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Senior ConnectionIn an effort to share our knowledge of Seniors with the Community, WCLS has begun publishing monthly articles in the Woodstock Independent. Articles are written by Dick Hattan, Director of Development, who is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator with 20-plus years of Retirement Community Experience.
Older Articles: Honor Our Seniors - The spectacle of the World Cup that just concluded in Johannesburg, South Africa, was fascinating to me as a soccer fan and an observer of world events. I missed most of the preliminary games but I was able to watch the final match...Click here to view entire article
Plan Ahead, You Might Get There - Back in 1964, I remember hearing the hit records from the Beatles so often on the radio that I memorized the lyrics almost immediately. One of the songs that I paid no attention to at the time has come back to become my mantra, “When I’m 64”...Click here to view entire article
Therapy Dogs - Missing the presence of a four-legged companion in our home this past year, my wife Karen and I decided it was time to open our family to another dog... Click here to view entire article.
Technology Can Be Life-Preserving - While attending a trade show last week in Chicago, I learned some rather disturbing facts. 51% of people who take medications take them incorrectly, resulting in 125,000 deaths per year...Click here to view entire article.
Try Something New and Stay Young - I once suggested to my mother that she should buy a computer and learn how to use email so that she could communicate with her grandchildren on a regular basis...Click here to view entire article.
It’sNever2L8 - I recently heard a friend of mine lament that he was too old to accomplish a life-long goal and that he wished that he had lived his life differently...Click here to view entire article.
Young and Old Can Dream Together - Her friends call her “Julie the Riveter”, thanks to her World War II occupation at a Chrysler plant in Chicago that produced pistons for B-29 bombers...Click here to view entire article. Webmaster Note: Julie Covert passed away on 08/09/2010. We are privileged to have known her and send her family our sympathies.
It pays to be savvy in retirement planning - The news story of the year in the senior living industry hit this past week. Erickson Communities, the owner of 19 retirement communities across the United States and two in the Chicagoland area, filed for bankruptcy protection...Click here to view entire article.
Remember Nick Etten? - I spent some time with my mom this past weekend and had some great conversations while looking at black and white photographs from the 1930s and 1940s...Click here to view entire article.
Stay in touch with Old Friends - At a recent meeting of the McHenry County Senior Services Grant Commission, I listened to testimony from a variety of senior services providers talking about the problems faced by our elderly citizens...Click here to view entire article.
Taking Care of the Care-giver - Taking care of an elderly parent or relative can be an exhausting experience. It’s really tough spending your entire day with a person who has difficulty getting out of a chair...Click here to view entire article.
Nursing Home Visiting - It’s often a difficult and sobering experience to visit a loved one in a nursing home for the first time. That vibrant person...Click here to view entire article.
Choosing a Nursing Home - I used to joke with my mother-in-law that she should be nice to me because I would one day choose a nursing home for her. This became a reality... Click here to view entire article.
A Personal Declaration of Independence - One of the most frequently quoted issues that older adults mention about their future is that they would like to maintain their independence as long as possible...Click here to view entire article.
When Mom Moves In - The day finally arrives that you have dreaded ever since you first noticed that your mother was beginning to become frail or was losing her memory. It’s moving day and your mother is...Click here to view entire article.
Out of Town Guilt - I grew up on the south side of Chicago in a blue-collar working class community. If we were to walk down my block, I could tell you the family name of the owner of every house in my neighborhood. We all knew one another and took care of one...Click here to view entire article.
Making Home Safe - There is an old adage that states that “a man’s home is his castle.” The phrase actually dates back to the 16th century in England where... Click here to view entire article.
Taking Away the Car Keys - Perhaps the most difficult conversation that occurs between a son or daughter and their aging parent is about the car. In America, owning and driving an auto is tantamount to...Click here to view entire article.
Making the Decision for Care - After eighteen years working as an administrator of retirement communities and nursing homes, I thought I knew it all. I had counseled teary-eyed baby boomers about placing ...Click here to view entire article.
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men Often Go Askew - I heard an announcement on WGN Radio yesterday that most New Year’s resolutions had already been broken. What happened? We’re not yet two months into 2011 and already ...Click here to view entire article
What will your legacy be? - In a previous column this past year, I wrote about marching in a Memorial Day parade and stopping to recognize a fellow veteran who was flying his last mission against an insidious enemy named cancer. Herb flew B-25s in World War II ...Click here to view entire article
Genetic Testing - I stumbled across an article in the AARP Bulletin that announced some surprising data about the attitudes of Americans toward genetic testing. Americans aren’t particularly interested in learning whether they are predisposed to a particular disease...Click here to view entire article
Honor Our Veterans - It’s the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Veterans Day. It’s the day and the hour of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. We now celebrate Veterans Day on the same day and hour to honor all military veterans, living and deceased, who served our country...Click here to view entire article
Making Wishes - At a senior living industry conference that I attended last week, I watched a video about a retirement community that fulfilled the wishes of its older adult residents. Similar to the Make-A Wish Foundation that grants the wishes of terminally ill children...Click here to view entire article
Accepting Change - I’d been dreading the phone call. It was my sister, Joyce, calling to tell me that the time had come when mom could no longer live alone...Click here to view entire article
Honor
Lifelong Giving - Whenever I notice a particularly long obituary in
this paper, I take the time to read the details of the person’s life and
accomplishments. Their story brings to life their marriage, children,
military experience and professional background. I often feel cheated that I
didn’t get to know the person or perhaps that I did know them...
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