Encore Life, Vol 2, Summer

Celebrate Your Life!

Aubrey’s Kitchen: Cauliflower Crust Pizza Savory Cookies and Cookies For Grownups

Change Your Beliefs

About Uncertainy and Difficult Times

Legacy Letters: A Roadmap For Those Who Follow

Day Trip:Antique

Motorcycle Museum

Tune In To Our New Radio Show!

Encore Living - A radio show that talks about Better Living In The Second Stage of Life.

Hosted by Joyce Joneschiet (Encore Living Interiors/Encore Life Magazine) with Aaron Murphy (ADM Architecture LLC/ Empowering the Mature Mind).

Special features include: • Interior design tips • How interior design & architecture can help you age in place • The newest products for your home • Best travel destinations for baby boomers • What is a referral agency and how can they help you with your options • Nutrition for Adults Only • How in-home care is not a luxury • Easy no-cook meals • Encore careers • Inspirational baby boomers • And so much more!

2 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Listen in every Tuesday at 9:00 AM (PST) on Blog Talk Radio!

You can also chat live with us during the show, call in to win our giveaways & talk to our guests!

Just go to http://blogtalkradio.com/ encoreliving!

Sponsor Packages start at $50!

Call Joyce for more info at 253-221-3592 or email: joyce@encorelivinginteriors.com

We’re now available on iTunes as a podcast! Find us in the Arts/Design category and Subscribe Today!

CONTENTS

Encore Life

volume two SUMMER 2013 “It gave me strength and confidence to look back at life’s challenges to learn that I can face anything in the future.”

features

55 Caregiving Hurts - And It Heals 53 Hi, I’m A Fraud Victim But I’m Not Going To Tell You

transitions & aging in place

12 A Moving Story (Part 5) Jane & Tom Pack For Their Move 31 “Forever Home” On A Budget Starts With Common Sense 22 Downsizing Your Life Should Not Require Garage Sale-ing Your Mind

travel & career

14 The D’s That Lead To Business Failure 17 Antique Motorcycle Museum 24 Lox and Leeks With A Beer Chaser In Edmonds 46 The Importance Of Buying Local

in every issue

Contributors Editor’s Letter—From Me, For You Online Glimpses Nutrition For Adults Only Encore Careers Murph’s Mind Encore Travel From You To Us On Our Bookshelf Subscription Info Advertising Info In The Next Issue...

34

4 6 3 50 14 31 24 5 7 64 6 64

spirituality & legacy

48 It’s Always Time To Be Happy 42 Change Your Beliefs About Uncertainy and Difficult Times 8 Legacy Letters: A Roadmap For Those Who Follow

health & nutrition

50 Your Personal Wellness ROI 34 Aubrey’s Kitchen: Cauliflower Crust Pizza 38 Savory Cookies and Cookies For Grownups 59 Is Long Term Care Insurance Right For Me?

12 Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 3

CONTRIBUTORS

Encore Life

14

31

42

22

55

8

50

17,24,38

48

59

46

53

4 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Watch Our Before And After Video!

From You To Us

L etters from our readers are always appreciated and welcomed. We hope to hear from

you about this issue and want to get your feedback on what you would like to see in future issues. This helps us tailor this magazine to your needs so we can provide the content that you’re looking for.

If you’ve received a benefit from a particular article or video, tell us about it! We will be using this page to mention your letters and emails and we are looking forward to hearing from you!

Please send all your letters to: Encore Life Magazine

Please send your emails to: CustomerService@encorelifemag.com

1911 SW Campus Dr, Ste 487 Federal Way, WA 98023

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 5

From Me To You

Just A Note...

Ahhhh! The long, lazy days of summer are here! I can’t wait for icy cold lemonade and fresh strawberries right out of the garden. Those heirloom tomatoes are also ripe for the picking, perfect with a dash of olive oil & a grind of salt.

I know you’ll also enjoy the yummy recipes we have in this issue and our books on our bookshelf to linger over as you plan your summer patio parties.

We also have some great ideas to take a short day trip & enjoy local sites.

A special treat is an article by Kristine Smith of her caretaking days with DeForest Kelley, (of Star Trek) before he passed.

Make sure to have your friends and family sign up for a FREE subscription today so you can each have access to all the good stuff that is coming your way!

Click here to sign up!

Joyce

Here’s to your Encore Life!

Joyce Joneschiet (Jonah-shite) Publisher & Editor in Chief

6 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

from JOYCE JONESCHIET

On Our Bookshelf

Click on the book images for more info...

The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: Recipes from Our Italian Kitchen

By Frances Mayes, Edward Mayes

“Tuscan food tastes like itself. Ingredients are left to shine. . . . So, if on your visit, I hand you an apron, your work will be easy. We’ll start with primo ingredients, a little flurry of activity, perhaps a glass of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and soon we’ll be carrying platters out the door. We’ll have as much fun setting the table as we have in the kitchen. Four double doors along the front of the house open to the outside—so handy for serving at a long table under the stars (or for cooling a scorched pan on the stone wall). Italian Philosophy 101: la casa aperta, the open house.”

—from the Introduction In all of Frances Mayes’s bestselling memoirs about Tuscany, food plays a starring role. This cuisine transports, comforts, entices, and speaks to the friendly, genuine, and improvisational spirit of Tuscan life.

Home Made Summer

By Yvette van Boven

Inspired by her childhood in Ireland and her frequent sojourns in France, van Boven has created a collection of recipes that will truly inspire you to step into the kitchen.

Using seasonal ingredients, such as freshly picked apples and berries, delicate summer lettuces and fresh herbs, she presents recipes for Breakfast, Brunch & Lunch, Snacks, Beverages, Appetizers, and Dessert.

Flipping through the pages feels a bit like stepping into a fantasy land, one with jars and jars of citrusy-tomato mayonnaise awaiting crab cakes and stacks of powdered sugar-dusted ultimate puffy pancakes’ (topped with crème fraîche and berries in lieu of syrup).” LA Weekly

Williams-Sonoma On the Grill: Adventures in Fire and Smoke

By William Cooper

Whether you’re an enthusiastic novice or a seasoned aficionado, this new cookbook from grill master Willie Cooper offers a fun and novel approach to outdoor cooking.

With lush full-color photography, On the Grill delivers inspiration and sound advice each step of the way on everything from buying a pair of tongs to spit-roasting a pig.

Chef Willie invites you to come along on several action-packed grilling adventures, showing you how to plan and pull off a memorable lakeside feast, a perfect summer picnic, a sun-splashed beach bash, a spitroasting extravaganza, a spirited tailgate party, a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, and more.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 7

LEGACY LETTERS:

8| Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

A Roadmap for Those Who Follow

by KAREN LYNN MAHER

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 9

LEGACY LETTERS:

A Roadmap for Those Who Follow

by KAREN LYNN MAHER

“...I don’t feel gripped by sorrow anymore about the death of my two children because I got it out of me by writing the letter.

It gave me strength and confidence to look back at life’s challenges to learn that I can face anything in the future.”

KAREN LYNN MAHER: What will I pass

on to the next generation? How will I make my unique contribution to my family and community? What is the one thing I want my loved ones to remember about me?

Legacy letters help us answer these and other big questions of life, and serve as a vehicle to express love, offer advice and preserve family history at risk of being lost. Preserving and passing on our sense of life’s meaning is as important as giving away our material wealth through a Last Will and Testament.

A legacy letter is a simple, yet profound process that (1) gives voice to our life journey, (2) illuminates how our life matters, and (3) captures and preserves the meaning of our life in print. It is the ultimate gift to our loved ones as it gives them a head start in their own search for significance and belonging.

The products of legacy planning take several forms, from sharing stories around the dinner table to writing a full-blown memoir. A common form is a legacy interview, which 10 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

results in a 3-5 page legacy letter to loved ones (also called an ethical will) and an audio recording of the interview conversation.

The interview preserves our words and our voice and ensures that future generations have access to family values and traditions, as well as our hopes and dreams for them. Every interview and letter is as unique as its author and invites a conversation with the people closest to us to share about our emotional and spiritual legacies, often the source of life’s greatest lessons and insights.

Recently, a client who witnessed the death of two of her five children shared with me how her life changed as a result of her legacy interview and letter we crafted together: “My kids now understand my relationship with their dad, a marriage that ended in divorce. I was surprised that my grandchildren took an interest in reading the letter. They wished I’d shared more about my life. And, I don’t feel gripped by sorrow anymore about the death of my two children because I got it out of me by writing the letter. It gave me strength and

confidence to look back at life’s challenges to learn that I can face anything in the future.”

I began my career as a writing mentor in 2001 helping people write memoir and their life stories. Every day I am blessed with the opportunity to listen to authors share about their lives and then help them capture the essence in print. Here are some of the comments about “legacy letters” I recall vividly: “Oh, I wish my mother had done this.” “I wish I’d know about this service before my grandmother died.” “My uncle served in World War II and he had such fabulous stories that are now lost.”

Writing a legacy letter is a mode of selfinquiry and a way to pass on the meaning of our lives to those who follow. Our memories and our stories create the imprint of our lives—our immortality.

I encourage you to take the time to pass on an inheritance that will be treasured for many generations.

WRITING YOUR OWN LEGACY LETTER: Plan to take as much time as necessary to complete your letter. Reflect on the questions below and write down your thoughts and ideas. Outline how you want to organize your words. When you’re ready, write a rough draft. Let it sit for a few days. Then, go back and edit. You may want to record your thoughts on tape and then transcribe and edit your notes. There is no absolute or “right” way to approach this meaning piece of writing.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER: What were the major turning points in your life?

What were the most important decisions you have made?

Who were the people who have helped you most on your life journey?

What did you learn from these people?

What has been your most consistent challenge during your life?

What do you value the most?

What do you believe in?

What are your hopes and dreams for your children and grandchildren?

What is the one thing you want your family to know and remember about you?

Karen Lynn Maher owns LegacyONE Authors, LLC, a self-publishing consulting company in Kirkland, Washington. Since 2001 she has been helping authors write legacy letters and other engaging manuscripts to reflect their personal stories and professional knowledge and expertise.

She is author and creator of the ExpertBook™ Made Simple series designed to help aspiring authors successfully plan, write, self-publish and promote their books.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 11

A MOVING STORY:

Article Five: Jane and Tom Pack for their Move

by SUE MCGUIRE

With their floor plan prepared and sorting well in hand, Jane and Tom turned to the next phase of their move: packing their belongings. Cheryl, the move management company project manager, worked with them to identify how many and what kind of boxes would be needed to pack those belongings.

