A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
December 2012 VOL. 37 • NO. 12
ENOA 4223 Center Street Omaha, NE 68105-2431
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
New Horizons ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Union
family Theresa Union is the mother of three daughters. These days, she’s raising her niece’s three pre-school aged children. Leo Adam Biga tells Union’s story and educates readers about the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Grandparent Resource Center. The story begins on page 10.
ON B O ARD
POET
Jim Warren of Gretna represents Sarpy County on the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s governing board. Warren’s profile is the third in a five-part series called ENOA board meeting. See page 3.
Poems about her first car and her years as a math and science teacher were the winning entries as Shana Emge took first place honors in an intergenerational poetry contest sponsored by UNO. See page 18.
ENOA menu for December 2012
See the ad on page 3
New Horizons Club membership roll rises
Monday, Dec. 3 BBQ Rib Patty on a Bun Tuesday, Dec. 4 Teriyaki Meatballs
$25 Betty Woolery Judd Wagner
Wednesday, Dec. 5 Turkey Fritter Thursday, Dec. 6 Roast Beef
$20 Pat Loontjer Eylene Whittier
Friday, Dec. 7 Oven Fried Chicken Breast Monday, Dec. 10 Savory Beef Casserole
$10 Elizabeth Lovette Alan Goodman
Tuesday, Dec. 11 Sausage w/Sauerkraut Wednesday, Dec. 12 BBQ Chicken Breast
$5 Diana Puls Paul Araujo Barbara O’Connor Reflects donations received through November 23, 2012.
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Tuesday, Dec. 18 Beef Spaghetti Sauce Over Penne Pasta Wednesday, Dec. 19 Roast Beef Thursday, Dec. 20 Mozzarella Chicken Friday, Dec. 21 Beef Stew Monday, Dec. 24 Breaded Chicken Patty Tuesday, Dec. 25 CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS Wednesday, Dec. 26 Meatloaf
Thursday, Dec. 13 Herbed Pork Loin
Thursday, Dec. 27 Turkey Breast w/Gravy
Friday, Dec. 14 Creole Steak
Friday, Dec. 28 Ham & White Beans
Monday, Dec. 17 Glazed Ham
Monday, Dec. 31 Crunch Pollock
December 2012
Warren: leadership, staff are ENOA’s strengths
S
arpy County Commissioner Jim Warren was attracted to public service by a simple belief: “If you live in a community, you serve the community.” Warren, a 59-year-old Gretna resident has served on the Sarpy County and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s boards since 2011. Born in Omaha, Warren attended Gretna High School, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Toccoa Falls College in Georgia where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Theology with a minor in Pastoral Ministries. Jim and Patti Warren have been married for 34 years. They have three children, Jamie Crowe (age 32), Josiah Warren (age 30), and Sarah Warren (age 19).
Warren was the owner of Warren, Inc. a real estate and insurance company he sold six years ago. Jim retains his real estate broker’s license. He entered public service in 1990, holding office for two years on the Gretna City Council before becoming Gretna’s mayor from 1992 through 2004.
can’t always be done.”
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he ENOA governing board’s role is to listen to the staff, make public policy decisions, and approve the agency’s annual budget, according to Warren. “My role as a member of that board is to listen, learn,
ENOA board meeting The ability to be involved in the formation of public policy is the most rewarding aspect of public service, Jim said. “Pleasing people,” is the most challenging part of his job, Warren continued. “It
and make decisions to the best of my ability.” While ENOA is doing an effective job of serving older adults in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington counties, he said the agency will face a variety of challenges in the future including budget constraints and a rapidly expanding older population. Jim said strong leadership and a caring staff of employees are ENOA’s greatest strengths.
“My role as a member of that board is to listen, learn, and make decisions to the best of my ability.”
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Sarpy County Commissioner Jim Warren.
hen not serving on the Sarpy County or ENOA boards, Warren is involved with the Gretna Chamber of Commerce, the Gretna Volunteer Fire Department, and the Journey Church of Gretna. He also does volunteer work in Haiti.
Attorneys at Law William E. Seidler Jr.
www.seidler-seidler-law.com 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 525 Omaha, NE 68114-5705
402-397-3801
Delivering quality legal services since 1957.
December 2012
Make a donation to help support the
“Voice for Older Nebraskans!”
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Membership includes a subscription to the New Horizons newspaper. New Horizons Club Send Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging 4223 Center Street to: Omaha, NE 68105-2431 I get the New Horizons regularly and don’t need to be put on the mailing list. I would like to start receiving the New Horizons at home. My address is below. NAME ADDRESS CITY/STATE/ZIP
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New Horizons New Horizons is the official publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. The paper is distributed free to people over age 60 in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Washington, and Cass counties. Those living outside the 5-county region may subscribe for $5 annually. Address all correspondence to: Jeff Reinhardt, Editor, 4223 Center Street, Omaha, NE 68105-2431. Phone 402-444-6654. FAX 402-444-3076. E-mail: jeff.reinhardt@nebraska.gov Advertisements appearing in New Horizons do not imply endorsement of the advertiser by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging. However, complaints about advertisers will be reviewed and, if warranted, their advertising discontinued. Display and insert advertising rates available on request. Open rates are commissionable, with discounts for extended runs. Circulation is 20,000 through direct mail and freehand distribution.
