INSIDE A REVOLUTIONARY NEW WELLNESS COMPLEX
REBRANDING AGING®
WENDY CHIOJI’S ICY ADVENTURE IN ANTARCTICA A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ON HEALTH AND LONGEVITY
A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ICON FINDS PEACE AND LOVE Melissa Etheridge Says the Best of Her Life is Right Here, Right Now.
Allegro:
Changing how we think about retirement communities.
O
ne of the keys to Growing Bolder is taking control of your choices. And perhaps no choice is more difficult to make than deciding where you’ll spend your retirement years. In the past, options for housing were limited and not always that appealing. Thankfully, the times, they are a-changing! With its mission to change the senior housing market through its inspired senior-living communities, Allegro is on the frontlines of this new way of thinking about retirement communities. The company currently manages 11 communities throughout Florida and Kentucky. Its newest community, located in Winter Park, Florida, is set to open its doors to new residents this summer. Specializing in independent living, assisted living and memory care — and with a 45-year history of operating senior-living communities — Allegro provides seniors with services and amenities to live inspired lives. In fact, the very mission of Growing Bolder is echoed throughout Allegro’s communities, with a focus on passion, purpose and activities designed to keep the mind and body active. Growing Bolder is committed to not only addressing the needs of our aging population, but to inspiring people of all ages and smashing the many demeaning and debilitating ageist stereotypes that have plagued our culture for generations. These shared philosophies are one of the reasons Allegro signed on to be the first-ever title sponsor of the recent Growing Bolder Awards. “Allegro wants to change the face of senior living, and when our team attended the first annual Growing Bolder Awards, we were totally inspired ourselves,” says Kim Smith, Allegro’s lead senior-living adviser. “By honoring and recognizing the continued contributions made by those 65 and older, we can be inspired and empowered to stay involved ourselves. It’s a powerful message to people of all ages that the best is yet to come.” Baby boomers are one of the most diverse groups in human history. The generation that rewrote the rules time and time again is once again paving a new way forward — and that includes how and where they’re choosing to spend their post-retirement bonus years. Allegro is one of the few communities to offer flexible rentals 2 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
Growing Bolder’s Bill Shafer presents Marci Arthur with the Inspired Lifestyle Award presented by Allegro at the first-annual Growing Bolder Awards. Arthur owns and runs the popular cooking school Truffles & Trifles and teaches classes for the Rollins Center for Lifelong Learning.
with no expensive buy-ins or long-term commitments. This allows people to make the choices that best suit their individual lifestyles. Smith says the newest Allegro community in Winter Park will continue the company’s tradition of encouraging its residents to remain vital and active members of the community. With scheduled transportation for appointments, maintenance-free apartments and on-site concierge services, Allegro is a partner in helping its residents keep up with their busy and engaged lifestyles. “Both at the Growing Bolder Awards and in our own communities, we’ve witnessed more and more people continuing to give back to their communities,” says Jason Rock, Allegro’s vice president of sales and marketing. “Many have devoted their lives to giving, and they’re not done yet. As a culture and as a society, we should respect, learn from, and embrace our seniors who are Growing Bolder.” To learn more about Allegro’s communities, including its new location in Winter Park, visit www.allegroliving.com. MARCH/APRIL 2017
GROWINGBOLDERMAGAZINE.COM
G R O W I N G B O L D E R  3
CONTENTS MARCH/APRIL 2017
SPEAKING HER TRUTH
5 | FROM THE EDITOR
6 | GROWING BOLDER WITH ...
15 | ROCK STARS OF AGING ® These geriathletes™ prove the power of purpose. By Marc Middleton
7 | BOLDER HEALTH Why there might not be enough gerontologists. By Bill Shafer
30 | THE TAKEAWAY Now is the time to take risks. By Bill Thomas
8 | 5 QUESTIONS A Nobel prize winner says we can slow the aging process. By Marc Middleton
14 | ROAD TO RECOVERY The most crucial medical advice you may ever receive. By Robert Masson, M.D.
4 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
FEATURES
INSIDE A REVOLUTIONARY NEW WELLNESS COMPLEX
REBRANDING AGING®
WENDY CHIOJI’S ICY ADVENTURE IN ANTARCTICA
9 | GROWING BOLDER FINANCIAL INSTITUTE The secrets of longevity and security. By Marc Middleton
BY MARC MIDDLETON
A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ON HEALTH AND LONGEVITY
A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ICON FINDS PEACE AND LOVE Melissa Etheridge Says the Best of Her Life is Right Here, Right Now.
ON THE COVER: Melissa Etheridge. Photo by John Tsiavis.
22 | GROWING BOLDER ADVENTURES Wendy Chioji’s latest adventure takes her to the earth’s southernmost continent. Here’s what she discovered! By Wendy Chioji 28 | BOLDER COMMUNITIES The Winter Park Health Foundation is leading a revolution in wellness. By Jackie Carlin
MARCH/APRIL 2017
MELISSA ETHERIDGE PHOTO BY JOHN TSIAVIS
DEPARTMENTS
16
Rock icon Melissa Etheridge is happy, healthy and harmonious.
FROM THE EDITOR
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Marc Middleton MANAGING EDITOR Jackie Carlin ASSOCIATE EDITORS Katy Widrick, Bill Shafer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Robert Masson, M.D., Wendy Chioji ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY John Tsiavis, Debi Del Grande, Myriam Santos, Chris Gotshall DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION Jason Morrow, Pat Narciso, Josh Doolittle, Mike Nanus DIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION Jill Middleton
407-406-5910 One Purlieu Place, Suite 139 Winter Park, FL 32792 GrowingBolderMagazine.com All editorial content copyright 2017 by Bolder Broadcasting Inc. Growing Bolder is a registered trademark of Bolder Broadcasting Inc. Nothing may be reprinted in part or in whole without written permission from Bolder Broadcasting Inc.