Jane and Tom were tempted to use free boxes such as open topped liquor boxes. But Cheryl explained that standard moving boxes that can be closed, and uniformly stacked, have two advantages. First, items could be packed more safely. Second, uniform boxes utilized every inch of a moving van. Also, when stacking boxes of the same size there was little chance the box would collapse because the strongest part of the box— the corners—lined up. Large variety stores, storage unit offices, and professional movers, stock a variety of standard moving box sizes and shapes.

Moving companies use the rule that the heavier the item to be packed, the smaller the box.

Heavy items packed in a large box were difficult to move and tested the box’s integrity. So the professional move managers packed all of Jane and Tom’s books, canned goods, garage tools, and paperwork into small boxes, 1.5 cubic feet in capacity.

The move management company packed Jane and Tom’s kitchen appliances, pots and pans, shoes, VCR’s, small lamps, and small pictures into medium-sized boxes, about 3.0 cubic feet in size. The moving crew reserved the large boxes, 4.5 cubic feet, for lightweight or bulky items such as bedding, hats and purses, towels, and paper products.

For Jane and Tom’s china, crystal, kitchen dishes, glassware, figurines, vases, and break12 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

able lamps, the move management company used dish packs—sturdy, tall, double-walled boxes constructed with two layers of cardboard. Sometimes the packers used “cells” for dish packs—dividers that separate one item from another. Even with these dividers, the packers still wrapped each breakable item before settling it into a cell.

For Tom and Jane’s computer and lamps, the packers used specialty boxes available through professional movers. For bulky clothing, movers provided wardrobes—large boxes with rods used for hanging clothes.

The other half of the packing process

was wrapping. The move management company wrapped all of Jane and Tom’s belongings with plain blank newsprint, bubble wrap, or popcorn. The crew never skimped on paper. Their goal was to ensure the items were well wrapped, secure, and not touching each other, so that even if a box were dropped or turned upside down, the items would be safe. The packers never put heavy items and delicate breakables in the same box.

Cheryl made sure that all boxes were completely full, adding a pillow, rug, or crumpled newsprint to top off the box. Having completely full boxes guarded against a box collapsing when stacked.

After sealing boxes, the move management company affixed labels that identified the contents. This would speed and make more efficient the unpacking process. Reading the labels, the movers could set the boxes with towels beside the linen closet, the heavy dish packs full of china beside the china cabinet, and the heavy book boxes beside the bookcases.

With everything packed and ready, Jane and Tom were ready at last for their Moving Day—covered in next month’s article.

SUE MCGUIRE heads up the South Sound office of Segue. She has lived and worked in the Tacoma area for 35 years. She has a Masters degree in planning and over 30 years experience providing business management, marketing, and project management services to private and public clients. Sue has run her own consulting business, managed a private-non-profit social service agency, and was marketing director for the Tacoma office of a national engineering firm. Click on the website icon for more information.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 13

The D’s That Lead To Business Failure

by MEL WEST

14 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

A couple weeks ago, I was sitting in a meeting to help credit unions better identify and reach the underserved in New Orleans, when someone reminded us of a quote Gloria Steinem made several years ago, “Rich people plan for generations forward and poor people plan for Saturday night.” It was a profound quote and I found myself reflecting on the context of Ms. Steinem’s quote during the long airplane ride back to Seattle.

For those like me who wondered, Ms. Steinem became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokesperson for, the women’s liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s.

In the aforementioned quote, she was discussing how women essentially had been a lower class and was less likely to plan ahead and more likely to think about who they were going to marry and about their children, all of whom would dictate the woman’s plans instead of having the confidence to be able to stand up and support themselves. As it pertains to the woman’s movement, it is very strong, but I believe it could be equally fitting for business owners and their succession plan.

When starting a business, the best thing to do is to begin with an end in mind. Nevertheless, let’s be realistic, most business owners don’t.

Many are challenged to create a written plan and follow it while going into and continuing to run their business. The lack of proper planning can be a fatal mistake, as a company without a proper leadership team in place is always going to fail.

The trick is to have a successful succession strategy in place and plan for the D’s of business failure and build it into the plan before it’s too late.

The key is to check the ego at the door and look at the situation in a logical way to identify how each “D” will affect: your family, your business, your employees, your customers, and yourself.

DEATH:

Several methods exist to prepare the business, its employees, and the families of those involved for the unexpected or untimely death of the owner to ensure the business will continue to operate in

the event of the owner’s death. I’ll share a couple.

As a single business owner and no family members to takeover, the business owner and one or more key employees may enter into an agreement, which sets up the owner’s estate to sell the business to the key employee at death. The key employee provides a lump sum payment and relieves the owner’s family of the responsibility of the business.

If there are partners, a “cross purchase” plan could be established where each owner owns a policy for the other owner. Depending on the strategies used, there could be some tax implications and it is best to check with your CPA and/or financial planner.

DISABILITY:

This generally occurs when its least expected and is more likely to end a business than death. If the person is important to the business and the disability will likely cause a financial or leadership strain, how do you protect the business? If you are a solopreneur or the rainmaker for the business, who protects your family along with the business? I can guarantee the expenses will keep coming.

DIVORCE:

There are a couple types of divorce.

There is the common divorce and then the business owner divorce. It’s not uncommon for business partners spend more time with their business partners than their spouses.

As a business owner, if you get divorced, you don’t want your ex-spouse running around with stock in the company. However, many times this becomes a reality. What happens if you have a partner and cannot get along or they are no longer working in the business? How do you split the partnership up without ruining each other financially?

DEPARTURE:

The business may be running great and then Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 15

Mel West, MBA

the other partner decides the business is no longer his or her passion and leaves for another opportunity. First, who does the work and then how and when is the other one paid out?

If there are shares, how will they be valued?

A departure might be a blessing, but most likely, you have a partner for a reason.

Buy-Sell Agreement

A buy-sell agreement is one of the most important arrangements any business including a sole proprietorship can have. This agreement structures how the business will continue in the event of death of a business owner or other key events like those that we discussed above. If you have a partner or investors, an exit plan is even more important and a buysell agreement is critical. If there are partners, spouses, or children, it is oftentimes easier to work out while everyone is happy and working together versus negotiating an arrangement later.

It’s a good idea to talk through these issues and then engage an attorney and CPA who will most likely bring up other items to consider that may affect your personal situation. The more you plan, the more you will be able to control the outcome. Not everyone can be around forever, and often a company can benefit from having a fresh injection of talent and ideas. Instead of planning for Saturday night, it’s time to plan for generations forward.

16 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Mel West is President of West Business Concepts, Inc., a performance-consulting firm in Tacoma, WA. He has a passion for helping people succeed both in their personal and professional lives. He relates his work to being in the logistics business, where he helps his clients identify and achieve success, so they can go from where they are to where they want to be.

Mel brings over 20 years of management experience with leadership roles in the financial services industry, manufacturing, and the military that includes operations, marketing, sales, finance, human resources, compliance, and quality management. His insight provides a unique perspective and expertise to help companies increase their revenues, improve their profitability, and strategically lead their organizations more effectively through his hand on approach to coaching and consulting. Mel was the co-host of the BizTech Talk radio show focusing on business and technology trends.

Antique Motorcycle Museum

by DON & PEG DOMAN

The Vintage Antique Motorcycle Museum is located upstairs in the Historic Hotel Washington in downtown Chehalis, Washington. The Vintage Antique Motorcycle Museum is home to original and fully restored pre-1916 Indian, Harley Davidson, Yale, Excelsior, Pierce, Emblem, Sears, Thor, Henderson, Reading Standard, and Flanders. In addition you find a Nera Car, an Imp Car, an Amphi Car, a Knucklehead, an Indian 4, an Indian Chief, and an assortment of antique bicycles, including an American-made bicycle from the 1800s.

The showcases are filled with memorabilia. Photographs and posters cover the walls. Most bikes have a copy of the original literature displayed.

If you like the open road, you will appreciate seeing and experiencing this collection of fabulous motorcycles that most people have only heard or dreamed about.

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 17

18 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 19

20 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

The museum has much more to offer than what is simply showing here, plus they have antique bicycles (including the unusual Bowden Spacelander from 1960) as well has a cute little antique Pierce tricycle.

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 21

Downsizing your life

should not require garage sale-ing your mind

by PAUL ZOHAV

When the day arrives that you have to leave your home to take up residence in a much smaller dwelling within a retirement community or other care facility, there will be the challenge of how you manage a lifetime of mementos, knickknacks, and other personal belongings.

The difficulty is that each memento or other much-loved object carries with it some of your most favorite memories. The predicament is that, in the process of downsizing your life, as you cull through a lifetime of remembrance-laden objects, you may very well lose a connection to the memories they represent.

Before your move, whenever you looked at the objects around you – you were able to recall when and where you acquired it, even with whom you bought it. Touching that object or sitting on that old comfortable chair, you recall the lunch hour shared with a spouse, or good friend who is now gone from your life or who is now far away; you can still remember the clothing you wore and what was talked about over lunch that day, forty or more years ago.

It might be the case that that serving platter or set of dishes was a wedding gift from a beloved relative that you have used every family Thanksgiving since. Every time you use those

PAUL ZOHAV

dishes, you fondly remember every family gathering and each turkey served. Looking back in time you remember young children, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles and though you have not served from that platter or used those special dishes in years, you can still recall that and more. With that serving platter in sight you are able to recall an earlier time of your life when you were much younger, slimmer, and had your whole future ahead of you.

Downsizing is often inevitable, and unless and until you take measures to process important memories and reorient yourself in a new manner, when you wake up in your next residence you can expect to feel literally dislocated from your own memories. And when the day arrives that your capacity to recall your memories becomes even more problematical, they will be effectively lost.

They don’t have to be.

It was for that reason I wrote the Downsizing Your Life section of my Living Legacy LifeBook designed to allow you to preserve your sense of self even as you move to smaller quarters.

-Certified Professional Counselor at Relationship Literacy LLC. , -Ordained Chaplain -Domestic Violence counselor -Relationship and self management Coach -Author of the Living Legacy LifeBook (livinglegacy-lifebook.com) designed to support elders process a lifetime of memories, gain respect and honor for the life they have lived, and leave a Living Legacy that for future generations.

-Story teller and folk musician -Masters degree in Counseling from the Univ. of Virginia and Religious studies from Gratz College in Philadelphia.

22 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Making Every Life a Living Legacy

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO REMEMBER BEFORE YOU FORGET?

Spending less than an hour a day you can easily create your personal Living Legacy LifeBook that will: -Help you process and harvest a lifetime of memories.

-Serve you as a memory aid when memory becomes problematical.

-Become a living Legacy and posterity for your family and scholars for generations to come.

-Offer you many hours of enjoyment with family and children as they listen to you tell and retell life and stories.