Editor..............................................Jeff Reinhardt Ad Mgr................Mitch Laudenback, 402-444-4148 Contributing Writers......Nick Schinker, Leo Biga, Barc Wade, & Lois Friedman Fremont Delivery.........................Dick Longstein ENOA Board of Governors: Mary Ann Borgeson, Douglas County, chairperson; Ron Nolte, Cass County, vice-chairperson; Bob Missel, Dodge County, secretary; Jim Warren, Sarpy County, & Jerry Kruse, Washington County. The New Horizons and the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging provide services without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, disability, or age.
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AARP Nebraska honors Ann Van Hoff
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maha resident Ann Van Hoff has been selected by AARP to receive Nebraska’s 2012 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service, the association’s most prestigious and visible volunteer award. Van Hoff was selected for her service and impact on the lives of others and on her community. A retired nurse, Van Hoff has been a leader and advocate in Omaha’s Benson area for more than 20 years. She nurtures friendships in the community, taking people to physician appointments; visiting them in their homes, hospitals, and nursing homes; and promoting their health to prevent hospital readmissions. Van Hoff is a past secretary for the Northwest Omaha Weed and Seed Steering Committee, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department.
A
nn became involved with AARP as Assistant State Director for Health Advocacy, teaching people about Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. She served as an AARP representative on CIMRO, the regional quality improvement organization for the Centers
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Ann Van Hoff of Omaha has been selected to receive Nebraska’s 2012 AARP Andrus Award for Community Service. for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Van Hoff serves as president of the AARP Florence Area Chapter #2269 and is an advocacy volunteer with AARP Nebraska. “This award acts as a symbol to the public that we can all work together for
positive social change,” said Bob Eppler, state president of AARP Nebraska. “AARP has long valued the spirit of volunteerism and the important contributions volunteers make to their communities, neighbors, and the programs they serve.”
Give yourself the gift of better hearing and you’ve given better communications to everyone!
With Lifeline by Immanuel, you can enjoy an independent lifestyle in your own home — knowing that you can call for help if you ever need it. One push of your Lifeline button connects you to someone with access to your medical history, someone who can evaluate your situation and immediately send help. To learn more about the security and peace of mind provided by Lifeline, call (402) 829-3277 or toll-free at (800) 676-9449. Free activation for Christmas. Expires soon.
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(402) 571-1207
December 2012
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December 2012 events calendar 1 Happy Holidays & A Visit from Santa Also Dec. 2 Lauritzen Gardens Normal admission plus $3 per child for Santa 402-346-4002 Holiday in the Village Rockbrook Village 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. FREE 402-390-0890 The Durham Museum’s Holiday Concert Series Through Dec. 16 $5, $6, and $8 402-444-5071 The Santa Experience Through Dec. 23 Omaha Children’s Museum 402-342-6164 2 Christmas at Boys Town Through Jan. 12 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. FREE 402-498-1141 Christmas at Boys Town Tree Lighting 7:45 p.m. FREE 402-498-1141 Christmas in Germany German-American Society 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. FREE 402-333-6615 4 The Madrigal Christmasse Feaste Through Dec. 7 Regency Marriott Ballroom 7 p.m. $49 (groups of 10) and $52 402-556-1400 5 Creighton’s Classical Christmas St. John’s Church (CU campus) 7:30 p.m. Free with food donation to the Sienna Francis House 402-280-2509 7 Aspen Santé Fe Ballet The Nutcracker Through Dec. 9 Orpheum Theater Friday @ 8 p.m. Saturday @ 2 & 8 p.m. Sunday @ 2 p.m. $25 to $59 402-345-0606 Christmas at the Cathedral Also Dec. 9 St. Cecelia’s Cathedral Friday @ 8 p.m. Sunday @ 2 p.m. $18 & $30 402-398-1766 College of St. Mary Christmas Concert Featuring New York Polyphony CSM’s Our Lady of Mercy Chapel 7:30 p.m. $5 & $10 402-399-2622
7 Holiday Lights Festival Through Dec. 31 ConAgra Foods Ice Rink 1 to 5 p.m. $5 includes skate rental 402-345-5401 8 Nollaig Shona Guit Irish Christmas at Boys Town Through Dec. 16 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. FREE 402-498-1141 13 Omaha Symphony: Christmas with the Symphony Through Dec. 16 Holland Performing Arts Center $16 to $78 402-342-3560 The Reasons Tour A Family Christmas Experience Bellevue Christian Center 7 p.m. $10 14 Disney’s Beauty & the Beast Through Dec. 16 Orpheum Theater Friday @ 8 p.m. Saturday @ 2 & 8 p.m. Sunday @ 1:30 & 7 p.m. $30 to $75 402-345-0606 20 Supper with Santa at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Through Dec. 23 6 to 8 p.m. $15 Registration is required 402-738-2092 The Canadian Tenors Holland Performing Arts Center 7:30 p.m. $18 to $65 402-345-0606
Corrigan Senior Center
You’re invited
to visit the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. this month for: • Thursday, Dec. 6: St. Nicholas lunch featuring Fifty Years of Classics by the singing Offuttaires @ 11:15 a.m. Stay for lunch (BBQ rib patty or deli choice) and bingo. Treats and appetizers are welcome. • Monday, Dec. 10: Birthday party. Music by Physha of the Merrymakers at 2 p.m. Enjoy a noon lunch (savory beef casserole) and bingo before the musical performance. • Wednesday, Dec. 12: 12-12-12 party and a Frank Sinatra birthday celebration. Guests are asked to bring a dozen treats (cookies, cake, candy, etc.) to share at a snack buffet. They’re also encouraged to wear 12 clothing items. Enjoy door prizes, games, and a noon lunch (BBQ chicken breast or deli choice). • Thursday, Dec. 13: Pork loin lunch and an 11 a.m. presentation by Carole Lainof of Interim Healthcare on staying healthy during the holidays. • Wednesday, Dec. 19: Christmas games @ 10 a.m. Wear your holiday clothing. Roast beef lunch or deli choice @ noon. • Thursday, Dec. 20: Holiday party featuring a roast beef dinner and bingo. The menu will feature roast beef w/gravy, baked potato, California blend vegetables, a tossed salad, a wheat roll, and chocolate cream pie. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Bingo will include a $100 jackpot. The reservation deadline is 11 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 14. The Corrigan Senior Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $3 donation is normally suggested for the meal. Reservations are normally due by noon the business day prior to the meal you wish to enjoy. We offer chair volleyball, card games, bingo, ceramics, exercise, woodcarving, and loads of fun! For meal reservations or more information, please call Lynnette at 402-731-7210.