PUBLISHED IN ASSOCIATION WITH
FLORIDA HOME MEDIA GROUP PUBLISHER Randy Noles ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Edmunds CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Harry Wessel Florida Home Media’s Family of Publications: artsLife
THE CLOCK IS TICKING
W
e’ve entered the post-truth world of fake news and alternative facts. It takes work and discipline to put emotion and personal bias aside and search for the actual truth. There are so many alternative narratives that it’s easy to believe whatever confirms or reinforces your personal bias. Is there anything we can all agree upon? Yes. But it’s something almost no wants to talk about or even acknowledge. It’s the one truth that can neither be denied nor disproven by anyone. That single fact, that one nugget of undeniable truth, is this — we are all going to die. Our refusal to acknowledge and embrace this truth affects how we live, and in some cases how long we live. In this month’s Takeaway, world-renowned geriatrician, Bill Thomas M.D., writes: “Research shows that people who are aware of and embrace their own mortality are happier than people who live with the illusion that they’re going to somehow live forever.” Dr. Thomas calls our final decades “the time for living dangerously;” for getting out of our comfort zone and taking risks. In this issue, Growing Bolder’s Wendy Chioji, a two-time cancer survivor currently battling thymic carcinoma, reports on her amazing adventure — sailing on a small boat to Antarctica with seven others, including her 77-year-old travel companion. Wendy ends her piece with the advice, “Live fearlessly!” And in our cover story, Grammy- and Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge says, “Risk-taking is what makes life worthwhile.” “It’s the knowledge that I am going to die that creates the focus that I bring to being alive,” famed astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once told Larry King in an interview. “I fear living a life where I could have accomplished something and I didn’t. That’s what I fear. I don’t fear death.” None of us are getting out of here alive. We are all mortal beings. That shouldn’t be a truth we ignore, or a fact that we run from. It’s the very reason every second is precious. Each day is a new opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others, to share your love, to create new relationships and repair old ones. Horace Mann, the great educator, said, “Be ashamed to die until you have scored some victory for humanity.” The clock is ticking.
SPRING 2017
Inside the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
SMOKEY ROBINSON
ONE OF THE MEMORY MAKERS IN MORGAN STANLEY MOMENTS
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Marc Middleton, Editor-in-Chief marcmiddleton@growingbolder.com G R O W I N G B O L D E R 5
GROWING BOLDER WITH
CHARLOTTE STEWART
76
ACTRESS
“I didn’t want my book to be one of those, ‘Oh, she’s never had a problem in her life’ stories. The fact is, I made a lot of mistakes. But don’t we all? When I was on Little House on the Prairie, I was in my early 30s and making the first real money I’d ever made. In the ’70s, everyone in Hollywood was using cocaine and alcohol — and I went along with it. Thank God I got sober in 1984. I then met my dear late husband, David, and we were married for 20 wonderful years. I just got married again a year ago. I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in 30 years. We rekindled an attraction and it’s just been lovely. Life definitely goes on!”
Miss Beadle on Little House on the Prairie was the kind and moral teacher we all wished we had. It turns out that was quite an acting job for Charlotte Stewart, In her new autobiography, Little House in the Hollywood Hills: A Bad Girl’s Guide to Finding Miss Beadle, Mary X, and Me, Charlotte rips the petticoats off her “good girl” image and reveals that in her real life, things weren’t so G-rated.
REGGIE WELLS
70
MAKEUP ARTIST TO THE STARS
“I never fit in. And thank God I didn’t, because if I had, I would have been an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, everyday person. My childhood was very rough. I knew I was gay. I was physically and sexually assaulted, and I was picked on. But I knew there was more. That’s my message. You can be the biggest disaster. You can say you don’t like anything about yourself. But if you have confidence, you can open any door. There are no bars to hold you back. Do not allow anyone to take your life from you.”
After being told as a teenager that he couldn’t be a fashion designer because of his race, Reggie Wells became a teacher. Later, he took a leap of faith and moved to New York, where he became a makeup artist and worked with everyone from Muhammad Ali to Diana Ross to Whitney Houston. His life changed forever when he met Oprah Winfrey, and began an association that spanned 20 years. Today, he’s also an author and the creative force behind his own line of makeup.
TONY LITTLE
60
AMERICA’S PERSONAL TRAINER “One of my sayings is ‘There’s always a way.’ And I know what I’m talking about. That philosophy was put to the test when my twin sons were born dangerously premature. They had to fight just to survive. On top of that, my wife slipped into a dark postpartum depression. I’m the guy who motivates everyone else, so where could I turn? I looked at those beautiful babies and thought, ‘If they can fight for their lives, the least I can do is step up to the plate.’ Are you willing to do that for your own life? There’s no excuse for sitting on the couch. Get up. Get fit. Get out and live a life of passion and purpose. I believe in you. You can do it.”
Tony Little is an author, entrepreneur, infomercial icon and widely considered to be “America’s personal trainer.” He also regularly appears on the Growing Bolder television program. Visit our website to watch more of his Growing Bolder With segments.
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to listen to our entire Growing Bolder Radio conversation with Charlotte Stewart, to watch our feature story on Reggie Wells and to watch more Growing Bolder With minutes featuring Tony Little. 6 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
MARCH/APRIL 2017
BOLDER HEALTH
Mariana Dangiolo. M.D., says that despite a growing need, there’s a looming shortage of geriatricians.
AGE EXPERTS
Why There Might Not Be Enough Geriatricians.
W
BY BILL SHAFER
e’re living through truly remarkable times. So many things that we’ve never fully understood are being studied, questioned and reexamined in ways that will not only answer longstanding questions, but may well change our futures. This is particularly true when it comes to understanding how we age. Not long ago, the field of gerontology was more or less hidden in the background. But these days, it has taken its place among the most interesting, active and evolving fields in medicine. Chances are, at some point in the not-too-distant future, instead of going to your general practitioner you GROWINGBOLDERMAGAZINE.COM
may consider making an appointment with a geriatrician. But will there be enough geriatricians to go around? Mariana Dangiolo, M.D., is an assistant professor of family medicine and gerontology at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. She believes it’s of utmost importance physicians have an understanding of the health issues that arise with age. “The reason you should consider a geriatrician is because they’re a sub-specialist trained to meet the unique needs of older adults,” she explains. “We focus on prevention, management and development of care plans.”
