upbeat feelings don’t have to cost money. They don’t have to come from one more expensive toy. They can emanate from a stroll in your neighborhood, taking any opportunities that come along.

Not long ago, while walking around my community, I saw a garage door open and a man sitting inside near the entrance working with a block of stone on a table. I stopped and asked him about it. He was more than happy to share. He was carving a piece of alabaster into an interesting shape. He showed me a picture of what he was trying to make. He had tools such as a long, round file to get into small places. He mentioned that he had been making such sculptures for the past twenty years. Both he and I enjoyed our exchange.

I continued walking and got delight from looking at the tiny Scarlet Pimpernel flowers growing near the curb. I felt satisfaction from feeling my body strain against the incline of the sidewalk. A stand of giant redwood trees brought joy. A hummingbird visiting a plant outside my window to harvest the nectar from its blossoms gives me pleasure completely out of proportion to its tiny size. Such experiences exist all around you. Don’t waste them.

During the pandemic lockdown, I got a phone call from a very casual acquaintance–a classmate from a Zoom class I was attending. I opened with the standard, “Hi, how are you?”

Wrong!

“Terrible!” she answered.

Late for an appointment and not wanting to get embroiled in a long discussion of the “terrible” of someone I barely knew, I responded, “So, what brings you to call?

Fortunately, she stated her business, and we discussed it briefly. However, as I’ve learned, when someone throws out bait like “terrible” and it isn’t picked up, they are going to segue back to it. And, so she did.

She proceeded to discuss the details of something that had occurred to her earlier that day which to my mind was a minor inconvenience. She still had food, shelter, and comfort in those early days of Covid 19.  The whole story just made me weary. Yes, it’s all relative, and each person’s dissatisfactions are valid. I don’t mean to minimize them; I have mine, too. But, let’s have some perspective here.

There are many things that, although fleeting, make the trip of life meaningful. Aren’t they in and of themselves worthwhile? It’s true that they don’t stay around long, but a taste of them compels us to keep seeking more. Good feelings are like a drug, addicting us to crave them again and again.

There’s nothing wrong with that; they are our motivators. Without such payback, life would indeed be glum. How lucky we humans are to have the capacity to experience those various hits of positivity. That’s what keeps us going.

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Please forward my blog to anyone who might be interested and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at:  gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.

Photo credit: Henry R. Baker on Visual hunt / CC BY

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BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN

Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors.  A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me.  This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever.  I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book.  I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting.  As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill.  I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

***

Please forward my blog in its entirety to anyone who might be interested, and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at: gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.

Constant Motion

This blog is written by Lee Gale Gruen to help retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors reinvent themselves in this new stage of their lives called retirement. Her blog, public lecture, and new self-help book on senior reinvention are titled: Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire. Her memoir is: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class. Books descriptions follow her blog below. Both books are available at Amazon.com by clicking here and here. Her website is: LeeGaleGruen.com

Now, on to my blog:

I forever seem to be in constant motion, like a spinning top. I’m always doing something. Even when I’m home, I never just sit and look out the window. I’m on my computer; I’m preparing food; I’m cleaning, putting in a load of wash, going through a script for a play I want to audition for, reading material or writing material for an upcoming class, talking on the phone…

Even my vacations are the active type. Lying on the beach under a palm tree reading a book in some tropical location doesn’t cut it. I want to check out the wildlife, forests, museums, or native peoples and their culture. If sports are involved, I want to go skiing, on a zip line, horseback riding (or, in my case, horseback walking—but hey, I’m up; I’m moving forward; and I’m not bleeding). I loved it when I was on a small boat in Mexico touching whales. Any place with some excitement or stimulation attached to it is for me!

I’m a Type A personality, and pure, uninterrupted relaxation is a foreign concept. My fellow Type A-ers know what I’m talking about.

I’m trying to do better, because I know it’s beneficial for me to slow down. My slowing down in recent years has come in the form of staying home more often–cutting down on the running around. However, even being at home seems like a marathon as I mentioned above. I barely know what my backyard looks like. Occasionally, during my at home time, I’ll glance out of the window.

Gee, it’s beautiful out there. Okay, enough of that; now, I have a blog to write.

People like me and maybe like you or someone you know have to schedule downtime, because we forget to do it. Left to our own devices, we’re a gerbil running on an exercise wheel in its cage. I’ve written on this subject before. (Click here to read my blog of 4-29-2016: “Slowing Down, and here to read my blog of 8-29-2017, “Rest and Regenerate.”)

Don’t forget to relax, folks—really rest. And, when you do, remind me to do the same.

Top Photo credit: Max_G6 on VisualHunt.com
Bottom Photo credit: benmckune on Visualhunt

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BOOKS BY: LEE GALE GRUEN

Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire (self-help): Not a one-size-fits-all approach, this self-help book for retirees, those soon to retire, baby boomers, and seniors offers an individualized, detailed guide to assist readers in discovering activities and pursuits in this new stage of their lives called retirement, based on their own likes and comfort level. I learned the secret the hard way transitioning from retired probation officer to actress, author, public speaker, and blogger. Audience members at my lectures on senior reinvention requested a book on the subject. This is the result, and it contains the content of those talks and six years of posts from this blog. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class (memoir): After retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I mistakenly enrolled in an acting class for seniors.  A few weeks later, my mother died, and I invited my grieving, 85-year-old father to come to class with me.  This is the true story of our magical journey attending that class together for three years, bonding more than ever.  I wrote the comedy scenes we performed onstage twice a year in the acting class showcases, and all six scenes are included in the book.  I eventually transitioned into the world of professional acting.  As my fledgling, second career started going uphill, my dad’s health started going downhill.  I would recount to him each of my new experiences while I sat beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. CLICK here TO PURCHASE FROM AMAZON.COM.

***

Please forward my blog in its entirety to anyone who might be interested, and post it on your Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts. To reprint any material, contact me for permission at: gowergulch@yahoo.com. If you want to be automatically notified when I post a new blog, click on the “Follow” button in the upper right corner of this page and fill in the information. To read my other blog posts, scroll down on this page or click on “Recent Posts” or “Archives” under the Follow button. To opt out of receiving this blog, contact me at the aforementioned email address, let me know, and I’ll remove you from the list.