23 Mannheim Steamroller Orpheum Theater 7 p.m. $37 to $77 402-345-0202 26 Ticket to Toyland Through Dec. 30 The Rose Theater $18 402-345-4849 27 Penguins and Pancakes at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo Through Dec. 29 8:30 to 10 a.m. $12 & $15 402-738-2038 31 Holiday Lights Festival Fireworks Gene Leahy Mall 7 p.m. FREE 402-345-5401 New Year’s Eve at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Regular zoo admission 402-733-8401
December 2012
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Smoke, carbon monixide detector installation The Omaha Fire Department’s Public Education and Affairs Department is available to install free smoke and/ or carbon monoxide detectors inside the residences of area homeowners. To have a free smoke and/or carbon monoxide detector installed inside your home, send your name, address, and telephone number to: Omaha Fire Department Smoke/Carbon Monoxide Requests 10245 Weisman Dr. Omaha, NE 68134 For more information, please call 402-444-3560.
Nails 2Go
Mobile Nail Care & Home Health Care Services Licensed Nail Tech/AVON-Rep For more information
Call Cindy at 402-850-1649 pcrupp6@gmail.com • www.youravon.com/cindyrupp
Fontenelle Tours Omaha/Council Bluffs: 712-366-9596
Quoted prices are per person, double occupancy. For more information about our tours, please call Ward or Kathy Kinney at Fontenelle Tours at the numbers listed above.
2013 Discover Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria. September 11 – 20, 2013. Fly with us – Ward and Kathy – round- trip from Eppley Airfield to the beautiful countryside of Switzerland, Austria, and Bavaria with four-night stays in two cities: Bern, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria. With our Collette Vacations tour guide, we’ll explore the city of Bern, travel the shores of Lake Geneva to the medieval Chateau de Chillon, enjoy a panoramic train ride through the Swiss Alps to an Alpine ski resort, and visit Lucerne, the “Swiss Paradise on the Lake.” In Salzburg, see the Mirabell Gardens (from the “Sound of Music”) and Mozart’s birthplace, visit Oberammergau, see a Tyrolean folklore show, and dine in a 1200-year-old restaurant owned by Monks. (Early booking saves $250 per person.)
2012 Motorcoach Kansas City Christmas. December 4 - 5. $289. Enjoy a special holiday luncheon at the Webster House, the American Heartland Theater’s performance of “Nuncrackers, The Nunsense Christmas Musical,” New Theater Restaurant buffet luncheon and “The Game’s Afoot” performance starring Marion Ross from “Happy Days,” lodging at the Drury, and more holiday surprises!
In Partnership with Collette Vacations (Let us help you find a Collette Vacation to your special destination when YOU want to go. Collette offers trips to numerous destinations both within the United States and throughout the world. Each trip is offered on many different dates throughout the year. Call us for further information.) Alpine Christmas. December 4 - 11. Explore the Christmas markets of Austria and southern Bavaria. Stay in the Austrian Alps in same hotel for the entire trip! Tour Innsbruck, visit Munich, Oberammergau, Salzburg, and much more.