She believes that everyone age 75 and older should be under the care of a geriatrician. But there are benefits for people as young as 50, she says. “As we’re living longer, the cycles of life are also changing,” Dangiolo notes. “If you have multiple chronic conditions, then a geriatrician could make a great difference for you in a number of ways, by focusing on prevention and helping you to manage chronic conditions that are affecting your quality of life.” Studies show that people over the age of 65, on average, simultaneously take five or more prescription medicines, often prescribed by several different physicians. Geriatricians focus on how these medicines react with one another, and can help patients make certain that they are taking them in a safe and effective manner. Geriatricians are also a great help to those caring for elderly parents. They become a caregiver’s advocate by managing multiple medications in such a way that allows loved ones the opportunity to live at home as long as possible. In addition, geriatricians focus on a patient’s ability to function within his or her environment, and seek ways to improve safety by optimizing the management of chronic conditions. Geriatricians also can suggest ways to optimize the home environment, thereby making aging in place possible. But there’s one major problem. “There are only about 7,000 geriatricians in the United States for millions of seniors, and many more who’ll soon be turning 65,” Dangiolo says. She warns that there’s no way that the number will increase quickly enough to meet the skyrocketing demand. But the UCF College of Medicine has a plan that can help. “We’re the ones creating the next generation of physicians,” she says. “So we’re modifying our programs, which will give our students greater insight and knowledge of the complexities of senior care — and produce a physician that is much more prepared to treat patients of all ages.”
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to listen to our conversation with Dr. Mariana Dangiolo and learn more about the emerging field of gerontology.
G R O W I N G B O L D E R 7
5 QUESTIONS Elizabeth H. Blackburn’s research has huge implications for aging and the treatment of diseases such as cancer.
TAKE CARE OF YOUR GENES A Nobel Prize Winner Says We Can Slow the Aging Process. BY MARC MIDDLETON
8 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
MARCH/APRIL 2017
ELIZABETH H. BLACKBURN, PH.D. won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009 for discovering the molecular nature of telomeres, which are the ends of chromosomes that preserve genetic information, and for codiscovering telomerase, which is the enzyme that maintains telomere ends. Her discovery has already had tremendous implications for cancer and aging research. Her new book, The Telomere Effect, explains how to slow the aging process at a fundamental level. It’s being hailed as revolutionary, transformational and one of the most exciting health books in decades. Blackburn, 68, is a professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People, president of the Salk Institute and past president of the American Association for Cancer Research.
Let’s start with telomeres. In lay terms, what are they and what’s their connection to the length and quality of our life?
They’re the protective tips at the ends of chromosomes. A useful way of thinking about them is to imagine a shoelace, and think of the little protective tips that you have at the ends. If you don’t have those little plastic tips, the ends fray away. We can think about genetic material and DNA and chromosomes as being like those shoelaces. Throughout our bodies we have innumerable little shoelaces — chromosomes — that carry genetic material. The telomeres are the protective tips, and over many decades they have a tendency to wear down. Worn-down telomeres can no longer protect the genetic material. And when that happens, cells can’t replenish tissue. That, in turn, results in major risk factors for the diseases of aging. So maintaining telomere length helps lengthen our health spans and delays normal disease, disability and morbidity of aging.
Your discovery of the enzyme telomerase includes the good news that through lifestyle modification, we can actually have an impact on our telomeres. What is it about telomerase that’s so encouraging?
My colleagues and I discovered telomerase, a completely new kind of enzyme that can build back the end of telomeres. The quesGROWINGBOLDERMAGAZINE.COM
tion then became, how does that work in humans? And the answer is, there isn’t quite enough telomerase to provide a true health span throughout our lifespan. That’s why we have so many diseases associated with aging, such as cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes and dementia. The good news is that becoming more active and reducing stress helps preserve telomeres and increase our health span. You’ve created a list of foods that are associated with shorter telomeres and foods associated with longer telomeres. What do we want to avoid eating and what do we need to eat more of?
Refined sugars and particularly sugar sodas have been associated in a very large study with shorter telomeres. Also, high consumption of red processed meat is damaging to telomeres. What’s consistent in studies around the world in telomere maintenance is that people who consume what’s generally referred to as a Mediterranean diet — fresh fruits and vegetables, whole foods, grains, nuts, and not too much refined flour — maintain healthy telomere, or at least slow their shortening. People who diet obsessively — one fad diet after another — actually have shorter telomeres. What’s your prescription for healthy longevity?
It turns out that a combination of many things all add up to an expanded health span.
But if I had to summarize briefly, I would say just start moving. Even a small amount of exercise has a quantifiable effect on telomere length, primarily through helping to cope with stress. Finding ways to reduce stress is critically important, because chronic psychological stress has major physiological effects. One of those effects is to quantifiably shorten telomere length. My best advice is to build a little bit of exercise into every day. Our research shows that you don’t need a lot of exercise to achieve great benefits. The exciting news about our research on telomeres and telomerase is that, for the first time, we can prove at a basic cellular level the notion that diet and exercise are key factors in health span and active longevity. We’ve seen multiple studies in recent years that underscore the power of our belief systems relative to how we age. At Growing Bolder, we often say, “What the mind believes, the body embraces.” Is this true?
Absolutely. In a very real way, our cells are always listening to and reacting to our thoughts. There’s a large amount of very clear data that supports the fact that what we think has an major impact on our body, and therefore on our health.
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to listen to our full-length Growing Bolder Radio conversation with Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn.
G R O W I N G B O L D E R 9
GROWING BOLDER FINANCIAL INSTITUTE Because life expectancy has increased, Jeannette Bajalia is working to change the way people — especially women —plan for their financial futures.