You will have:

-Spent hours upon hours with your spouse, children, and your friends listening to you as you tell and retell your family, life, and times.

-An enhanced sense of self and of your own achievements -A memory aid for when your memory becomes problematical.

A Living Legacy that will last for generations to come. Oral History, a true immortality. So that is it and much more. A flexible structured document of documents an easy, enjoy-able, satisfying, step by step, do it at your own pace, Living Legacy LifeBook. Your life is worth far far more than a 100 word obit in the local paper…

Give the gift of a Living Legacy LifeBook to yourself, your spouse, your children, your best friends – then work it with them. A gift that never ceases giving.

The Living Legacy LifeBook.

-An answer to what you talk about after “Fine.”

(How are the kids, fine, work, fine, your health, O R D E R Y O U R S T O D A Y ! fine…)

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 23

Lox and Leeks with a Beer Chaser in Edmonds

by DON & PEG DOMAN

You start an adventure with some ideas in place and sometimes they happen and sometimes they don't. Mostly they don't. We originally planned the trip to Edmonds to reflect Peg's annual calligraphy event, Letters of Joy. Peg usually goes with a friend, but last year the two of us drove to Edmonds and I read and relaxed, while Peg participated in classes and workshops. This year her friend decided not to go at all. With other things going on we didn't think Peg would participate at all, but we still wanted to go and have fun. At the last minute she decided to attend the welcoming ceremony, while I stayed at the lovely Harbor Inn with their unlimited chocolate chip cookies, my diet sodas, and two bags of Ruffles BBQ potato chips.

When Peg arrived back in the room after nine she declared she was hungry, so we ordered an Italian sausage pizza from room service. To remain sociable, I ate my share when the delivery was made forty minutes later.

24 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Saturday morning I was up at my normal time - 4:30 a.m. I took a shower and went to the business center where I accessed my email and came up with a few marketing ploys for my clients. At 6:30 the dining room opened. I grabbed the Edmonds Herald and the Seattle Times along with some coffee and snooped over the breakfast offerings. I had a bowl of cantaloupe pieces, a bran muffin, two glasses of tomato juice, and a cup of coffee and hot chocolate mixed together, along with some of those little containers of half-and-half.

After reviewing my notes and looking over both newspapers I was almost ready to return to the room. See-

ing my camera on the table, the dining room attendant asked, “Are you here to shoot the birds?” “What birds,” I asked. “Heron, geese and all kinds of them.” she replied. I thought she was talking about the waterfront, but from her description it sounded a little closer than that.

I decided to walk around the grounds of the hotel before returning to my room. There really aren't many grounds. Mostly there is a parking lot. In the front parking lot, however, I looked at the traffic collecting for the next ferry to Kingston. I took a photograph and remarked to myself, it looks like this entire area was once a wetland. When I met up with Peg we found the Salt Water Marsh that Sue, the dining room attendant was talking about. It was just around the other side of the parking lot.

There is a boardwalk that skirts the northern side of the marsh. The Edmonds Marsh is one of last urban saltwater estuaries remaining around Puget Sound. Before.

settlement, this salt marsh was around 40 acres in size.

Now it’s just almost half of that. The parking lot, roads and business developments probably take up the rest.

Over the year 225 species of birds can be found in and around the Edmonds Marsh. The nearby railroad and man-made barriers blocked the tidewater flow creating a fresh water marsh, but in 1988 the tidewater flow was re-established. The marsh now has both fresh and saltwater vegetation and has regained its standing

as a natural habitat. It was nice walking the wooden boardwalk and looking down at nature’s handiwork.

From the salt water marsh we drove over the railroad tracks to the shoreline. We looked at the marinas and then turned around just as a long freight train came through.

Since we couldn't cross the tracks, we continued parallel going north. We passed the ferry landing and then found ourselves in a tight little parking lot. We drove in as far as we could and then parked to watch the people. It looked like the entire SCUBA world was at the waterfront. Every car seemed to have its trunk open and there were air tanks everywhere. This was the hottest day of the year so far and people were out enjoying the weather and the views which seemed to stretch out for miles and miles.

It seemed like August with people sitting on the sand and laughing. It was hard to see if the

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 25

SCUBA people were laughing, but I’m guessing they were getting ready to have a good time.

The divers were making their way to the water just north of the Kingston Ferry. Normally, when I see something black bobbing in the waves of Puget Sound, it’s usually a harbor seal. On this day it was divers. Tall divers, short divers and they could have been from many ethnic backgrounds, but all geared up, they were simply black wetsuits.

Soon we were able to drive the four or five blocks to the center of town. We turned left at the fountain and then left again. Peg wanted to drive on the road that overlooked the train tracks and the shoreline. Actually, I think Peg was following the “Plant Sale” signs. Soon we found the source.

I parked and stayed in the car while Peg crossed the street and looked over the plants. I looked out over the water and watched as joggers ran by my windshield and tourists stopped in front of my car to take their own pictures of our gorgeous surroundings.

26 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

I saw people coming and going, to and from the plant sale and as I watched I started putting two and two together. I finally figured out what the divers were doing and why they were flocking to the water. The waters of Puget Sound are great grounds for exploring the undersea world, but there was more than just that.

Peg returned with two prizes. She had a basket planted with succulents and a tiny violet. Succulents do best around our house; they exist in spite of our care.

Our Christmas cactus, which welcomes visitors to our home, blooms at the appropriate times of year though very little thanks to our care. We water when we think about it and when we do, we sometimes we water too much. One way or another we kill a lot of plants.

Succulents can count on a minimum of attention from us.

The varieties in the basket all looked healthy. I think they were well worth the $4 Peg paid for them. She also got a tiny violet that she called a Johnny Jump Up for another buck.

Before we drove away I told Peg to take a closer look at the area where the divers were going. There were a number of buoys and markers floating all over.

I was just reading about an undersea park. I bet this is it. I was correct! It's the Edmonds Underwater Park.

It's the most popular underwater park in the state.

Each year about 25,000 divers come to visit. This excellent spring day was ideal for an underwater adventure.

"The Underwater Park itself is a series of man-made reef structures interspersed with sunken vessels in various states of decay, which together create an extensive artificial habitat for a wide variety of marine life. These features are connected by an extensive network of fixed guide ropes anchored to the bottom which make it easy for divers to get around the Park. The man-made reefs are made from concrete blocks, tractor tires, PVC pipes of various sizes, sunken navigation buoys, an old tree trunk, sunken boats & ships, old pieces of the 520 floating bridge and much, much more. There is even a cash register and the bed of a pickup truck."

Happy to understand better what was going on, we next began following "yard sale" signs. We ended up on a oneway road between several houses. This was on the nice side of town, but then, I don't know if there is a bad side of town.

I dropped Peg off at the sale and drove forward looking for a place to park. By the time I made it back to the sale Peg already had a pile of purchases. This little side-trip cost us $59, but we ended up with many new treasures including a Hannah-Barbera limited edition print of Tom and Jerry. It only cost $20. Once I got back to the hotel I looked it up online and found one selling on Ebay for $175. Woo hoo! We made money!

Not for the whole trip perhaps, but profit is profit.

After our hard work shopping, it was time for lunch. Peg had dined years before at a tapas bar in Edmonds. She had pointed it out several times, but I still didn’t know where it was. The pointing seemed to change each time we drove through town, “No, its a little further . . . that must be it back there.”

Books come first with Peg, however. I dropped her off by the local book store and then went looking for a parking spot. Looking and finding are two different things.

Besides the constant ferry traffic, a local farmers market was going on somewhere in town. I parked outside city hall and walked back to what I thought was the tapas bar. It wasn't open yet and the menu posted had nothing to do with Spain. I looked down the street and saw a bench near the fountain. I sat down and called Peg. She answered. It's rare when we even have our phones on, so this was unusual. She didn't know where she was, but it wasn't near the bookstore, which was south of my bench. I looked north and saw Peg as she came into view.

We looked in the Edmonds Bakery, but thought we could probably find a full restaurant and then we looked across the street at the Chanterelle.

I love places where you have no expectations and each one is exceeded. This so much better than having high expectations and taking a one-two punch and end up tak-

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 27

ing high expectations and taking a one-two punch and end up taking a ten count and still paying a 20% tip. From the lemonade to the tomato bisque and the dishes inbetween, the Chanterelle was an outstanding restaurant.

We ordered a goat cheese and chicken pastry, a meatloaf sandwich, and a seafood passion salad to share between us.

leeks were really cute. They weren’t huge and they weren’t small; they looked like they would be just right for anything I wanted to cook, just like in Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They were perfect.

I think our favorite was the seafood passion salad with lox, capers, prawns, and apple-horseradish dressing. There were three slices of perfectly buttered toasted crostini for the lox. I would have traded all three prawns for one more piece of bread and lox. Peg was surprised when I told her about the horseradish.

There was no bite. Peg likes capers; she finds them a tiny salty nugget. Everything worked well together.

We took three-quarters of the pastry back to the room along with half of the meatloaf sandwich. We also took a couple desserts for a late night snack. Our waiter, Troy was excellent. He saw to our every need. If I could re-do lunch I would skip the sandwich (it was excellent) and the pastry (AND it was better than the sandwich). I would order the same salad and not share it. I would recommend Peg get her own salad, which I might have to help her finish. That would be perfect.

I left Peg and walked back to the car so I could pick her up. As I walked back I found the farmers market on the other side of city hall. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the leeks. I love leeks. They are like really big green onions, but milder. They are part of the same onion/garlic family, but I like them because they add color and crunch to salads and soups. These 28 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

I paid for the leeks, looked at some leather belts and hurried back to the car. With my leeks in hand I felt very Welsh. The leek is their national emblem along with the daffodil. Locally we have lots of daffodils and leeks. I think a Leek Parade in the Puyallup Valley would be a wonderful thing to behold. According to legend, Saint David ordered his Welsh soldiers to identify themselves by wearing the vegetable on their helmets in a battle against the Saxons. In Wales the leek is still worn on St David's Day each March first.

Driving back to the Chanterelle, I passed the Rusty Pelican, a recommended restaurant for breakfast. A few more days in town and I would be able to find my way around. I picked up Peg. We had one more stop before calling it a day.

The bartender says, "You can't leave that lyin' around here.” The man says, “That's not a lion, it's a giraffe.”

After a little wine with lunch and a beer chaser, we called it a day. It was two in the afternoon. It gets late early in Edmonds . . . for us.

After we had left the salt marsh we had driven by a beer joint, Gallaghers' - Where You Brew. It wasn't a pub, we weren't sure what it was, but since it was only about a hundred yards from the hotel, we thought we should investigate.