Laughlin Laughlin in December (by air). December 8-12. $280. Includes non-stop, round-trip airfare to Laughlin, Nevada, four nights lodging at the Riverside Resort and Casino on the banks of the Colorado River, and shuttle transportation to and from the airport. Laughlin in February (by air). February 17 - 21. $300. Includes non-stop, round-trip airfare to Laughlin, Nevada, four nights lodging at the Riverside Resort and Casino on the banks of the Colorado River, and shuttle transportation to and from the airport. Register early…these winter trips fill up fast! Watch New Horizons and our website www.fontenelletours.com for our 2013 trip schedule. Our new address is: 2008 W. Broadway #329 Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501
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Eating smart during the holidays By Carol McNulty Extension educator
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t’s easy to munch on delicious holiday treats throughout the day, but those little bites can add up quickly caloriewise. Alice Henneman, extension educator, shows us how the calories can add up from one day’s tastes: • Taste of a broken cookie from cookie sheet, 30 calories. • Small piece of peanut brittle, 80 calories. • A half cup of eggnog, 200 calories. • Cracker with spread, 40 calories. • One chocolate-covered cherry, 60 calories. Those tastes equal 410 calories. These are just approximations and can vary depending on the brand, recipe, and serving size. Eating 100 calories more than necessary each day can result in gaining 10 pounds in one year. This doesn’t mean going without the holiday goodies; it means being conscious about eating decisions. Henneman offers some ways to eat more mindfully and still enjoy some holiday goodies. • Include or bring some lower calorie foods for holiday gatherings. This will help balance out higher calorie choices. • Avoid hanging out near the snack table. It’s harder to resist grabbing more servings when the food is in reach. • Include daily physical activity to help keep excess holiday pounds off. If there’s not enough time to go to the gym or take a walk, complete a couple of turns around the mall before starting to shop. If something is needed from a store nearby, put on a backpack and walk for it whenever possible. • Try just a small portion and eat slowly. Some foods don’t taste that great when time is given to truly taste them.
• Take less food when it’s served. Even though people might think they want more food, they may find that’s not the case. Have a second helping if it is. • Limit the amount of foods to indulge in. Try just one cookie. Self-serve a reasonable amount of dip and chips, or vegetable dippers, on a plate to know how much is being eaten.
Eating 100 calories more than necessary each day can result in gaining 10 pounds in one year. Make sure to still get all recommended daily nutrients during the holidays: • Six ounces of grains (at least half should be whole grains). • Two to three cups of vegetables. • One to two cups of fruits. • Three cups of dairy. • Four to six of meats or beans. • Four to six teaspoons of oils are allowed. For more information on food safety and nutrition visit http://douglas-sarpy.unl.edu, http://lancaster.unl.edu and www.nutritionknowhow.org .
Fabric, tape needed for dressmaking program Participants in the Millard Senior Center’s program that make dresses for little girls in Africa are accepting donations of one yard or more pieces of cotton fabric and donations of double wide bias tape in any color. The center is located at 2304 S. 135th Ave. For more information, please call Susan at 402-546-1270.
Tips to help lower your heating costs
W
eather experts are warning consumers everywhere to brace for a colder winter than last year. That means you’ll be paying more to heat your house this winter – and even more if you haven’t sealed it up and/or taken other energy efficiency measures. If you think energy efficiency steps aren’t that big a deal, the founder of Angie’s List says you should think again. “The average heating and cooling system accounts for about 54 percent of the average home’s total energy costs,” says Angie Hicks. “Even small things can add up to big heating bill savings. Many of them are jobs you can do yourself.” Angie’s List, a national resource for consumer reviews on local service experts, including HVAC companies, went to highly rated heating experts to
December 2012
compile six ways to save on your heating bill: • All systems go? Check your furnace filters each month and replace them if necessary. A clean filter distributes heat better and cuts your energy costs. Plus, it’s an inexpensive and easy task you can do yourself. An annual furnace checkup from a reputable heating system expert will help detect and fix small problems before they result in a system failure. • Block and tackle: Is your couch or a bookcase blocking a baseboard radiator? Take a look to be sure you have good airflow around registers and radiators to increase energy efficiency. • Drafting is good for auto racing; not so much for homes: As much as 20 percent of the air moving through the average home’s duct system is lost to leaks and poor connections. Sealing up leaks with caulk,
spray foam, and/or weather stripping will stop that. Check doors and windows too and caulk, seal, and weather-strip any drafts. • Solar power: The sun offers free energy you can tap into even without solar panels. Keep your blinds up and the curtains open on a sunny winter day to absorb heat. Close them up at night to keep the heat inside. • Through the roof: Heat rises, which means if you don’t have enough insulation on the ceiling and in the attic, your heat is literally going through the roof. If you can see the floor joists in your attic, you probably don’t have enough insulation. Be sure to get the right R-value for your area. • Programmed to save: Use a programmable thermostat to easily adjust the temperature while you’re away or sleeping and save up to 30 percent on your bill, according to Energy Star.
Are extreme weather events caused by climate change?
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xtreme weather doesn’t prove the existence of global warming, but climate change is likely to exaggerate it by messing with ocean currents, providing extra heat to forming tornadoes, bolstering heat waves, lengthening droughts, and causing more precipitation and flooding. A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration, and timing of extreme weather and climate events, and can result in unprecedented extreme weather and climate events, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an independent group of leading climate scientists convened by the United Nations to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the state of knowledge in climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts. While most scientists don’t dispute the link between global warming and extreme weather, the once skeptical public is now starting to come around, especially following 2011 when floods, droughts, heat waves, and tornadoes took a heavy toll on the U.S. According to a poll conducted by researchers at Yale University’s Project on Climate Change Communication, four out of five Americans reported personally experiencing one or more types of extreme weather or a natural disaster in 2011, while more than a third were personally harmed either a great deal or a moderate amount by one or more of these events. A large majority of Americans believe global warming made several high profile extreme weather events worse, including record high summer temperatures nationwide, droughts in Texas and Oklahoma, catastrophic Mississippi River flooding, Hurricane Irene, and an unusually warm winter. he IPCC wants world leaders to err on the side of caution in preparing their citizens for extreme weather events that will likely become more frequent. Earlier this year they released a report entitled Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation to help policymakers do just that. The report is considered a must read in coastal, arid, and other especially vulnerable areas. As for the U.S. government, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tracks weather and storms, while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deals with the impacts of extreme weather and other disasters. But critics would like to see Congress and the White House do more to increase Americans’ preparedness. The U.S. [in 2011] experienced a record 14 weatherrelated disasters each in excess of a billion dollars, and many more disasters of lesser magnitudes, reports the non-profit Climate Science Watch. Yet the U.S. has no national climate change preparedness strategy; and federal efforts to address the rising risks have been undermined through budget cuts and other means. CSW and others are calling for the creation of a new cabinet-level agency called the National Climate Service to oversee both climate change mitigation as well as preparedness for increasingly extreme weather events. EarthTalk® is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine (www.emagazine.com.)