PLAN FOR LIFE
Bajalia Reveals the Secrets of Longevity and Security. BY MARC MIDDLETON
J
eannette Bajalia is one of America’s most trusted life and retirement planners. Her groundbreaking work is helping transform an industry that has been slow to fully understand the opportunities and the challenges of the longevity revolution. Bajalia is one who searches for solutions — and if none are found, she creates them. Her dedication to her clients, in fact, led her to spend years searching for the secrets of active longevity. “When helping clients with their life plans,” Bajalia says, “I advise them to make sure that they have enough money to live to 100 — but almost no one believes that 10 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
they’ll live that long.” So, rather than simply quote statistics like “one-quarter of all women who are now 65 will live to see their 100th birthday,” Bajalia decided to share the stories of real people who are well on their way to the century mark. “I think we can overwhelm clients with statistics to the point that the numbers lose their significance,” she says. “I wanted to put faces and families behind the figures.” The result is Bajalia’s latest book, Planning a Purposeful Life, Secrets of Longevity. In it, she interviews more than two-dozen nonagenarians and centenarians in an effort to learn what leads to active longevity. “Longevity is the ultimate double-edged
sword,” Bajalia says. “Who doesn’t want to live longer if we can maintain a high quality of life? If we have our health, our family and friends — and a compelling reason to get out of bed each morning — then longevity becomes a great thing.” Unfortunately, she adds, it also brings with it the very real and frightening risk of outliving our money. So what leads to active longevity? Bajalia says that was very clear from her research, and is reflected in her book. ”It’s passion and purpose,” she says. “Despite their age, those I interviewed were anything but retired in the traditional sense. In fact, the concept of retirement is foreign to them. The idea of a purposeful life prevailed in all of the interviews. That’s what keeps them going and gives them joy.” Too many of us think that retirement signals the beginning of the end, Bajalia says, adding: “I want to get the word ‘retirement’ out of the dictionary. We may switch jobs or even stop working in the traditional sense, but we don’t retire.” Bajalia brings a unique personal experience to her work. She’s a former corporate executive, caregiver, cancer survivor, frustrated financial planning client and, later in life, entrepreneur. She’s lived a life filled with important and, at times, difficult transitions. “We have to understand, as financial advisers, that life is about transitions,” she says. “We have to anticipate them and get really good at transitional health and life planning. You can’t live a purposeful life if you don’t have a plan to get you there.” While Bajalia interviewed both men and women — and serves both in her practice — she always drills down further into the special needs of aging women. It’s why one of her companies is called Woman’s Worth® and why she’s helping the traditionally male-dominated industry recognize that women have different financial and lifeplanning needs. Bajalia notes that 80 percent of men die married and 80 percent of women die single, meaning that financial advisers must fully understand the preferences of women who are living independently. Women, she adds, have different healthcare needs, socialize differently, spend money differently and have different passions and purposes as they age. MARCH/APRIL 2017
And women do not want to be a burden on their children or loved ones. “Sadly, a Social Security check isn’t going to support any of those purposes,” Bajalia says. “I talk to older adults who never imagined that they would be buying a car, or traveling the world, or volunteering at 85 or 90. The industry needs to update its lifeplanning models — and I wasn’t going to wait around for that to happen.” Bajalia says one of the biggest threats to our future is the skyrocketing cost of healthcare. While longevity can mean extra years of passion and purpose, it can also mean extra years of disease and disability. “While we have to plan for our healthcare, we also have to do what we can to reduce those costs moving forward,” she adds. “The top two preventative medicines are activity and socialization. Nothing is as powerful and effective. It’s the No. 1 investment that we can all make in our futures.” Was there a personal takeaway for Bajalia? Was there something she learned from her many interviews that has most impacted her daily life? “Absolutely!” she says. “I learned that older adults consider every day a priceless
Why do I have to wait until I’m 95 years old to operate in gratitude? I’m doing it right now!” This is the greatest time in the history of humankind to be over 80 or 90 or even 100. Or at least, it can be. Living a long life filled with passion and purpose is a goal that we should all aspire to, but one that demands careful and thoughtful planning. Planning a Purposeful Life is the perfect place to start.
In Bajalia’s new book, she interviews more than two-dozen nonagenarians and centenarians in an effort to learn how they remain vital, active and involved.
Jeannette Bajalia is founder and president of Woman’s Worth® and president of Petros Estate & Retirement Planning. Jeannette retired at 55 after a successful career as a corporate executive to become one the nation’s leading experts on the unique financial planning needs of women. For more information go to womans-worth.com. You can reach Jeannette at: jeannette@womans-worth.com.
gift simply because they can get up and fulfill their purpose. I learned to have a deep sense of gratitude, not just for life, but also for family, friends and country.
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to learn much more about the Growing Bolder Financial Institute and for details on Jeannette Bajalia’s new book, Planning a Purposeful Life.
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G R O W I N G B O L D E R 11
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ROAD TO RECOVERY
Robert Masson, M.D., says that preparation for surgery — which he calls “prehab” — accelerates the speed of healing and the extent of the recovery.
PREHAB POWER
The Most Crucial Medical Advice You May Ever Receive. BY ROBERT MASSON, M.D.
W
e’ve all heard about physical rehabilitation or rehabbing — the process of restoring to a condition of good health or ability through training and therapy. Many years ago we began strongly advocating for what I call prehabilitation, or prehabbing. Just as rehab is a reactive procedure to an unwanted injury, prehabbing is a proactive approach to preventing pain and injury, preparing for surgery and accelerating the speed of healing and the extent of recovery post-surgery. Prehabbing is building strength and stability while improving mobility, balance 14 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
and joint function. It’s something we all should be doing — especially as we age, because we’ll all encounter unavoidable physical and medical setbacks. It’s part of life. And, to a large extent, the types of intervention made available to you and the extent of your recovery are determined not by your age, but by your overall fitness level. So why do we wait for it to happen? Why don’t we begin preparing now? Not prehabbing is like not saving for retirement. You know your days of working fulltime will one day end, so you prepare by saving and investing in your financial future. Prehabbing is investing in your health
and wellness future — and in your financial future, because a regular fitness routine is the most effective and least expensive healthcare plan you have. Prehabbing can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in healthcare costs over the final decades of your life. Some of my patients live big, bold, adventurous lives — and I support that. In many cases, I encourage that. Life is for living and, at times, that involves taking calculated risks. But we must continually evaluate the risk/reward scenario, which changes as we age. We gain a little weight and our center of gravity shifts slightly. Our reflexes slow just a bit. We lose a some strength and flexibility, and we allow gravity to affect our posture. The result is, we’re far more likely to lose our balance and fall when we’re running, biking, skiing, climbing or hiking. We’re more likely to pull a muscle, injure a joint, or break a bone. Activities that we managed with ease and fluidity when we were younger become more difficult, and therefore more dangerous. So we may need to dial back our aggressiveness somewhat. Understanding our limits — and playing within those limits — is also part of prehabbing. Of course, even those who aggressively prehab are still vulnerable to injury. But they reduce the odds of needing a bigger surgery — a bigger correction — when injured. When surgery is indicated, but not necessitated right away, we put our patients into an aggressive prehab program to build up their overall strength. The result is a speedier and more extensive recovery. In some cases, the aggressive prehab routine even negates the need for surgery. We can dramatically attenuate the effects of age and, in some cases, even reverse them. But it takes a commitment to a regular program of stretching, load-bearing exercise and cardiovascular fitness. We should all try to devote 20 minutes a day for five or six days a week to prepare our bodies for the stress of day-to-day life, and for the activities we’re passionate about. We should all be prehabbing.
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to watch more of Dr. Robert Masson’s Road to Recovery Minutes.
