How old do you feel in your head? Odds are it’s “a lot younger” than you feel when you look in the mirror or see a photo of yourself that someone else has taken from your “bad side.” If you have good genes, have been careful about not getting too much sun on your face, die your hair (that can also work against you), eat well, and exercise, other people might think you look a little younger than you are, but not that much younger!
According to a June 10, 2025, U.S. Measles Tracker Report1, there have been 1171 cases of measles so far this year. Of those cases, 94% were unvaccinated. Two children and one adult have died. In March, I had lunch with an unvaccinated granddaughter who had never heard of measles, didn’t know that it can be a deadly disease, or that we have now exceeded the total number of cases (285) reported in all of 2024. She had never heard of polio or an iron lung.
Like every other person old enough to give it any thought, I want to live in my own home for as long as I can. I also don’t want to be a burden on my children who will have to help make that possible. The trouble is, by the time we get that old we often don’t realize how difficult it is for our children to keep us at home safely. Even when they’re not here helping us, they worry about us.
Some of us older folks were raised with the idea that it was shameful to turn the care of our aging parents or spouse over to someone else or even to ask for in-home help. Some of us even promise that they will never have to leave their home, a promise that was insisted upon by the same parents who told their children, “I never want to be a burden on my kids.” These two commitments are rarely compatible.
No! Not that “Good Word.” This blog post is not about religion. But I am writing it with a sense of missionary zeal for spreading the many compelling topics, helpful strategies and resources I learned about recently while attending the Symposium hosted by Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox, Aging with WISE Purpose: Improving Wealth, Independence, Security and Engagement. I left with a head and a notebook full of ideas for future blogs, but I just couldn’t wait to give you a taste of some of what were the highlights for me.