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S e l l Yo u r H o u s e “As Is,” At a Fair Price, On the Date of Your Choice !!!! • • • • •
We use private funds so we can close fast. You don’t have to do any repairs. Move when you want. Leave any or all of your stuff. No Commissions or Fees. We pay Closing Costs.
Retired fed employees meet at Omaha eatery The National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Chapter 144 meets the first Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S. Plz. For more information, please call 402-333-6460. The National Association of Retired Federal Employees’ Aksarben Chapter 1370 meets the second Wednesday of each month at 11:30 a.m. at the Amazing Pizza Machine, 13955 S. Plz. For more information, please call 402-392-0624.
211 network
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he 211 telephone network has been established in parts of Nebraska to give consumers a single source for information about community and human ser-
vices. By dialing 211, consumers can access information about: • Human needs resources like food banks, shelters, rent and utility assistance, etc. • Physical and mental health resources. • Employment support. • Support for older Americans and persons with a disability. • Support for children and families. • Volunteer opportunities and donations. The 211 network is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The information is also available online at (www. ne211.org).
Program on hospice scheduled for Dec. 4 You’re invited to attend a program titled Hospice-An Unused Service for Seniors on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at the New Cassel Retirement Center, 900 N. 90th St. The 3:30 p.m. program is designed to explain hospice and its importance to older adults and their families. The guest presenter will be Kate Pepin, Ph.D., MSN, RN, from Odyssey Hospice. Pre-registration is requested for this free program. To register, please send an RSVP to feelhaver@tconl.com.
ife Is What You Make It... L Make It Great, Be Joyful at Saint Joseph Tower! • Quality living at an affordable price
• Outstanding activities program
• Licensed nurse staff and certified staff on duty 24 hours a day
• Locally owned & operated
Creating awareness of screening benefits for diabetes available under Medicare. The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s National Senior Corps Association programs have joined forces with Novo Nordisk and the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions to help educate older Nebraskans about the 2012 Medicare Diabetes Screening Project. Men and women age 65 and older will be encouraged to use free preventive diabetes screening benefits offered through Medicare.
For more information, please call ENOA at 402-444-6536 ext. 224 or 246.
Call Today for a Free Report: (402)-291-5005 or www.7DaysCash.com The Sierra Group LLC / We are a Professional Home Buying Company
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December 2012
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Tips to help older adults avoid loneliness during the holidays By Jen Vogt Midwest Geriatrics, Inc.
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lmost everyone associates the holidays with happy times. After all, we “celebrate” holidays, wish people “good cheer,” and attach words like “merry” and “happy” to our greetings. It’s easy to assume this special time of the year brings out happiness in everyone. The reality is that it’s often lonely and isolating to feel such pressure during this holiday season, especially for older adults. Older men and women can have an especially hard time dealing with loneliness and depression during the holidays. While some may celebrate with families and look back on fond memories, others are faced with some of the inevitable losses that come with aging. Spouses or friends may have become ill or passed away. Physical health may not be what it once was. Neighborhood structures may have changed, or the older adults may be making a home in a new community. These losses can isolate the feelings of loneliness or depression, especially during the holidays. These simple tips can help enhance the holiday season for someone who is facing their feelings of discouragement. • Make sure the individual is an important part of your holiday celebrations with the entire family. Though you may be busy or stressed, try not show these feelings with your body language, don’t convey to your loved one that they are a burden, or that you are only including them out of duty. • Help your loved one write holiday greeting cards. This allows them to connect with family and friends, even if they aren’t able to
physically see them during the holidays. • Listen and try to understand when they want to talk, even if the talk is negative. It’s helpful for them to express their feelings, especially when they are mourning some of the losses mentioned above. • Bring traditional baked goods to their home to share with friends, neighbors, or other individuals living in their care community. Share a special memory that you
Let the good times roll. Enjoy all the upcoming festivities with inspiration from these cookbooks for entertaining a few friends or when you’re hosting a big bash. Cheers!
are reminded of when you eat that particular treat. • Help them decorate their home with meaningful decorations. Embrace simplicity at this busy time of year and focus on displaying pieces that hold special significance or will evoke happy memories. • Connect with community members to arrange visits during the holidays. These could be members of their spiritual community,
The combination of happy memories, continuing meaningful holiday traditions, and mourning painful losses can help your loved one combat their feelings of loneliness and depression during the holidays. Though this time of year can be filled with events, appointments, and lists of things to buy, the time you carve out to spend with your older loved one is the most precious gift you can give.