MARCH/APRIL 2017
ROCK STARS OF AGING ® Three-time Olympic gold medalist and the meet’s host Rowdy Gaines (center) poses with the new worldrecord holders (pictured from left to right) Ed Graves, John Corse, Betty Lorenzi and Joan Campbell.
A FULL 360
These Geriathletes™ Prove the Power of Purpose. BY MARC MIDDLETON
J
ust like a team of high school superstars, John Corse, Joan Campbell, Betty Lorenzi and Ed Graves are sitting on the pool deck, studying the heat sheet, underlining their events and checking out their lane assignments. Except this is not a big high school swimming meet, and these are not high school swimmers. It’s the Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic, one of the top Masters swimming meets in the world, and Corse, Campbell, Lorenzi and Graves are 93, 86, 89 and 92, respectively. They’re the oldest swimmers in a meet that’s filled with former high school, college and even Olympic athletes. And they’ve come to try and break a long-standing world record. “We’re going to try and break the world record in the 360-399 200 meter mixed freestyle relay,” Campbell says matter of factly. 360-399 refers to the teams combined ages. “Mixed” means the team consists of two men and two women. Assembling four competitive swimmers whose combined ages exceeds 360 is no easy matter. And don’t think that this is a GROWINGBOLDERMAGAZINE.COM
group of genetic super freaks. They’re all suffering from the typical challenges and medical conditions of nonagenarians — any one of which could flare up and force the relay to scratch. As the team gathers behind the starting blocks, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist Rowdy Gaines, the meet’s host, climbs up to the announcer’s platform, grabs the microphone and directs the attention of the spectators and other swimmers to what’s about to unfold. “We have many world records broken at this meet every year,” he says. “But this is special. To have a team that can even make an attempt at this record is an inspiring example of what’s possible for us all.” “Oh, jeez,” says Graves, 92. “Now he’s giving me a case of the jitters.” Graves is the leadoff swimmer. While many competitors 20 or 30 years younger start from the pool deck or in the water, he climbs up onto the slanted starting blocks where two younger swimmers quickly move to either side to catch him in case he loses his balance. But Graves doesn’t need any help. He bends down on the starter’s command
and launches himself headfirst into the air when the gun goes off. “Unbelievable,” a slightly nervous Gaines says as Graves hits the water and comes up stroking. Graves, though, isn’t the only team member who starts from the blocks. They all do. Campbell, a great-grandmother who didn’t begin swimming until she was 59, swims second. Lorenzi, 89, goes third. Last year, she was recovering from a fall in which she broke her neck. Corse, a 92-year-old attorney who still practices law, swims the anchor leg. They all swim 50 meters, and draw further ahead of world-record pace. With the crowd cheering him home, Corse sprints into the wall, finishing a full 15 seconds ahead of the previous world record set by a Japanese team 10 years ago. The moment isn’t lost on the nowstanding crowd. They’ve witnessed a world record — but most here have seen plenty of those. This is a life-affirming demonstration of what’s possible when you combine passion and perseverance As he catches his breath, Corse offers the key to the team’s success: “We just keep trying despite everything that comes up and, believe me, everything does come up. But you have to just stay at it.” As the four take a bow and wave, Gaines fights back tears. “It’s incredible,” he says. “It never ceases to amaze me that they can do things like this. It means a lot to me that this happened at my meet.” Lorenzi’s daughter, Betsy Bruggner, speaks for many in the crowd: “For me, the message is to become passionate about a sport, to take good care of yourself and to live every day with great gusto and purpose.” So how does a team with a combined age of 360 celebrate a world record? “I’d love to celebrate with Champagne,” Corse says. “But I’m on heart medicine, and my doctor won’t let me drink anything alcoholic. So I guess I’ll celebrate with a Virgin Mary.” “Don’t worry,” Graves chimes in. “I’m gonna make up for him, I’ll drink enough for both of us.”
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to watch our feature story on this incredible relay team and to watch more stories on the Rock Stars of Aging®.
G R O W I N G B O L D E R 15
SPEAKING HER Rock icon Melissa Etheridge is happy, healthy and harmonious. BY MARC MIDDLETON
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ON AGING
PHOTO BY JOHN TSIAVIS
“Age is experience, and believe me, I wouldn’t trade my 50s for any other time that I’ve lived. You get the payoff for all the hard work. You understand more. You acquire wisdom.”
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“Someone once told me to do something every day that makes me a little uncomfortable; something that confronts my fears. If you can do that, then you can start looking inside yourself and discovering what you really love.”
inding success is never easy. Finding happiness can be even harder. Melissa Etheridge never expected to have an abundance of both in her mid-50s. “Age is experience, and believe me, I wouldn’t trade my 50s for any other time that I’ve lived,” she says. “You get the payoff for all the hard work. You understand more. You acquire wisdom.” One of the top singer-songwriters in the history of rock ‘n’ roll, Etheridge has been entertaining and inspiring audiences for four decades — and has the hardware to prove it. She has won two Grammys and has been nominated for a dozen more. She won an Academy Award in 2007 for Best Original Song, “I Need to Wake Up,” from the movie An Inconvenient Truth. 18 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
Born in Leavenworth, Kansas, Etheridge’s debut album, Melissa Etheridge, was released in 1988 and reached No. 22 on the Billboard charts. After that Etheridge was on her way. “Ain’t It Heavy,” a single from her third album, Never Enough, garnered her first Grammy in 1993. Later that year Yes I Am, was a breakout success that yielded three Top 40 hits, including the Gram-
my-winning “Come to My Window.” She has just released her 14th studio album, MEmphis Rock and Soul, a tribute to Stax Records, the legendary Memphisbased label. One of the more notable cuts is a reworking of the Staples Singers’ “Respect Yourself,” which uses the song’s original backing track and includes new lyrics that update the civil-rights anthem. MARCH/APRIL 2017
PHOTO BY DEBI DEL GRANDE
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ON RISK-TAKING
The album may be a tribute to others, but it’s also a demonstration of the power, purpose and fearlessness that Etheridge now wields. “Risk-taking is what makes life worthwhile,” she says. “Someone once told me to do something every day that makes me a little uncomfortable; something that confronts my fears,” she continues. “If you can do that, then you can start looking inside yourself and discovering what you really love.” Etheridge admits that she was intimidated by the challenge of tackling timeless classics originally released by the likes of Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas and Sam and Dave: “Did it make me uncomfortable to take on a historic and beloved collection of music that’s the root of the whole rock ‘n’ roll movement? Absolutely. But I knew the journey would make the effort worthwhile.” In Memphis, Etheridge recorded with musicians who had worked with those legendary artists. “I knew that if I immersed
myself in the process, if I absorbed the culture, the experience alone would fulfill me and somehow lead to the next thing,” she says. There was a time when Etheridge wondered if there’d even be a next thing. Her life took an unforeseen turn when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. “I was 43 years old, and at that moment, everything stopped,” she recalls. “The road I had been on, the pace I had been keeping, the thoughts I had been thinking, the foods I had been eating. All those things led, I believe, to cancer. I was able to walk through the experience — which is pretty horrific — one step at a time.” At the 2005 Grammy ceremonies, Etheridge returned to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, inspired millions with a performance of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.” Later that year, she released her first compilation album, Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled.