Gallagher’s is a brewing establishment. There must have been forty people inside happily brewing their own concoctions and sipping others. The handle puller was happy to keep a tab for us and some names on the white board had more hashes by their name than a chief petty officer.

Peg and I shared a brew. It was good, but I wish I had chosen the one labeled "floor sweepings." Doesn't that sound like a beer you would want to try . . . perhaps after last call.

At Gallaghers' you can join their Mug Club and have your own beer mug. They adorn the wall and the window decor.

Later in the evening we ate our leftovers from the Chanterelle. As I opened the box and began nibbling, I asked Peg, "Do you want to . . ." "No," she said, "and stop eating my pastry." I finished off the meatloaf sandwich and Peg ate her pastry without offering me a bite. I offered her a bite of my sandwich, however. Then we finished off the pastry desserts. We were a little disappointed. Next time, we'll let the main dishes be dessert as well.

Sunday morning I was up early. I wanted to find a viewpoint higher than sea level. I had seen some condos on the south side of town that were built on a ridge overlooking the salt water marsh and the waterfront. Wow, am I glad I took the time. Afterwards I drove to the Rusty Pelican for breakfast.

As we sat a little mini-bar we read from a joke book, A Man Walks Into a Bar . . .. Several made me laugh: 1. A cowboy walks into a bar wearing an outfit made out of paper. After a few drinks he was arrested for rustling. 2.

A seal walks into the bar. The bartender says, "What'll you have?" The seal says, "Anything but Canadian Club." 3. A man walks into a bar with a giraffe. After a few drinks the giraffe passes out on the floor and the man starts to leave.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 29

Established in 2012, the Rusty Pelican has a lot going for it, but still has a long way to go. I was dismayed that they didn't have hash browns when I placed my order. They also didn't have onions in their fried potatoes. However, when my coffee arrived with a little pitcher of real cream, all was forgiven.

I never expect biscuits to be homemade no matter what the menu says, but the Rusty Pelican has homemade biscuits. This was good. The problem was with the gravy. It was beyond bland. There was a little sausage (very little), flour and very little else. Perhaps, the cook has something against onions. Maybe he should try leeks! I broke the biscuit in half. The gravy barely covered the half biscuit. I would have loved eating the other half without gravy, but it was served with no butter. I had to ask for butter and jam. By the time I had butter and jam, the biscuit was cold. I don't mind Peg's biscuits being served cold the next day, but in a restaurant, I shouldn't have had to ask. The bacon, however was cooked perfectly.

Peg and I drove home and unpacked. Two hours later I began cutting up one leek, some celery and disassembling a baked chicken for a dinner of "cockaleeky" soup. Peg made biscuits from scratch and we ate dinner looking up Puget Sound at Mount Baker . . . enjoying our soup and talking about our favorite memories of the trip to Edmonds.

DON AND PEGGY DOMAN are published authors, professional industrial video producers, and marketing experts.

They write stories of their adventures and travels in the Pacific Northwest with play reviews as well as food and restaurant reviews (http://nwadventures.us). In August 2012 they launched a website featuring articles about nutrition (http://.live2agewell.com), based on scientific studies from the Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute (http://lpi.oregonstate.edu) in Corvallis, Oregon. The site is sponsored by the Roman Meal Company (http://romanmeal.com), makers of Natural Whole Grain Goodness ®.

30 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

“FOREVER HOME” ON A BUDGET,

Starts with Common Sense

By AARON MURPHY

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 31

So if 89% of those polled by AARP favor “Aging-In-Place” as a first priority and preference, but we are still near the bottom of a long and slow recovery in the real estate market that in some areas depreciated homes upwards of 30% in value 4-5 years ago, what are the best ways we can still think about safely staying in our own homes longer as we get up in age?

Each year, thousands of older Americans fall at home. Many of them are seriously injured, and some are disabled. In 2002, more than 12,800 people over age 65 died and 1.6 million were treated in emergency departments because of falls. 1/3 of people over 65 years old fall each year. 1/2 of those falls are recurrent. 1 in 10 falls result in serious injury or death. 87% of elder fractures are due to falls. (More on fall statistics in the 65+ year old sector can be found here).

Falls are often due to hazards that are easy to overlook but easy to fix.

We all get busy with our own lives, and we go about our daily routine without ever taking a moment to look down from the 50,000 foot level. We are busy staring at the one tree in front of us in that “to do list priorities” forest that is today, tomorrow, and the next day after that. So let’s zoom out, back up, take a deep breath, and LOOK AROUND in our own home. But first, please put on your COMMON SENSE glasses on, the one’s with the tint of “Oh, well THAT’s OBVIOUS” in the lenses.

32 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

A LOW (OR NO) COST AND COMMON SENSE REVIEW OF YOUR HOME: 1) Furniture Layout: Is the path in your home un-necessarily circuitous to get through and around the pieces of furniture? Are there furniture legs and arms that stick out into the easiest route of travel through the home? Fix it. Make moving around in your home a clear, wide, and intuitive path.

2) Rugs: Loose rugs are one of the top culprits to elder falls. They love to decorate, and they love their small memory and collection items, we know that. But that little 24”x42” rug that she got on a trip to Maine in the 70’s that lays in front of the kitchen sink or just inside the entry door can be the end of living at home, if we aren’t careful and aware.

“Your favorite THROW, has GOT TO GO!”

3) Drop Zones: Ask my wife about where she finds things of mine when I’m on a deadline or otherwise “head down” and distracted. I leave a trail of “set downs”, shoes on the stairs, planner on the dining room table, keys and wallet on the window sill by the front door… you get the idea. We all do it, and so do our parents. The difference is that if they leave the pile of read sections of the newspaper on the 3rd step of the stairs for the next time they go down to the garage, it could be forgotten, and send them directly from the 3rd step to the bottom step.

That minor oversight could turn a trip to the recycling bin into a trip to the E.R. and surgery room. Pick up and put up your things so they aren’t in your walking spaces and routes of travel.

4) Stairs & Thresholds: Since we are talking “Better on a Budget”, I won’t go into it here about how much cheaper a stair chair or even an elevator in your home is vs. a slip/fall and cost of moving into assisted living or a nursing home for the months/years ahead (Just know that IT’S TRUE). Here I want to think maintenance and upkeep. Stairs with carpets are notorious for coming loose over time. The angle and speed the installers staple into the tread and riser corners (especially the back interior corner) lead to attachments that aren’t fully sunken in and secure. A loosening carpet can cause your next step to miss a stair tread, and you’d be at the bottom sooner than you intended. Wood stairs are slippery to many of the warm socks and slippers older folks like to wear for warmth and that can be a safety issue as well. Keep your stair carpet tightly affixed.

5) Floors & Moisture: Overly-smooth floor finishes (hardwoods, tile) and “wet rooms” are also regular culprits to serious injury falls in older Americans. This can be not just due to the occupant, but sometime also the caregiver that’s trying to help the older person with their

ADL’s (Activities of Daily Living). Keeping your floor areas clear, and applications to the floor surfaces that help create some “grit” for traction where floor areas get wet, are crucial to keep us safe in our home as we bathe and get ready in the bathroom and laundry areas.

6) Reaching & Stability: Are you using things in your upper kitchen cabinets that you need daily or weekly? MOVE THEM DOWN. There is a “cost” alternative, which is equipment to retrofit your upper cabinets to come out and down to the user, but you can find more on that in our winter newsletter). Getting someone to help you re-organize your kitchen based on what you use most, so you aren’t reaching above your head or using a step stool as often, can go a long way to a longer and safer life at home.

Aaron Murphy, CAPS is a licensed architect with over 15 years of experience and has worked on both commercial and residential projects. He is a part of many associations and civic groups in Kitsap County, WA. He speaks widely on the subjects of “Aging in Place” and “Empowering the Mature Market.”

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 33

AUBREY’S KITCHEN AUBREY MORTENSEN Growing up my family was always interested in health and nutrition. I grew up with my mom making recipes using honey instead of sugar and applesauce instead of oils for her baking. When my mom was diagnosed with a brain tumor this last winter, my family began researching what we needed to do to stop the growth of the tumor.

Of course there are surgeries and treatments she is going through, but we wondered if there was anything else we could do. One of the things we looked to first was the food she was eating and if that played a role in her cancer. It turns out what you put in your body, play’s a huge role in your overall health and well- being. After doing a large amount of research, my family found what foods my mom should stay away from, and what foods will help her. She needs to stay away from any type of grain and sugar. At first, it was hard to come up with meals to make my mom, she would have the same meals over and over and I could tell she was getting bored of having salads every day for lunch and salmon for dinner every night.

She didn’t like eating something different at the dinner table while the rest of my family was scarfing down tacos or some other meal she couldn’t have. That’s when I decided to take the time to do some more research.

I know there are plenty of people out there trying to stay away from gluten and sugar as well, and that is when I came across the Cauliflower Crust Pizza. It sounds weird, and you would think, “How on earth can you make pizza out of cauliflower?”

I tried a recipe I found online, and it was 34 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Cauliflower Crust Pizza “It tastes better than any pizza I’ve ever had, plus I don’t feel sluggish or greasy after eating it.”

NO GLUTEN NO SUGAR

extra LOW CARB

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 35

Step 1

Step 2

Step 4

Step 3

Step 5

36 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

pretty good, I could tell my mom enjoyed being able to eat pizza with the rest of the family.

The next time I made the recipe I added a few more spices and tweaked it just a bit to make it even better. This time my family told me it was the best pizza they had ever had, they would take it over regular pizza any day! There are so many ways to enjoy this pizza and toppings are aplenty. If you want to get creative, you can make your own homemade green or white sauce.

Being healthy doesn’t have to be costly, and despite what many people think, it can be a lot of fun too. Eating healthy can give you the ability to enjoy life more fully. When you cook, you

are in control. Not only do you get to choose what you eat, but you get to choose the type of nutrients that go into your body. The Cauliflower Crust Pizza is just one example of many healthy foods that look good and taste great.

Pick a day each week to purchase fresh produce from your local grocer or farmers market. Experiment with new recipes and put your own twist on them to accommodate your needs. One important lesson I learned is that when mom is happy, the family is happy. With providing her with a larger variety of healthy meals that I can cook for my whole family, the home has been a more pleasant place.

HappyCooking!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust:

Yield: One medium crust pizza, approximately 6-8 servings.

Ingredients:

4 cups raw cauliflower rice 1 egg, beaten 1/3 cup soft goat cheese 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano flakes 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder pinch of salt pinch of crushed red pepper (Have some fun and add any other spices to satisfy your taste buds!)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400F

Step 1: Begin by making your cauliflower “rice.”

Simply pulse batches of raw cauliflower florets in a food processor, until a rice-like texture is achieved.