Writer can help tell your Inside Stories Longtime New Horizons contributing writer Leo Adam Biga is launching Inside Stories, a service that delivers professional biographies and histories. Hire Biga to tell your story, your parents’ or your family’s story, or to chart the history of your company, church, club, or organization. Samples of his work can be found at leoadambiga. wordpress.com. With your assistance, Biga can prepare a one-of-akind, high-quality narrative that can be a treasured gift, keepsake, and archive material that can be updated as needed. For more information, please contact Biga at 402-4454666 or leo32158@cox.net.
Irene Kohout, LMT 14704 Corby St. • Omaha, NE 68116
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Read it & eat ‘Tis the season to try these recipes
Take care of yourself first so you can take care of others. Take time and focus on your mind and body with relaxing or therapeutic massages.
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The Fontenelle Nature Association’s SUN (Seniors Understanding Nature) program has an activity for older adults the second Tuesday of each month at the Fontenelle Nature Center, 1111 Bellevue Blvd. North. The programs, held from 9:45 to 11 a.m., feature an indoor program, an optional nature walk, and refreshments. The cost is $5 per person each month. For more information, please call Catherine Kuper at 402-731-3140, ext. 1019. Here’s the program for this month. December 11 Decorate the Hall with Boughs of Greenery! Jan Heiner from Beyond the Vine will conduct this annual workshop where we use berries, seeds, greenery, and other natural materials to build a beautiful holiday centerpiece for your home. There is an additional $4 fee to pay for supplies.
By Lois Friedman readitandeat@yahoo.com
Soothing Touch Massage 402-881-7815
friends, and volunteers. Socialization can go a long way to lift spirits during the holidays. • Spend time with them. This may be the most important thing you do during the holiday season. You could look through photo albums, listen to music, and reminisce. Leave photo albums and journals nearby so they can walk down memory lane by themselves if they would like.
Seniors Understanding Nature
Gift certificates available
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CORRECTION There was an error in the November 2012 New Horizons’ story about the Dec. 11 Holiday Lights Tour being sponsored by Touching Hearts at Home and Bloomfield Forum. The correct phone number to call for more information is 402-934-3303. We apologize for the error.
December 2012
The American Cocktail From the Editors of Imbibe Magazine (Chronicle, $19.95) Fifty coast to coast recipes for your favorite cocktails from bartenders in five areas of the country. Celebrate the world in a glass. Check out the magazine and its website. Naked Wine By Alice Feiring (Da Capo, $24) Select natural wine without any of the 200 additive ingredients. Join this wine/travel columnist and the people and wines she meets along the way. They make the wine world a better place. A good read. 750 Best Appetizers By J. Finlayson & J. Wagman (Robert Rose, $24.95) Sticks & Picks, Wraps, Dips Shooters (shot glass portions of soups), Bar Noshes, and more. Let the party begin with 16 chapters of appetizer choices! Wine Bites By Barbara Scott-Goodman (Chronicle, $24.95) Seventy-five impressive, yet simple appetizers from A to Z. Tasty morsels to go with wine at a festive gathering. The Tipsy Vegan By Kohn Schlimm (Da Capo, $17) Seventy-five down the hatch recipes for vegan sippers and nibbles to guzzle with beer, wine, and cocktails from Plastered Starters to Lush’s Lunch to Drunken Desserts. Try this Spanish tapa. Sherry Bomb! Platas Bravas (Fierce potatoes) Yield two to four servings 12 small potatoes, unpeeled 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons dry sherry 1 pinch smoked paprika 1 clove garlic, pressed 1 teaspoon chile powder Salt Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for about 20 minutes, until tender but not falling apart. Drain and let cool, then peel and slice or dice. Transfer to a plate or tray. In a medium bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and serve hot.
Covenant Presbyterian’s cantata set for Dec. 8,9
ENOA volunteer opportunities
The congregation at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 15002 Blondo St., is presenting its annual Chancel Choir Christmas cantata three times during December.
The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Foster Grandparent Program, Senior Companion Program, Ombudsman Advocate Program, and Senior Medicare Patrol Program are recruiting older adults to become volunteers. Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions must be age 55 or older, meet income guidelines, have a government issued identification card or a driver’s license, able to volunteer at least 15 hours a week, and must complete several background and reference checks. Foster Grandparents and Senior Companions receive a $2.65 an hour stipend, transportation and meal reimbursement, paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave, and supplemental accident insurance. Foster Grandparents work with children who have special needs while Senior Companions work to keep older adults living independently. Ombudsman advocates work to ensure residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities enjoy the best possible quality of life. Ombudsman advocates, who must be age 18 or older, are enrolled through an application and screening process. These volunteers, who are not compensated monetarily for their time, must serve at least two hours a week. The Senior Medicare Patrol program helps Medicaid beneficiaries avoid, detect, and prevent health care fraud. These volunteers, who are enrolled through an application and screening process, are not compensated monetarily for their time, For more information, please call 402-444-6536.