The album, her biggest seller in years, was certified gold. With each step forward, Etheridge grew stronger. She, like many cancer survivors, got in touch with what was truly important to her. “It takes letting go of your diagnosis and not letting it define you,” she says. “Cancer, to me, was a warning and a chance to absolutely change everything.” Change, Etheridge insists, can be wonderful. “I’m now 12 years cancer free, and every day I walk in total gratitude,” she says. “I’m thankful just to be a living, breathing part of this wonderful world — and for the gift of each new day.” Surviving cancer taught Etheridge the importance of a healthy lifestyle, and all that entails. “Health is the foundation for happiness,” she says. “It’s about taking care of you first, and then looking out for and taking care of others.” Etheridge was never particularly into drugs. But she began smoking marijuana
ON SURVIVING CANCER
PHOTO BY MYRIAM SANTOS
“Health is the foundation for happiness. It’s about taking care of you first, and then looking out for and taking care of others.”
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G R O W I N G B O L D E R 19
that’s so good for muscles and arthritis. I have my own smoke, some edibles and some [oil] cartridges.” Seventy years ago, Etheridge notes, marijuana was on pharmacy shelves. Today she says it’s an attractive alternative to alcohol and sedatives for relaxation, in addition to its other medicinal benefits. As an LGBTQ activist, Etheridge was devastated by the horrific Pulse shootings in Orlando, which left 49 dead and more than 50 others injured. “I’m dealing with it the way I deal, which is, I wrote a song,” she told Rolling Stone. “I’ve done this before. I feel called to speak; to do what musicians do. We’ve been the town criers for hundreds of years. We’re mirrors of society. We want to try to make sense. We want to try to heal. We want to bring some meaning, some purpose. We also want to put it down forever in history. That’s how I’m coping.” Etheridge wrote “Pulse” on a Sunday
ON THE PULSE TRAGEDY “I’ve done this before. I feel called to speak; to do what musicians do. We’ve been the town criers for hundreds of years. We’re mirrors of society. We want to try to make sense. We want to try to heal. We want to bring some meaning, some purpose. We also want to put it down forever in history. That’s how I’m coping.”
and recorded it in a New York City studio the following day. By Tuesday, Rolling Stone had posted it to the Internet. She’s donating all proceeds to Equality Florida. After several failed relationships, Etheridge was beginning to think that marriage wasn’t in her future. But her newfound sense of self led her to the best friendship of her life, with actress, writer and producer Linda Wallem. That friendship turned to love, and in 2014 the couple married. “I wasn’t very good at relationships, but when I started really working on myself after my cancer battle, everything changed,” Etheridge says. “I realized that it’s not about somebody else coming in and making my life better or perfect. It’s about me taking hold of my life, and accepting the responsibility that I have for my own joy.” Adds Etheridge: “We have to fill ourselves up with self-confidence and selfesteem and self-worth. The minute you start doing that, the minute you really look inside yourself and make yourself strong in that area, you attract people who are also strong in themselves and have love to give.” With cancer behind her, a relationship that inspires her and a career that shows no signs of slowing down, this rock legend, environmental activist, LBGTQ thought leader and now marijuana entrepreneur is excited to embrace whatever lies ahead: “Age is in your mind. If you’re looking at 50, don’t even be afraid because it gets so much better and you become so much stronger.” Asked for a Growing Bolder Takeaway, Etheridge offers this: “More than anything else, I think as we age we have to be committed to speaking our truth. I can show you every single time in my life that the choice was in front of me of either hiding and not being who I am, or being who I am and speaking truthfully about it,” she says. “I’ve always chosen to speak my truth. And when I do, not only do I find peace and deep personal satisfaction, but my record sales also go up. I urge everyone to find his or her truth inside, and live it every day in every way. Do you!”
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to listen to our complete Growing Bolder Radio conversation with Melissa Etheridge.