Step 2: Cook & Strain the rice.

Fill a large pot with about an inch of water, and bring it to a boil. Add the “rice” and cover; let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. Drain into a fine-mesh strainer.

Step 3: Make & Shape the dough.

In a large bowl, mix up your strained “rice”, beaten egg, goat cheese, and spices.

Don’t be afraid to use your hands! You want it very well mixed.

It won’t be like any pizza dough you’ve ever worked with, but don’t worry– it’ll hold together!

Press the dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. (It’s important that it’s lined with parchment paper!)

Keep the dough about 1/3” thick, and make the edges a little higher for a “crust” effect, if you like.

Step 4: Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400F.

The crust should be firm, and golden brown when finished.

Step 5: Load on the Toppings!

Now’s the time to add all your favorites– sauce, cheese, and any other toppings you like. Return the pizza to the 400F oven, and bake an additional 5-10 minutes, just until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

Then slice and serve immediately!

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 37

Savory Cookies and Cookies for Grown-Ups A BAKING ADVENTURE

I was a latch-key kid as a youngster in elementary school. A neighbor lady kept an eye out for me. I played with her children, but basically I was by myself. Left to my own devices I tend to do exactly what I want to do . . . then and now. I made myself bacon sandwiches, even after the great, secret grease fire incident. (My mom didn’t miss the kitchen curtains until I told her years after Peg and I got married.)I also bear the scar of an early butcher knife episode. I could usually figure things out or at least clean up well after any missteps. Usually, there were successes; however, oatmeal cookies eluded me.

In first grade I tried repeatedly to make oatmeal cookies. Each batch turned out runny. Even though I followed the recipe I ended in disaster. It wasn't until my grandmother visited from Missouri that I realized that the butter was not supposed to be melted. My mind is almost always racing on ahead. But, it was a revelation to understand that in baking and life there are just little things you should know that make all the difference in the world.

Top Chef is one of my favorite cable television shows.

A few weeks ago I was flipping channels and came across The Chew, which features a trio of cooking celebrities and other "hosts." One of the chefs is Carla Hall, 38 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

By DON & PEG DOMAN

who lost out in the Top Chef competition because she gave into another chef's suggestion instead of following her own instincts and cooking style. I did a search on Google for Carla and found a mention that she liked savory cookies. The term intrigued me.

My mind raced ahead and I knew exactly what savory cookies were. I remembered from the book Fellowship

of the Ring the elves made a nutritious food. The biscuits were called "lembas" and would sustain people on long journeys. My mind also jumped to the book/movie True Grit, where Marshal Rooster Cogburn took a bagful of "corn dodgers" on his pursuit of a killer. As part of their rations, Roman legionnaires were issued biscuits in addition to bags of grain. The biscuits could be eaten during a march without preparation. Cookies usually have a sweet connotation, but I have an open mind.

My mind and the internet brought me full circle. Peg and I are currently writing articles on nutrition for the website we created: Live2AgeWell. We rely on studies by the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. Roman Meal Bread helps fund the good works at LPI. We look for ways to improve diets by giving people interesting articles that contain scientific information in everyday easy-to-understand language.

A Google search for “savory cookies” brought me to Kelly Cooper’s website and her book, Cookies for GrownUps. I fell in love. I made the purchase. Kelly’s book is a treat. (Buy it from her website and it will cost you a couple of dollars more, but she will autograph it for you - great gift idea). “Cookies for Grown-ups” are savory and sweet recipes in a cookbook created to intrigue and satisfy the adult palette. Over 90 recipes with fun and unique flavor combinations, as well as drink pairings, encourage great conversations with friends and family.”

Every recipe starts a culinary journey. My mind

races with each turn of a page. The cookies vary and some are sweet and some are savory, but most of them read as just plain yummy. She pairs each cookie with an accompanying liquid: wine, beer, tea, coffee, or cola. I want to try all the recipes, but thought I would start with a single step. I chose the Cha-cha.

The Cha-cha contains dried cherries, chocolate chips, cocoa and chipotle. Peg assured me that we had everything we needed except for the cherries and chipotle powder.

She went to lunch and the UW book store in downtown Tacoma with our daughter, Andi, while I went shopping to start baking. I had to inspect each row of spices at Safeway until I found the more unusual offerings, which contained McCormick's Chipotle Chile Pepper.

I returned home and was ready to start. An hour earlier I had taken two sticks of butter out of the refrigerator to soften. I soon realized why I don't bake more. You have to follow instructions. In cooking you're constantly tasting; not so much in baking. I should have taken the butter out a few hours earlier. I should have also bought a tin of unsweetened cocoa. Peg said we had some, and we probEncore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 39

sticks of butter out of the refrigerator to soften. I soon realized why I don't bake more. You have to follow instructions. In cooking you're constantly tasting; not so much in baking. I should have taken the butter out a few hours earlier. I should have also bought a tin of unsweetened cocoa. Peg said we had some, and we probably do, but I couldn’t find any.

In the recipe I saw that vodka could be substituted for water. I chose Disaronno instead. I may have had a sip or two in the creation of the cookies. I made a couple of other changes as well, which Kelly suggests.

I used dark chocolate for the chips since they are more nutritious, and for the same reason I chose to use three cups of a Roman Meal cooking/baking mix (Original with Oats) that contained oats, rye and flax. You should always read all of the information in a recipe.

As I prepared the baking sheets I noted how much batter I had and then saw that I had made enough for six dozen cookies. One batch was enough for me. Time is always an issue.

Peg and Andi returned just before the cookies came out of the oven. We all sat down at the kitchen table as the cookies cooled. The girls had a nice visit and both had purchased the same children's book, for the illustrations. I'm not sure if it was for them individually or for future events.

I brought the cookies over to the table. Peg began choking and blamed the chipotle. She refused any more. Andi, watching Peg’s efforts to breathe decided not to chance a taste. I munched on several. I thought 40 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

they suffered from too much sugar (the sweetened cocoa being the offender), but they didn’t seem to be that spicy. There was a little tingle in the back of my throat, but overall they worked for me.

Seeing that time was fleeting, Peg and I ushered Andi out the door, bagged up some cookies, and headed off to see Hitchcock at The Grand Cinema, our favorite movie theater in Tacoma. We had picked up Peg’s sister Pat on the way and met with our friends, Donn, Debbie, and Jan for the late afternoon showing.

The movie was excellent and will probably see us buy tickets a second time. Afterwards, we went looking for dinner. The third stop brought us to La Fondita in the Proctor District of Tacoma’s North End. They had room at the inn.

We ordered dinner and as we waited I passed out cookies to three of our friends and the owner of the restaurant. After dinner both Peg and her sister had one. Pat, who doesn’t like spicy food nibbled at first and then ate the cookie while suffering no ill-effects.

After that Peg ate one. No choking. I had to listen to advice about mixing all of the ingredients well. I kept repeating, “I whisked all the dry ingredients . . . well.”

There are none so bland as those who will not see . . . or listen.

We discussed the cookies. Everyone loved the combination and the taste. Nobody thought they were too spicy. Someone remarked, “Twenty-one year olds would love these.” I agree. A second batch will include the continued use of Disaronno as well as some sliced almonds. I’ll also use un-sweetened cocoa. I thought

the exchange of old fashioned oats for the Roman Meal package worked extremely well.

Sunday morning I had three or four cookies for first breakfast. (Check the hobbits habits in J R R Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. I paired them with black tea.

The cookies were excellent and dunked well besides. I recommend Kelly’s book. The price is right.

The photographs make me drool and her descriptions have us planning more savory cookie trials.

DON AND PEGGY DOMAN are published authors, professional industrial video producers, and marketing experts.

They write stories of their adventures and travels in the Pacific Northwest with play reviews as well as food and restaurant reviews (http://nwadventures.us). In August 2012 they launched a website featuring articles about nutrition (http:// live2agewell.com), based on scientific studies from the Oregon State University’s Linus Pauling Institute (lpi.oregonstate. edu) in Corvallis, Oregon. The site is sponsored by the Roman Meal Company (http://romanmeal.com), makers of Natural Whole Grain Goodness ®.

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned to Encore Living Radio where we’ll have Kelly Cooper on our show on July the 23rd! Tuesdays at 9:00 AM (PST) on http://blogtalkradio.com/encoreliving.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 41

Change Your Beliefs About Uncertainty And Difficult Times With The 5 Lessons Of The Lotus Metaphor

by STEPHANIE OWENS

42 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Very often it’s not what happening to us that causes pain, resistance, grief or fear.

These growing pains of life emerge from what we believe about the situation and meaning we assign to it. As Wayne Dyer says: “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

One way to change how you’re looking at things is to take examples from nature. For example, the lotus offers great tools and lessons to change your beliefs about how to look at life when dealing with obstacles and challenges.

The lotus is a beautiful flower that grows wild in swamps and marshlands. Its vibrant color stands as a striking contrast of elegant beauty against its unpleasant surroundings. This, along with many other properties, makes the lotus a great metaphor for how not only survive but thrive in less than desirable conditions. There are 5 lessons we can learn from this lovely flower.

1. Turn Obstacles Into Springboards

The lotus lives in swamps amongst the muck, slime and decomposition. Rather than be bogged down by the sludge, it feeds on it, using it for its own benefit. In fact it uses the foul goo around it to grow and nourish itself. In this way the lotus teaches us to reframe the yucky experiences that show up. When it feels like the world is lobbing slime in your direction, look for ways to use the smelly experiences that threaten to stink up your life as fertilizer to create a more abundant, beautiful crop of blessings in the future. Find the lesson and use it for your benefit instead of getting bogged down in the mess.

2. Every New Day’s A New Day

The lotus comes up with the sun and rests at night…making every day a fresh start. Remember you can always begin again in the morning. What difference would it make if you chose to see each day as a new start?

3. Rise Above It

The lotus rises above the slimy surface to bloom and bring beauty to an otherwise ugly place. By growing just inches above the water it manages to go untouched by the gunk around it. Consider the difference those couple inches make…rather than be contaminated, the lotus is able to avoid contact with yucky elements. It doesn’t take that much more effort and energy to go just an inch or two more…to rise a little bit above the fray. Its stalk grows from deep under the swamp and rises above the water, unscathed and untarnished. Stretch just a couple inches more to detangle and disengage from the stuff that bogs you down.

4. Let It Roll Off Your Back

Finally, the lotus is impervious to the unpleasantness of its surroundings. In fact, it excretes an oily substance that coats its surface. This coating makes rain and dirt bead up and roll right off. This trait of the lotus offers another lesson…don’t sweat the small stuff. It can be tempting to get snared in pettiness, judgment or criticism. Instead of soaking up the dirt and debris other people (or your inner critic) pour on you, let it bead up and roll right off.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 43

5. Plant The Seeds Of Your Legacy

Finally, at the end of its life cycle, the lotus drops seeds into the swamp, creating the genesis of a new crop of beautiful flowers. The lotus leaves its legacy and passes along its resilient ways to the next generation. Look for ways you can pass your beauty and wisdom along. Pay it forward.

