This blog presents the ideas and creative thinking of some of Utah's talented older adult writers. Their submissions are to inform and entertain, not to present policy or opinion positions of the Utah Commission on Aging. Enjoy.
Even before my husband passed away from Alzheimer’s 13 months ago, I vowed that I would be proactive in staying socially active for as long as I was physically and mentally able. I was aware that when a spouse dies, there are usually a plethora of invitations from friends and family members that can rather suddenly drop off after everyone has made at least one effort to get together, express their sympathy and see for themselves “how you are doing.”
With warmer weather and dry roads springing up everywhere, I’m seeing a ton of people out on bikes. It’s great. I’m a cyclist from way back. I was able to keep riding even after breaking my neck. There’s nothing better than spinning along the road on two wheels—or heading up a mountain trail, if you have the strength and balance. The scenery, the wind in the face, the endorphins are all to be enjoyed.
Age 95 years and 224 days, to be exact. That’s the age of legendary Utah ski instructor Junior Bounous on April 5 when he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest heli-skier. He did it via a Powderbird Helicopter atop 11, 489-foot American Fork Twin Peaks, the highest point on the Little Cottonwood Canyon Ridge.
There’s no doubt it’s been a crappy year, even though it looks like things are starting to look up. We’ve all been battered by a microorganism we can’t even see. Businesses have shut down, people have lost jobs, we’ve all been isolated from loved ones…and so on. Pretty rough, huh?
One of my favorite movies is Contact, the story of a SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) scientist who finds strong evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. The film, an adaptation of Carl Sagan’s novel of the same name, stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Ellie Arroway, the film’s protagonist.