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PHOTO BY JOHN TSIAVIS
at 43, when she was diagnosed with cancer. She says marijuana not only helped her survive the disease — it’s also a major reason why she hasn’t had a recurrence. “I believe anybody who smokes cannabis is using it medicinally, whether they consider it so or not,” she recently told Billboard. “If it’s my means of relaxing and unplugging and de-stressing, who’s to say that’s not good medicine? My stress level and all the things I felt contributed to my cancer, I absolutely treat them every day by smoking cannabis and keeping a balance in my life.” Etheridge is now becoming a cannabis entrepreneur. Her company, Etheridge Farms, is debuting later this year in California. “I’m right in the process of branding,” she told Billboard. “There’s a balm
FROM OUR BROADCAST PARTNERS IN JACKSONVILLE AND WEST PALM BEACH
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Another battle with cancer hasn’t slowed Wendy Chioji down. She recently went on an expedition to Antarctica, which was the seventh continent she has visited. 22 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
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ANTARCTICA BY SAILBOAT GROWING BOLDER ADVENTURES
Wendy Chioji’s Latest Adventure Takes Her to the Earth’s Southernmost Continent. Here’s What She Discovered! BY WENDY CHIOJI
W
hen my friends, Laura and Fede, asked if I wanted to sail on their 66-foot Ocean Tramp from southern Argentina to Antarctica, I was all-in. I had to do some logistical juggling with my clinical trial requirements, but I gave an equivocal “yes” pretty quickly. It would be my seventh continent to bag, and getting there by sailboat would make the trip even more epic. I get outrageously seasick just watching sailing videos, but I’d deal with that later. This was the opportunity of a lifetime. I had all the gear I needed from my Mount Kilimanjaro climb (another Great Adventure), and I found a 77-year-old travel companion, Heike, who said, “yes” more quickly than I did. We were a crew of eight from the U.S., South Africa, Australia and France. Plus there was Captain Fede along with Laura, our expedition leader, and just as importantly, Miguel, our cook. Our Frenchman was a scientist trying to find out if whales have a sense of smell. His experiment encompassed alternately throwing out krill (whale food) and clay to see if the whales responded. We got to help by tracking whales and birds, taking photos, flying the drone with the Go Pro and more. But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, the seasickness. I did hypnotherapy and acupuncture. I had prescription patches and
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bands and ginger candy and Zofran. But I was sick as a dog for three straight days sailing south. The Drake Passage is often called the world’s worst; it’s the meeting place of the Atlantic and the Pacific, and it’s a pretty violent get-together. I don’t think they like each other much. I didn’t see much of the Drake from my bunk, with my eyes closed. A few times, I almost saw the floor, suddenly, when a particularly violent pitch of waves forced me to jam my feet into the ceiling. (Addendum: A $6 box of Dramamine kept me upright and feeling mostly fine on the even rougher return trip. Go figure.) When I came out of my seasickness coma, I was rewarded with some of the most stark yet beautiful vistas I have ever seen. Seeing the South Shetland Islands around Antarctica and the continent itself was like looking at another planet. Towering glaciers; dangerous but gorgeous icebergs. Everything was white and blue and gray and black — even the animals. We were delirious to see our first seven gentoo penguins (like the ones on Happy Feet) playing on an iceberg. In the next three and a half weeks, we’d see tens of thousands of them. No exaggeration! Traveling by sailboat was a terrific choice. We were nimble and spontaneous. We anchored in safe harbors around the islands and G R O W I N G B O L D E R 23
Wendy and her traveling companion, 77-year-old Heike, stand on an ice floe alongside the Ocean Tramp, their sailboat home for more than three weeks.
offshore every night, changing plans if ice or weather presented challenges. Because we were small, we were allowed to disembark at research stations, at a Chilean Naval Base (the one that sent out a ship to rescue Shackleton’s men from Elephant Island no less!), and at colonies of gentoo and chinstrap penguins. We anchored on a huge ice floe and jumped down to play and take pictures. We stopped in the Penguin Post Office on the continent to send postcards and buy $65 ski hats made of wool, silk and possum hair. (Expensive, but super warm and soft!) During our 25-day trip, we admired dozens of humpback whales as they ate and dove. We laughed at penguins as they played and fed their new babies and stole rocks from each other’s nests. We admired lumpy elephant seals, crabeater seals that don’t eat crabs, moonyeyed Weddell seals (which are my new favorite, even though I hadn’t previously really given much thought to the fact that there are different kinds of seals), and a 24 G R O W I N G B O L D E R
dreaded leopard seal. Leopard seals are the kind in Happy Feet. They eat penguins after slamming them around until they turn inside out. (What’s black and white and red all over? Ugh.) There was a huge learning component to the trip. We got a pretty deep education about Antarctic animals, especially whales. We learned about the long history of people in Antarctica. It’s not just a snowy wasteland; there was a huge (gross) industry of whaling and seal hunting as far back as the 19th century. Explorers made history here repeatedly. We also learned that 10 seconds in the frigid water meant skinny people would shiver for approximately five hours after. And your body doesn’t know when to sleep when it’s light for 24 hours. And whales will show up around the ship just as you’ve laid down or jumped into your 90-second shower. This was the trip of a lifetime. I saw things and learned things that I didn’t even know that I was missing in my life. I spent
a week with some of the most interesting, diverse and adventurous people I’ve ever met. I suppose that goes without saying, on a trip like this. Not only is it Antarctica, it’s Antarctica by sailboat. Before we left there were times, I won’t lie, when I thought it was going to be too long, too far, too much of a hassle. But as (almost) always, the reward was immeasurable. It was an incredible adventure in a lifetime of incredible adventures. As my new friend, Adam (who quit his job to travel the world. He’s in Year Two) from Rhode Island said many times during our trip, “You can’t shoot a moose in a lodge.” Get out there and find the moose. But shoot him with a Nikon. Live fearlessly!
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com for a link to Wendy’s blog where you can read much more about her adventures, in Antarctica and beyond, and see her gorgeous photos and videos from the trip.
MARCH/APRIL 2017
Wendy saw some incredible sights in Antarctica, including magnificent icebergs (top); chinstrap penguins, leopard seals and elephant seals (center); and gentoo penguin colonies (bottom).
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I made sure my lifeline was there for me. When her father’s symptoms worsened in the night, Andrea felt helpless. Then she remembered what his nurse told her about Care Connection—Cornerstone’s call center for after-hours urgent care—and realized she wasn’t alone. A simple phone call linked her to a local team of Cornerstone nurses that were ready to help her when she needed them most. We know that you can’t plan a crisis. But you can plan on Cornerstone being in your corner, 24/7.
866.742.6655 // cornerstonehospice.org Cornerstone is committed to caring for all hospice patients regardless of payer source or ability to pay. 100% covered by Medicare & Medicaid
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BOLDER EXPERTS
Great T
®
MOVING PAST
Lessons Learned from My Own Experience. BY PAUL HENDERSON
I
’ll never forget sitting in my grandmother’s living room, holding her hand and watching her cry while the movers carried her belongings out of the house. I tried to reassure her that she was moving to a place where she would have help and make new friends. But that did little to dissuade her sorrow. I learned a valuable lesson that day; never let someone watch
their belongings get taken away. A move is difficult and challenging for us all, but for the elderly it can be emotionally overwhelming to leave the place where so many memories took place. As much as possible, try to take care of the old home and its contents yourself. Remind your loved one that memories don’t live in any one place — they live in our minds. Keep his or her focus on the future and all the new and exciting changes that await. Get your loved one settled on the new place he or she will call home. Try to avoid ever taking your loved one back to the previous home. At best it would be a painful reminder. Your role is to act as a calming force and a facilitator, helping to smooth the choppy emotional waters of the transition. Reassure your loved one that happiness is waiting to be found in the new place they call home. For more information read Moving On by the SRES® Council. To receive a free copy, contact us or go to Great-Transitions.com.
Paul Henderson and his wife, Lyn, both hold the SRES® certification and are the founders of GreatTRANSITIONS®. The Hendersons developed this concept by using their more than 30 years of personal and professional experiences. The program is designed to help people transition to the next place they call home. For more information and to hear their radio spots, please visit www.Great-Transitions.com.