Take the lessons of the lotus to benefit not only yourself but to share with other people you meet along the journey.

Let the lessons of the Lotus carry you through the difficulties of life.

44 | Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

STEPHANIE OWENS is a

coach, speaker and trainer. She teaches her clients how to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be to create a life they fall in love with. She coaches purpose-driven, high-performance people to achieve not only success but deep personal satisfaction. A small business owner for over a decade, Stephanie blends her experience in the business world with a Masters in Counseling.

Whether coaching privately with clients or speaking to groups, Stephanie teaches participants how to stop fear from sabotaging success and unlock their full potential.

Stephanie is a recurring guest host on the radio show Chat With Women. and author of a book entitled Be A No Pro: How to Say No, Set Better Boundaries and Reclaim Your Joy. Stephanie lives a peaceful happy life with her husband and two wonderful children.

ADVERTISEMENT Did you know every 3 seconds someone is a victim of Identity theft?

If you shop on-line. If you have a driver’s license. If you have a credit card. If you have a medical record. If you have a social security number. If you have a heart beat… you can fall prey to identity thieves.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. The use of our personal information, on-line and through the mail service is making it easier for criminals to take our information and use it.

Imagine being pulled over for a routine traffic ticket, only to find out you have warrants out for your arrest – because someone using your driver’s license information did criminal activity. What would you do?

Imagine going to the doctor for routine physical, only to find out that someone has been using your profile to receive treatment for ailments you do not have… they can change your blood type, medicines you are allergic to and more; which could result in complications or even death. What would you do?

Imagine receiving your credit card statement with charges you did not make on merchandise you never received. What would you do?

The identity theft protection service offered through LegalShield can help gain you peace of mind, because Kroll will monitor every aspect of identity theft and alert you to any problems. They monitor all three credit bureaus, have web-watcher to monitor all on-line activity and more to have you protected around the clock even when you don’t know there is a problem – they are there to protect and watch your back. If a situation does arise, they are there on the front line restoring the situation back to pre-fraud status.

Imagine your life with total peace of mind.

~ Sara Cerda

Saracerda.legalshieldassociate.com ~ 253-278-1111

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 45

The Importance of Buying LOCAL

by CAROLYN OSBORNE

I grew up with the importance of supporting local. It is something that has definitely come to the forefront these days. Whether it is the local corner grocer, gift shop, hair salon, etc., those are people of your community. They are what make your community unique from any other.

You are literally investing in your own community when you buy locally, keeping tax dollars around you for the good. It helps local people keep their local jobs and keeps the local businesses flourishing. And if you think about it, the more success a local business has, the more likely they are to give back to their local community! You are also creating a smaller environmental footprint when you support your local businesses.

Encourage local prosperity and promote the uniqueness of your community by the simple act of buying locally. I bet you will find better service from local businesses than from the “big guys”. As a local business, we care about our community.

46 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Carolyn Osborne

Creative Forces Gifts & Sundries ~Home of 28 Local Artists located in Hotel Murano 253.227.8871 www.creativeforcesgallery.com

Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 47

IT’S ALWAYS TIME TO BE HAPPY!

by DARVI MACK

Whether or not you are happy is your choice.

I know it doesn’t feel that way when we are bombarded with so much tragedy in our personal lives and in the world day in and day out. One of the ways I find helpful in continuing to choose to be happy regardless of the circumstances all around me is to keep life in the proper perspective.

I gain that perspective from the book of wisdom that says to everything there is a season, and a time 48 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

for every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) It’s all there the good, the bad and the ugly.

You see when the difficult times in life roll in I remember this is how life is, these seasons come and go like the tides. I am no longer surprised when the challenges show up or craziness shows up in the world; they are simply part of life. I remember I have the power to choose how I will face each season. I have the power to choose how I will “be” in this world. I choose to be happy, how about you?

You see, happiness is something that we all want.

Whatever we do, we do so because we believe we will feel better as a result of having or doing it. Our happiness is a state of mind that comes from within, regardless of the circumstances we are experiencing. It is only when we are happy, can we spread happiness to others. Being happy is our real nature. Apostle Paul said it like this “rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) Paul wrote that directive while he was in prison!

So anything other than being happy means we are not completely within our true self. When we feel joy, we are in harmony with the Creator and the universe designed to support us and we open the gates to unlimited abundance.

Every day of our lives should be nothing short of

cheer. Not the ones we often see at drunken parties, but something that goes deeper, a merry making that comes from within. Merry making that is felt within and radiates outwardly. So why not make it your choice - have it as a life intention to “be happy” every day, to rejoice always to find something in each day to feel happy. In support of your choice to make merry, here are some daily actions that immediately lead to feeling good. These are 6 simple actions that when you do them regularly, will have a profoundly positive impact in your life. Do them for 10 days and check your happy meter. Here goes:

1. Give someone you care about a tight hug at least 3 times

a day. Displays of affection and touch raises your vibration.

2.

Make a point to smile and greet at least 5 people, including strangers.

3. Consciously be aware of any negative emotion (an-

ger, hatred, worry, despair, tension, stress, etc.) that rises within you. And as soon as they appear, make an effort to immediately stop them. Think and say “I’m happy” or “rejoice me”.

4. Sincerely compliment at least 5 people today.

5. Sincerely pray for the success and good health of 3 people.

6. Count your blessings- those good things all around

you like the oxygen you are breathing in, water, stop lights…

I would love to hear from you how it’s working. Feel free to drop me an email and let me know your results.

Here’s to choosing to be happy!

Want to explore one on one private or group coaching support with Darvi? Send an email to info@darvimack. com or call us at 253-946-1757

DARVI MACK, Speaker, Success Achievement

Mentor, Breakthrough Coach, Minister, and Author earned MA, BS, Certified NLP, Dream Coach, Spiritual Coach and Trainer takes your inspiration and turns it into practical results so you achieve success and make the positive impact you were uniquely designed to make.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 49

Your Personal WELLNESS ROI

by JENNIFER BECK

ROI, or Return On Investment is a term that is thrown around quite a bit in the business world, but you may not think about the role it is playing in your health. There is one and it can be life changing!

Let’s look at a few scenarios. But first I want to paint a picture for you. Why? Because maybe you, like so many other Americans, have bought into the statement, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Thus we wait until we have a symptom to do anything in relation to taking care of our health. Unfortunately, by then it is too late in some cases. The first sign of cardiovascular

50 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

disease in over 30% of all cases is a fatal heart attack.

Think about it.

There are people that live into their 80’s 90’s and longer with ZERO major health issues, yet 2 out of 3 Americans have heart disease, cancer or diabetes. There are in fact 35% of us are walking around with some type of undiagnosed disease.

Think about this from a child’s perspective (young or old). They are going through life as a toddler, getting to middle school, junior high, high school or even adulthood (this is more and more rare today

due to our lifestyle, but let’s imagine). Then, one day they get a call out of the blue and the person on the other line is telling them that you have had a heart attack. You are stable, but are in the hospital. They need to perform surgery to keep your heart working. You come out of surgery, but have a greatly diminished energy level and cannot do many of the things that you were able to before. You can’t toss the football with them or walk the mall with them.

Think about the impact on your life, but more importantly on theirs. It may not be a heart attack for you; maybe it is cancer or some other life altering disease.

So here are a few things you can do today that can provide a HUGE return on investment for you and your family:

1. Drink more water. It sounds so simple and trivial

yet it is crucial! Water is the key to health.

Water flushes out the toxins that build up in our systems which eventually cause cancer if not removed.

It lubricates our joints so you can play and enjoy life, pain free. Water helps to keep you clear headed so you can make better decisions and be present.

Focus on drinking ½ of your body weight in ounces of water minimum on a daily basis.

2. Eat whole foods in balance. Eliminate junk food.

Your body requires proper nutrients as building blocks for a healthy body. Eating whole foods in balance, allows you to maintain your blood sugar, increase your energy, and your ideal weight much, much easier.

3. Move your body. Get active doing something!

Go for a walk. Pull out the Wii Fit, golf, tennis or bowling game. Turn on the radio and dance like a fool. Laugh yourself silly! Go to a driving range and hit a few balls. Enjoy gardening.

You do not have to go to the gym to get exercise or movement into your day. Simply find ways to move your body.

It is important to incorporate some weight bearing exercise throughout your week so you create strong bones.

4. Relax. Feeling overwhelmed, worrying constantly,

walk, listening to music or playing a game together.

What could you do to unwind, yet still engage with your loved ones? I promise those few minutes, whether it is 5 or 55, will be cherished times for them… especially if you make it about spending time with them.

You must make choices, big and small, on a daily basis about so many things in life. Do not let your health be one that you ignore. There is more at stake than you will ever imagine until you are faced with losing it. We always say, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone.” Right? It is so true in our health!!

So I will leave you with one final thought…

If you ignore your health, IT WILL GO AWAY!! Take some sort of action to protect your health TODAY, for you and your family! Be well!

JENNIFER BECK is a Registered Nutrition Consultant, corporate health coach, speaker, and author. She is passionate about helping individuals optimize their health, shed unwanted pounds, and live a long life of vibrant great health, medication free! She helps individuals break through the confusion around “eating healthy”, discover and eat for their personal Metabolic Design and supports individuals in crafting a plan to incorporate healthy eating into a busy lifestyle allowing them to create a true sustainable lifestyle change.

She is the owner of Advanced Wellness Coaching and offers wonderful tools, resources and practical advice to create Simple Wellness for Life! Don’t forget to grab your Free gift...10 Simple Things You Can Do to Maximize Your Health Now!

or working too much turns you into a walking stress ball. It shortens your patience and temper. Unfortunately, it is taken out on those closest to you, typically your spouse and kids. Spend time taking a Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 51

Hi, I’m a Fraud Victim, but I’m Not Going to Tell You. I’ve been working with older adults for a couple years now, specifically focusing on those that have been fraud victims or are likely to become fraud victims. Many are truly vulnerable adults due to dementia or physical limitations. But, often victims are far from vulnerable. They may be highly educated, some are doctors or dentists. Others have built a successful, highly-profitable business. These are just the sorts of people you think would never be victimized, which is why they often go unnoticed. Reasons behind the anonymity are somewhat complex and I’m not a psychologist, but I’ll do my best to explain and maybe, just maybe, help us be more aware of these unnoticed victims.

