A Day Off Tomorrow!

Whoooooppppeeeeee.  

Jury duty was cancelled for tomorrow and the only thing I have to do is attend 

 a Town Board meeting.

Today was a different story.

After chores

(1)  I held my class.  Thought I would have jury duty tomorrow, so it was scheduled a day early.

 

 (2)  Had a 1pm Association meeting at The Center.  I am the liaison from the Town Board.

 

(3)  At 2pm I had a meeting with the contractor painting The Center.  Trouble in River City.

 (4)  3pm appointment at the Health Center and was referred to a hand and wrist surgeon to have this problem from a year ago taken care of.  Great!

6pm dinner.  Leftover mac and cheese and a great salad.

 (5)  7pm panel discussion at SUNY College at Brockport.  

This is the fourth or fifth time we have done this.

 Dr. Pamela Haibach is the coordinator of kinesiology majors and this particular class meeting concerned aging and activity.

It was made up of Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors.

First, we introduced ourselves and filled them in on our backgrounds.

Then they asked us questions.

"What advice do you have for us to live long healthy lives?"

"Do you feel technology has helped or hindered you?"

"What are some of the perks for being and older adult?"

"What phase of life was hardest for you to transition to?"

"If you are retired, how has that affected your physical activity levels, social life, nutrition and overall quality of life?"

"Have you ever been discriminated against due to age?"

And many more.

 

 After that, we joined the students and were able to ask and answer each other questions.

This was the group I sat with.  When I asked them if we were what they expected, they all said no.

The panel age range was from 57-88.  All of us are extremely active personally and within the community, and they loved hearing our stories.  They really appreciated the fact that we were

"brutally honest."  I asked the entire class if our group made them think differently about the quality of life their grandparents and elderly relatives are experiencing.  A resounding "yes."

One girl said her parents are considering retirement and she wished they were there to listen to us.  This is such a rewarding experience from both sides of the table.

At the end of the presentation, all panel members and students received a small loaf of bread, made by Chet Fery (a retired educator/administrator), one of our panel members.  He has given away over 80,000 loaves over the past 15 years and does an average of 4 or 5 presentations weekly, visiting places like senior centers and dorms to speak or actually make bread with groups.  Around here, he is known as "The Bread Man" and has a blog called "Bread Time Stories."  A random act of kindness is what he is all about.

I wish you could have been there.
The end.
Night all.