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Winter Park Health Foundation CEO Patty Maddox unveils the official name of the new Center for Health & Wellbeing at a recent groundbreaking ceremony.
Changing BOLDER COMMUNITIES
The Winter Park Health Foundation is Leading a Revolution in Wellness.
the Way We Age
GROUNDBREAKING PHOTO BY CHRIS GOTSHALL
T
here’s no doubt about it — we’re in the midst of a revolution in this country. The way we age is changing. And that’s great news not only for the nation’s burgeoning population of baby boomers but for all generations to follow. Communities are starting to take notice, and are providing the leadership and the tools to help residents successfully navigate this journey. Growing Bolder is proud to partner with one such community program — the forthcoming Center for Health & Wellbeing in Winter Park, Florida, being launched through a partnership between the Winter Park Health Foundation and Florida Hospital. The facility is set to open in late 2018. The not-for-profit Winter Park Health Foundation, one of the nation’s leaders in supporting health-related initiatives, is spearheading the project as part of its tradition of nurturing informational and educational programs that empower local residents to live healthy, active and social lives. Florida Hospital will provide medical services and collaborate with the foundation in offering wellness resources designed to improve health and speed recovery following illness or injury. The state-of-the-art center, for which ground was broken in February, enhances that mission by combining wellness, fitness and medical services under one roof. Growing Bolder is helping the foundation create and launch a first-of-its-kind “health span network” to educate and inspire both visitors to the center and the community at large.
GROWINGBOLDERMAGAZINE.COM
BY JACKIE CARLIN
In addition, the nearly 80,000 square foot center will also provide a new home for the Peggy & Philip B. Crosby Wellness Center YMCA. Meanwhile, the Crosby Y is in the process of seeking the prestigious Medical Fitness Association certification for its staff. This rigorous, multi-year process will allow physicians to prescribe exercise as medicine, an increasingly popular method for encouraging fitness, agility and disease management. “The Crosby Y is the first YMCA in the country to have gotten as far as they have,” says Bob Boone, president and CEO of the Medical Fitness Association. “There are others who have expressed interest, but the Y is farthest down the road — and will potentially become the first medical fitness facility that’s earned certification.” What makes medical fitness so leading edge, adds Boone, is that fitness centers become embedded into the local continuum of care, and part of the health system. “That’s what’s so unique about a YMCA doing this,” he notes. “YMCAs are not typically thought of as part of the healthcare system.” Boone says that certified medical fitness centers not only support people who are already healthy by keeping them healthy. They also serve those who’ve been diagnosed with chronic conditions such as heart disease, Parkinson’s disease, diabetes or arthritis. “We’re actually able to see reversals in some of these disease processes through nutrition, lifestyle management and exercise,” Boone adds. “In your community, you’re about to enter a rocket ship. You’re not far away from Cape Canaveral, so be prepared. You’re going to have a meteoric
rise at your facility, and you’re going to become one of the leaders in the country potentially in this whole new area of science. So stay tuned, sit back and enjoy the ride!” The entirety of the project has attracted the attention of many of the world’s leading experts in the fields of active aging and medical fitness, including Colin Milner, CEO of the International Council on Active Aging. Milner describes the soon-to-be-built center as “morphing from the old model of ‘senior center,’ where people used to congregate and socialize, to where it’s all about evolution, embracing new technologies, and embracing possibilities. A center like that is literally shaking the foundation of society.” Adds Milner: “This is a revolution. We’re looking at all the needs of an older population, and starting to actually address them in the kinds of facilities being built.” Boone describes facilities such as the Center for Health & Wellbeing as “centers of discovery.” As you walk through the door, he says, you’ll begin the process of finding yourself. “There are so many things that we’ve delayed for so long,” Boone says. “We’ve been busy working, trying to put our kids through college or maybe even just simply helping them to get off on the right foot. But now it’s about me.”
GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to watch our kickoff video story on this project and to learn much more about this exciting new facility.
G R O W I N G B O L D E R 29
THE TAKEAWAY
BILL THOMAS eventeen billion humans have lived, and zero have grown young. We can’t escape the reality of aging, so the real issue isn’t how well we can conceal the signs of aging, but how well we can embrace the opportunities of aging. The established cultural narrative has got it all wrong. Aging is a source of growth, happiness and wellbeing. Research shows that people who are aware of and embrace their own mortality are happier than people who live with the illusion that they’re going to live forever somehow. I’m not going to allow the antiaging industry to make me feel that I must conceal my age in order to have value. Every single morning, when 70 million baby boomers wake up one day older, we gain new allies. This is the group that said, “I don’t accept the war in Southeast Asia.” This is the group that said, “I don’t accept sexism and I don’t accept racism.” This is the group that has always questioned the dominant narrative. And now, they’re looking for a new framework on aging.
When it comes to aging, it’s the story that matters. It’s how people interpret their experiences that goes a long way toward defining their wellbeing. What I’m doing with my Age of Disruption tour is taking chances. I’m doing things that are very scary for me. I’m trying to put myself out there and show people that age gives you the opportunity to do crazy new stuff. It’s not youth that should be doing crazy, new stuff — it’s older people. I’ve fallen in love with taking risks, and that’s really what the tour is about. Many believe that older people should be wrapped up, swaddled in cotton and kept very safe. I’m arguing that the mortality rate is 100 percent — and you have the chance now to live more dangerously than ever before. To do things your younger self wouldn’t have dared to do; things that you’re now equipped to do because of your accumulated life experience. You only live once, so make it good. Age offers you tremendous opportunities to live dangerously.
“The established cultural narrative has got it all wrong. Aging is a source of growth, happiness and wellbeing.”
Editor’s Note: Bill Thomas, M.D., is a Harvard-trained geriatrician who helped transform long-term care worldwide as founder of The Eden Alternative and, most recently, The Green House Project. These two initiatives have de-institutionalized nursing homes in all 50 states and worldwide over the past 20 years. Thomas now performs on his “Age of Disruption Tour,” a traveling, nonfiction theatrical performance designed to change the way our culture views aging.
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GB EXTRA Visit GrowingBolderMagazine.com to watch our videos featuring Dr. Bill Thomas and to learn more about his “disruptive” thinking.
MARCH/APRIL 2017
PHOTO COURTESY OF BILL THOMAS
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Now is the Time to Take Risks.
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