As you read this, put yourself in the victim’s shoes and consider how you would feel if you were victimized. Think about how you would act and what you would do. Now that you’re thinking like a victim…

You’ve done well in life. You have a successful business, a successful career, heck, you have a doctoral degree. Now, you find yourself falling for a scam. It could be a relative in distress (grandparent) scheme. It could be a lottery or sweepstakes. It could be purchasing something for hundreds of times what it is worth.

Maybe, someone sold you a phony investment. For this article, the scam does not really matter. The fact is you are a victim of fraud. You’ve been taken. How can this be? You’re smart. You’d never fall for such a thing, yet you essentially just handed money over to a criminal. They didn’t point a gun at you. They just lied to you and you believed them. Sure, they had a good story. Yes, there really is a Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes. It did sound like your grandson on the phone. But, how could you, someone so smart and a pillar of the community, fall for something like this. You just sent some criminal thousands of dollars.

In hindsight, you think to yourself, “How could I have been so blind. I should have known.” You are embarrassed and certainly don’t want to yell from the rooftops, “I’m a fraud victim!” And guess what? You’re not going to yell. You’re not even going to whisper. If you can help it, no one will ever know – not your children, not your friends, no one. Pride is a difficult thing to swallow.

Interestingly enough, others feel the same way you do. They don’t know about what you did, but they

would never consider you as a potential victim. You’re much too smart for such a thing. They are looking at you based on what they know and what they see.

Unfortunately, these two things contribute to why these victims do not report or even talk about the frauds.

On one-hand, you have a victim who is too proud and too embarrassed to talk about what happened to them.

After all, what would people think? On the other hand, friends and family don’t think you could ever be a victim. The end result is you, the victim, internalizes what occurred and goes on with life hoping that no one ever finds out your secret. This is a stress no one needs and certainly is not a healthy burden to bear.

This same stress is what will cause you to act a little differently. You likely will not have the drastic change that someone with dementia may suffer from, such as not showering, not cleaning your home, or hoarding. However, you may have an increase in appetite Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 53

or, conversely, a decrease in appetite. You may gain or lose weight as a result. You may withdraw from social outings you typically would have attended. You may not make eye contact like you used to or call your kids or grandkids. You may make the call, but not really talk about anything. Different people will handle the stress in different ways. The point here is that you, the victim, may not overtly say that you are a victim, but you will unconscientiously “tell” someone that something is wrong, even if it is subtle.

The key now is for others to recognize these subtle changes in behavior and discuss it with you in a compassionate, tactful manner.

It is not our position to judge and think, “How could you have fallen for that?” or “Why did you keep falling for it?” Our position and objective is to help the victim, even if it is simply to lend an ear and allow them to get it off their chest. Remember, as a friend or relative, you did not take the call. You do not know the position the victim was in or how good of a “salesperson” the scammer was. Think about the last time you made a purchase and paid too much or even bought something you know you didn’t need. It’s the same thing. It happens and it happens to everyone – no matter what age, no matter how smart or successful, or well-educated.

If you are a fraud victim and would like assistance or have questions about fraud, fraud victims, and/or victim assistance, the following are some resources: AARP – Fraud Fighter Call Center Phone: 1-800-646-2283

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Phone: 1-877-382-4357 Website: www.ftc.gov

Adult Protective Service (APS) Phone: 1-866-ENDHARM (1-866-363-4276)

WA State Attorney General’s Office Phone: 1-800-551-4636 Website: www.atg.wa.gov

Note: None of the above agencies in any way endorse Mr. Geertz or BG & Company LLC. These are provided for informational purposes only.

STEVE GEERTZ, CPA, CFE BG & Company LLC www.bgco-llc.com

54 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Care-Giving Hurts—and It Heals

by KRISTINE M SMITH

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 55

CARE-GIVING, my definition: the stressful,

exhausting, anxiety-provoking, delightful and rewarding act of serving someone who depends on you.

Care-giving is the scariest thing. Untrained, unprepared, my first exposure to the art and science of “being there” for another human being came when my fabulous, funny, magnificent mother was diagnosed with the same kind of brain tumor that took Senator Edward Kennedy’s life.

Although I wasn’t Mom’s primary caregiver during most of the two years she lived following her diagnosis—that responsibility fell to my sister Jackie, since she lived in the same state—I flew in on many weekends and every week-long vacation to give Jackie breaks and to be with Mom as much as I could before the disease took her.

When Jackie’s Family Leave time ran out, I took an unpaid leave of absence from Warner Bros. for the last few weeks of Mom’s life to serve as her round-the-clock caregiver at Jackie’s home. Visiting Hospice workers kept telling me I was doing a fantastic job keeping her spirits up, keeping her safe and comfortable as her balance deteriorated, getting her to and from the bathroom and bedroom. The delight in Mom’s eyes whenever I was there made it worth the stress, sadness and fear. Instinct kicked in. Love trumped fear and trepidation.

Eight months after Mom passed away my mentor, actor DeForest Kelley, called with equally-devastating news: he was in a hospital and wondered if I could stop by, get his car and house keys, and watch over things until he could return home.

It soon became apparent to all concerned that De’s wish to return home under his own steam would never happen. He was terminally ill with cancer and very weak. Carolyn—his beloved wife of 54 years—was confined to another hospital with a broken leg. The Kelleys had no children or nearby relatives who could pinch hit and their closest friends were in their late 70’s and early 80’s.

So this time the care-giving was all mine for the last three months of De’s life and the following six months of Carolyn’s. But by the time this happened, I had some actual experience as a caregiver and the reverberating remembrance (offered by Mom’s wonderful Hospice workers and later by the nurses in the Kelley’s hospitals) that I was “a natural.” Hearing that helped—a lot!

56| Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

De was soon moved to the same hospital his wife occupied.

They were in separate rooms in different hallways but close enough to visit each other often. The three months I spent helping De and keeping both Kelleys as uplifted and positive as I could with my naturally nutty way of doing things (I’m a comic at heart) is a memory that lingers and often makes me smile. As hard as care-giving is on the heart, mind and nerves, when it’s over and has been done with every fiber of your being, there is nothing else like it in the world. I can’t imagine a more gratifying career or calling. Care-giving is a gift of the heart, mind and spirit.

It takes its toll—but its rewards resonate forever after.

De wasn’t able to return home except for occasional one to two-hour visits. In the hospital, he remained the same sweet, funny guy I’d known for decades, but there were times when he wanted to talk about what was happening to him as a steadily-declining patient. None of his visitors, he said, would talk with him about dying; they

ABOVE: De and Kris with their new car TOP OF PAGE, RIGHT: De and Kris at Shambala

all wanted to talk about anything else—just not that!

I understood De’s need to talking about it and others’ needs to avoid talking about it. (His visitors didn’t want to fall apart in front of him! They could do that later— and they would.) When he and I did speak of it, he said (more than once) that it was hard to believe: “When I hear the words ‘terminally ill’, I just can’t believe they’re talkin’ about me!”

I would nod and say, “I know. So forget they’re talkin’ about you and keep on living!” Then I’d joke (in Dr. McCoy’s own Encounter at Farpoint vernacular) “I don’t see no expiration date on you, boy!”

The nurses cautioned me about giving De false hope but I told them, “There’s nothing false about hope; it’s how people cope. De’s affairs are squared away, so there’s no reason to focus on the fact that he’s going to die.”

We spent our time (until De became too weak) chatting, joking, laughing, talking about life, his career, my career … agonizing over how Carolyn would feel when he was gone … then crying. His emotions were on the surface: he was living as he had never lived before. Each passing day was precious because he knew there would be so few of them.

The last six years of De’s life, his poetry was raw, sad, and introspective. Up until then, his poetry was usually funny with just brief moments of poignancy, as anyone who has ever heard him read The Big Bird’s Dream, The Dream Goes On, The Dream Goes On and On and On! at Star Trek conventions will attest.

Here are a couple of De’s later poems. I think all seniors can relate. I certainly can…

UNTITLED For so many years It all went my way Knowing there would always Be another day.

Then all of a sudden I was seventy three So I took another look at me.

Where was the young man I used to be?

So full of hope and c’est la vie?

How did those years Just slip right by?

How could that happen?

Where was I? UNTITLED The sun is bright The air is clear Just when you feel Your time is near.

The days go by so terribly fast I feel each one will be my last.

Is this the way The older we grow?

Who can say?

How do we know?

LEFT : De and Kris CU

by Bill Dow

Maybe that’s the way With we who wait— We see the beauty Much too late.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 57

Caring for a Terminally Ill Loved One—What I Learned • Let your loved ones express themselves fully.

Listen. Respond as you feel the need… but sometimes there will be nothing you can say: the lump in your throat will be too large. Be there to hold their hand, nod, keep them as comfortable as possible, and truly invest in them.

• It’s okay to cry with them. What’s happening to your loved one is real. Don’t pretend it isn’t happening. Follow their lead • It’s okay to laugh with them! Really, it is. Gallows humor will happen, too. Roll with it!

• Take notes (every day). Your loved one will be talking about things you may never hear again.

What they convey is often riveting.

KRISTINE M SMITH is the author of seven books, one of which (DeForest Kelley Up Close and Personal: A Harvest of Memories, an enhanced version of her 2001 edition of DeForest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories) details decades of her experiences with STAR TREK’s Dr. McCoy, her mentor and chief cheerleader for thirty-plus years. UP CLOSE is scheduled to debut in June, 2013 (Futureword Publishing).

58 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Is Long Term Care Insurance Right For Me?

by KATHERYN EVANS

Why Long-Term Care

With nursing home costs skyrocketing and the likelihood of 6 or 7 out of every 10 people over the age of 65 today, eventually needing extended care, there is a need to address the issue of long-term care.

Long-term care insurance protects our assets and helps us not to be a burden on our family members when we can no longer care for ourselves. Everything we’ve planned for in retirement could be at risk if, down the road, we need long-term care.

Long-term care insurance provides protection if an individual becomes disabled or can no longer care for themselves. Many individuals who purchase long-

term care insurance want to maintain their independence as they age. The coverage a long-term care policy provides allows the insured to have more options on the type(s) of care they receive when they no longer are able to completely care for themselves. Long-term care does not automatically mean nursing home care.

Long-term care is defined as a range of medical and/or social services designed to help people who have disabilities or chronic care needs. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, services may be short or longterm and may be provided in a person’s home, in Encore Life Š | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 59

the community, or in residential facilities such as nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Residential care is obviously the most expensive option.

Long-term care insurance protects savings against the high cost of care at a nursing home or assistedliving facility, or help from a home health worker, etc.

Recently, the results of two annual surveys were released regarding the cost of long-term care: “The 2012 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Adult Day Services, and Home Care Costs - November 2012” Genworth Financial’s “2012 Cost of Long Term Care Across the Nation.”