This year’s service, titled Born is the King, tells the Christmas story through carols, scriptures, songs, and narration. More than 100 people ranging in age from 4 to 85 will be involved in the cantata. Born is the King was created by Karen Gengenbach and accompanied by David Gerard. Cantata services are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 and 11 a.m. For more information, please call Covenant Presbyterian Church at 402-4989000.
Research: Exercise may improve cancer survivors’ immune system
Program can assist individuals with a disability, their families
Three University of Nebraska Medical Center scientists are among the authors of a preliminary pilot study that suggests exercise by cancer survivors may buck up their immune systems and help ward off recurrences of the disease. Laura Bilek, Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy education; Graham Sharp, Ph.D., professor of genetics, cell biology, and anatomy; and Geoffrey Thiele, Ph.D., professor of internal medicine rheumatology, along with a trio from Rocky Mountain Cancer Rehabilitation Institute, analyzed T cells in the blood of cancer survivors before and after a 12-week exercise program. The idea that exercise can change the immune system for the better is not new. But research by the UNMC-RMCRI team specifically targeted the T cells of cancer survivors. T cells typically fight infections and suppress cancers. But previous research has shown following chemotherapy, many T cells become senescent – less effective. The UNMC-RMCRI team’s initial research suggested exercise may decrease senescent T cells, making room for functional T cell populations – those ready to fight infections and potentially kill surviving tumor cells. “What we’re suggesting is that with exercise, you might be getting rid of T cells that aren’t helpful and make room for T cells that might be helpful,” Dr. Bilek said. Data analysis is still in progress and a great deal of further research is needed, Dr. Bilek said. This pilot study will be instrumental in helping the investigators design larger clinical trials to study this question more thoroughly.
ersons with disabilities and their families often need to work with a variety of community and state agencies in order to get the services and support they need. In Nebraska, there’s a program to help answer questions that are encountered along the way and to help find the appropriate resources. The Hotline for Disability Services provides information and referral services to Nebraskans who have questions or concerns related to a disability. This includes information about services available in a certain area, transportation, special parking permits, and legal rights. Questions may be answered by telephone or e-mail and other information may be obtained by accessing the Hotline’s website.
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Ice skating rink on UNMC campus open through March 1 The public ice skating rink on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus remains open through March 1. The rink is located east of 42nd Street between Emile Street and Dewey Avenue. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and noon to 8 p.m. on Sundays. The rink is closed on Mondays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. Admission is $7 with skate rental and $5 without (cash or credit cards only). For more information, please call 402-559-0697.
December 2012
You’re invited to visit the Millard Senior Center at Montclair, 2304 S. 135th Ave., this month for the following: • Dec 4: Music by Amanda Coker and her Dad @ 11 a.m. • Dec. 14: Magician Walter Graham @ 11 a.m. The Millard Senior Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is served at 11:30. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to enjoy. Center activities include a walking club, Tai Chi, chair volleyball, card games, quilting class, and bingo. For meal reservations, call Susan at 402-546-1270.
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New Horizons
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Theresa joined the growing ranks of kinship caregivers By Leo Adam Biga Contributing Writer
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fter raising three daughters in the 1970s and 1980s and nearing retirement in the early 2000s, Theresa Glass Union thought she knew what her later years would look like. Even though still working, she envisioned socializing and traveling with friends and family. When she could finally retire it would mean free time like she hadn’t known in ages. The Omaha native had just moved back to Nebraska after more than 20 years in California. She was divorced, eager to start a new life, and to catch up with old mates and haunts. Then a family crisis erupted and Union’s selfless response led her to join the growing ranks of kinship caregivers raising young children. Reports indicate that upwards of 6 million children in America live with grandparents identified as the head of household. Someone other than the parents is raising nearly half of these children. The number of children being parented by non-birth parents has increased 18 percent since 2000, according to a report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Some kinship caregivers do it informally, others through the state child welfare-foster care system. Being informed of their rights, regulations, and benefits takes work. Theresa is a kinship caregiver to children of a niece who’s long battled drug addiction. The niece is the mother of six children by different fathers. The three oldest variously live with their fathers or their fathers’ people. When Union’s niece got pregnant with each of her three youngest children, now ages 5, 4, and 2, they came to live with Union shortly after their births. It’s not the first time Theresa’s dealt with tough circumstances inside and outside her family. She has a younger sister with a criminal past who happens to be the mother of the niece whose children Union is raising. Years spent in social service jobs dealing with clients living on the edge have given Theresa a window into the bad decisions that desperate, addicted persons make and the hard consequences those wrong choices bring. At age 65 and two-and-a-half decades removed from raising three grown daughters, one of whom is film-television star and model Gabrielle Union, Theresa’s doing a parenting redux. She never thought she’d be in charge of three pre-school-aged kids again, but she is. She’s since legally adopted the two older siblings, both girls, and is awaiting an adoption ruling on their “baby” brother. As the babies came to Union one by one she found herself knee deep again in diapers and baby bottles, awakened in the middle of the night
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Theresa and her brother James with Amari, Keira, and Miyonna in their northeast Omaha home. by crying infants, figuring out formulas, and worrying about fevers, sniffles, coughs and tummy aches. Now that the kids are a little older, there’s daycare, pre-school, and managing a household of activity. It’s not what Theresa imagined retirement to be, but how could she not be there for the kids? They were going to be removed from their birth mother and placed in a system not always conducive to happy outcomes. Child welfare officials generally agree that children fare better in kinship care settings than in regular foster care. Kinship caregivers may get involved when the parents are incarcerated, on drugs, or deceased. In the case of Theresa, drugs were found in the systems of the two oldest children she’s adopted, Keira and Miyonna. Theresa felt they needed unconditional family love. The girls are doing fine today under the care of Theresa and her brother James Glass. The girls’ brother Amari was born drug-free. With so much stacked against the children to start life, Theresa wasn’t about to turn her back on them. Family is everything to her.