The MetLife Market survey was published by the Mature Market Institute (MMI), MetLife’s research organization. The study shows that: • The national average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home is $248, while a semi-private room is $222 up from $239 and $214 respectively in 2011. Annually, this comes to $90,520 and $81,030 respectively.

• The national average monthly rate in an assisted living community rose from $3,477 in 2011 to $3,650 in 2012. Annually this is $43,800.

• The national average daily rate for adult day services remained unchanged from 2011 at $70 in 2012.

Annually this is $25,550.

• The national average hourly rates for home health aides ($21) remained unchanged, while the homemaker hourly rate increased by 5.3% from $19 in 2011 to $20 in 2012. It’s difficult to figure the annual cost because each situation is so different in the number of hours required each day.

The median stay in a long-term care facility is 463 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and 56 percent of new claims under long-term care policies are for home care according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance. These statistics contribute to the fact, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, more than 54 percent of middleincome adults and 44 percent of high-income adults are at risk for a lower standard of living in retirement.

Without a policy, you’ll pay out of pocket until you’ve nearly exhausted your assets and can qualify for Medicaid. So, if you have assets you want to protect for a spouse or heirs, the insurance may make good sense.

60 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

It is a general misconception that Medicare covers long-term care.

If the care needed can be classified as “skilled,” coverage under Medicare, Tricare and a Medicare Supplement; then only the first 100 days will be covered (20 days of full coverage, 80 days with a co-pay.)—nothing for custodial or intermediate care which is what the majority of the residents need. Also, a person has to meet the conditions to be eligible for Medicare; either by virtue of age or as a result of disability. Also, with original Medicare as their primary insured they must have a three night stay in the hospital before admission to a nursing home for benefits to be paid.

Medicaid will pay the bill for those who are qualified, basically meaning those who have no assets and only a limited income. However, Medicaid planning involves spending down your assets until you have about $2000 left. Recently many states have ratified the partnership bill which actually allows one to qualify for Medicaid, if necessary, while protecting all or a portion of the assets.

This underlines the necessity of planning properly for the senior years.

Planning for the senior years needs to begin while still employed and preferably, long before reaching middle age. The four major considerations for your planning are your retirement, health insurance, final expense/estate planning and long-term care planning.

Only about 8 percent of retired seniors own longterm care insurance. However, a huge segment of the population stands to lose billions of dollars in remaining retirement assets, not to mention impact on family, when extended care becomes necessary. People continue to put off the purchase of long-term care insurance, however, partly because the average person doesn’t expect to actually need it or if they do end up needing it, they will be ‘old.’ They think they can wait until they are a little older, a little closer to the possibility of needing care. Such thinking is a mistake.

The statistics show that 25% of the people who need extended care are under the age of 50, often in their 20’s and 30’s. They may be victims of accidents or tragic illnesses that leave them debilitated for life.

Then, if a person waits until they think they may need it, health issues may keep them from qualifying, thus ensuring that the burden of their care will be put on

Then, if a person waits until they think they may need it, health issues may keep them from qualifying, thus ensuring that the burden of their care will be put on their family.

The fact is that more than half (some data indicates about 70%) of today’s 65 year olds will at some point need either home care, assisted living care, or nursing home care. This might have something to do with the fact that some long-term care policies are tax qualified, which means that they can be deducted from income for tax reporting. This makes the cost of premiums a bit lower. For information regarding the tax ramifications please consult your CPA. If you told a room full of 1000 people that half of them were destined to lose their homes in a fire within the next 20 years, nearly everyone in the room would go home, pull out their home owners’ policies and take a second look at exactly what would be covered.

The likelihood of needing long-term care insurance is much greater than the likelihood of fire, but the average middle class retiree---the person who needs it the most¬¬¬ continues to put off the purchase. If you are one of these, the health, finances and emotional wellbeing of your family along with the security of your own estate are all at risk.

If you are a middle or upper middle class retiree with property, retirement assets and a desire for choice and dignity in your senior years it might be wise to consider a long-term care insurance policy in your senior planning. It is important to consider, though, that the underwriting is often tougher than even that for life insurance; approximately 35% of those who apply are declined. Relatively healthy people shouldn’t delay purchasing the insurance until their health declines, because if they do, their premiums will be higher and they might not be able to buy long-term care insurance at all. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to put your own assets at risk; assets that might be needed by your spouse or that you want to leave to your heirs.

What is Long-Term Care Long-term care policies are structured to pay for the care and assistance you need in your daily life as you get older. You are eligible for the benefits of a long-

term care policy when you qualify under the ‘Benefit Triggers,’ which are generally; unable to perform two or three out of six Activities of Daily Living (or ADL’s) or are cognitively impaired. These ADL’s are usually bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting and transferring.

The language and/or benefits of long-term care policies are not standardized from one company to another so it’s important to discuss your individual situation with an agent.

The following will help you understand the different components of a long-term care policy and will help you prioritize your needs and formulate your questions.

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs): Activities identified by CMS as the criteria for initiating use of your policy. These are eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, continence, and transferring (getting from your bed to wheel chair and back). Note, the ability to walk independently is not an ADL. Bed reservation guarantee: If you are in a nursing home and suddenly need to go to a hospital, or if you are able to take a trip with family, you will not lose your bed.

Benefit multiplier: A term that varies from company to company, it refers simply to the number of years– calculated as days–that your policy will last.

Cognitive Impairment: The onset of a disease such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc. Cognitive diseases allow you to activate your policy regardless of your physical health.

Custodial Care: Care provided in a nursing home or assisted living facility that involves room, board, food, and assistance with the ADLs. Medicare does not pay for custodial care, but nearly 75% of the patients in the nursing home need only this type of care.

Daily benefit: The maximum amount of money that can be spent on your care per day.

Elimination period: A period of time during which you must pay the bill before your policy kicks in.

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 61

FEATURES AND SPECIAL CLAUSES Ask about the following: Guaranteed renewability: Your policy cannot be cancelled so long as you pay the premium.

Home care: Good policies will offer you the option of using your policy at home or in an assisted living facility.

Home modification: If the doctor prescribes home care, the company will pay for modification of your home–such as ramps, rails, etc.,–up to a percentage of your maximum yearly or monthly benefit. The language and terms vary. (Contact Joyce at Encore Living Interiors for help with this. 253-221-3592!)

Inflation rider: A rider that increases the value of your policy each, including daily amount and total pot of money. Your policy value could increase 3, 4, or 5 percent compounded or could have a flat 5% increase, depending on the company. This allows the cost of care to keep up with inflation without an increase in premium later. It does add significantly to the initial premium.

Intermediate Care: Care in a nursing home, assisted living facility or physical therapy unit that involves a combination of custodial care and some skilled or therapeutic services. A person who is admitted temporarily for physical therapy–for example, following a broken hip–would be receiving intermediate care.

Medically Necessary: A criteria used for non-tax qualified policies. Instead of having to certify that you are unable to perform the ADLs, the doctor can simply say that the care is “medically necessary.”

Premium: Your monthly payment.

Respite care: A feature that provides for your care so a family caregiver can take a vacation.

Restoration of benefit: Allows you to use your policy more than once. For example, if you broke a hip and needed care for 6 months or so, you could use your policy. When you get well and no longer needed care, your benefit would be restored as if you had never used it.

62 | Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com

Return of Premium Rider: A rider that returns your money if you never use the benefit. If you die without using the benefit, the money is returned to a beneficiary. Be aware, however, that you usually get the money back over a period of years, the same way it is paid in.

Neither you nor your beneficiary will get a large lump sum.

Rider: An attachment to the original policy giving you additional benefits and increasing your premium.

Shared Benefit Rider: A rider that gives you a third pot of money from which either you or your spouse can draw if your initial benefit is exhausted. The shared benefit rider is not restored if you are able to stop using the care.

Spouse Survivor Rider: Arguably one of the most valued of all available riders, this rider gives the spouse a complete waiver of premium whenever the first spouse dies, subject to having owned the policy for a specified period of time.

Stand-by Help: Contrary to common belief, you do not have to be completely helpless in order to activate a LTC policy. You simply have to be impaired so that you need someone within arms’ length to assist you.

Tax-qualified vs Non-Tax Qualified: A tax qualified policy is one that allows you to deduct the premium from your taxable income, providing you have medical expenses in excess of 7 ½ percent of your gross, or are self-employed. A tax qualified policy can also be a deduction for an employer who pays the premium for his employees. To activate a tax qualified policy, you must be unable to perform any two of the ADLs without hands-on or stand-by help, or must be cognitively impaired such that you would be a danger to yourself if left alone.

Waiver of premium: When you have to go on care your premium is waived.

Companies compete at least partially on the basis of price. Riders increase your premium, but you will most likely want certain ones. Don't settle for a lower price without knowing whether a more expensive policy has

Katheryn is President of Strategic Sound Solu-

simply included some of these riders. Ask about such things as shared benefits, spouse survivorship rider, return of premium, and guaranteed non-forfeiture as well as inflation riders.

tions, Inc. She has 20 years experience in the in-

To recap, if you would like to:

Management for a Fortune 500 insurance com-

• Avoid being a burden to your family • Conserve assets for spouse and/or heirs • Be able to get into the nursing home of you choice • Be cared for at home as long as possible • Avoid Medicaid • Have peace of mind

pany; responsible for training field staff and man-

then it would be wise to contact an agent and investigate the option of obtaining a long¬-term care policy.

providing assistance to patients as well as staff with

surance and financial industry and has served in

agers on a national level. Those she trained were in the top 1% in the nation. Katheryn has served in clinics and doctor’s offices as a Medicare and Senior Advocate with the utmost professionalism;

their senior insurance questions. This experience and the over 6,000 clients she has served have given her ample experience and knowledge to work together with clients to determine the most appropriate solutions to meet their needs.

Keep in mind that it does not cost clients anything to utilize a broker’s services; brokers are compensated by the insurance company. It costs the clients the same amount whether they call a company directly or have a broker go through the options that are available. It could cost money if one does not utilize the service of a qualified, knowledgeable broker; if you chose the wrong plan.

You are invited to contact Katheryn with any

By Katheryn Evans

questions. She can be reached by email at Kevans@StrategicSoundSolutions.com or by calling 253.861.2959 or 206.229.3999

Encore Life © | Summer 2013 | encorelifemag.com | 63

Don’t Miss Our Next Issue— Fall 2013 !

In The Next Issue…

• Cozy Suppers • Should I Start My Own Business?

• Nutrition For Adults Only • And Much More!

Get Your Free Subscription Today! Go to Http://encorelifemag.com for more info!