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She’s the oldest of seven siblings, all raised Catholic – churched and schooled at St. Benedict the Moor, the historic African-American parish in northeast Omaha. It’s where she received all her sacraments, including marrying her ex-husband Sylvester Union. “The church is central to my family here,” Teresa said.
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heresa Glass graduated from Sacred Heart High School. She and Sylvester Union moved to San Francisco during the Summer of Love in 1967. They returned to Omaha a year later. They both ended up working at Western Electric. Like other black couples then they ran into discriminatory real estate practices that denied them access to many neighborhoods or steered them away from white areas into black sections of north Omaha. Their first home was in northeast Omaha but the Unions eventually moved into a house in the northwest part of the city where their three daughters went to school. In the 1970s Theresa, who studied social work at the University
December 2012
of Nebraska at Omaha, worked for Omaha nonprofit social service agencies, including CETA (Comprehensive Employment & Training Agency) and GOCA (Greater Omaha Community Action). After a long stint in corporate America she returned to the non-profit field. The family left Omaha in 1981 for Pleasanton, Calif., where they lived the sun-dappled California suburban life. Theresa worked for Pacific Bell and completed her bachelor’s degree in human relations and organizational behavior at the University of San Francisco. After her divorce she and her brother James returned to Omaha in 2003. A few years passed before Theresa’s troubled niece came for help. At various times the family tried interventions, once even getting the niece into rehab, but each time she fled and resumed her drug habit. As a former field worker with Douglas County Health and Human Services and as a one-time Child Protection Services worker with Nebraska Health and Human Services, Theresa’s seen the despair and --Please turn to page 11.
Union, 65, is knee deep again in diapers, baby bottles --Continued from page 10. chaos that result when siblings are separated from each other and extended family. It’s why when her niece kept getting pregnant while hooked on drugs and unable to take care of herself, much less children, Theresa intervened to ensure the kids would go to her. “Some of the things children said to me when I was a social worker have just stayed with me,” she says. On one call she visited three young siblings in a foster home. “I was like the fifth social worker
since they’d been brought into the system. The 8-year old boy said, ‘Please don’t take us away, we get fed three times a day here. ‘Well, that told me they’d been staying with some people (before) who weren’t feeding them regularly. Who does that? The foster parent let him walk me around the home and this little boy was just adamant he be with his brothers.” In another case several siblings were divided up among different foster families. “One of the siblings got to see
her sisters at school but she no longer got to see her brothers, and she asked me, ‘Can I see my brothers?’ Her foster parent had made the request but nothing had happened, so I looked into it and found that each sibling had a different social worker and had been placed at a separate time. I got it worked out that the siblings got to visit each other.” System shortfalls and breakdowns like these were enough to make Theresa bound and determined to arrange in advance with hospital social workers for her to be
the foster placement parent for her niece’s three youngest kids. When Keira and Miyonna tested positive for drugs the state, by law, detained them and they were put in Theresa’s care two days after their births. Union did the same with their brother Amari. She simply wouldn’t let them fall outside the family or be separated. “After Keira was born I was already a resident foster placement and I’d already contacted everybody involved to let them know if there was another baby that ends up in the detention system I want to be the foster parent of choice because I didn’t want these kids to go into the system. My idea is that the kids all need to be raised together. They deserve to have their siblings. “I was working for Child Protective Service, so I knew all the ins and outs of what was going to happen. I knew how many times we were going to have to go to the doctor before the baby’s cleared. I knew that babies wake up in the middle of the night and children with drugs in them can find it more difficult sleeping (and) eating. I was prepared for all that. It didn’t happen, I was thanking God that Keira’s and Miyonna’s little withdrawal things were just a few days. The biggest problem we had was figuring out formula.” Theresa’s daughter Kelly Union, a senior analyst with US Airways, admires her mother’s by-anymeans-necessary fortitude. “My mom always looks for more solutions, other options, different ways to climb a mountain. That determination helps me when I hit a brick wall at work, in my marriage, with my kids. My mom also sees all glasses as half full. There is a positive in everything and we just need to find it. “My mom’s best attribute, however, is being strong against all odds—she finds the strength to hold up everything and everyone, including herself despite what she is up against. I get my strength from her.”
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Union sits below a photo of her three daughters (from left): Tracy, who works for Arizona State University; Kelly, a senior analyst with US Airways; and actress/model Gabrielle.
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he way Theresa sees it she did what she did in order to “preserve the continuity of the children’s lives, so that they know their family members, the cousins, the aunts and uncles, the lineage back, like my grandma Ora Glass and my grandma Myrtle Fisher Davis, and the head of our family today, Aunt Patricia Moss.” Theresa hails from one of the largest and oldest African-American families in the region, the BryantFishers, whose annual picnic is 95 years strong. Her bigger-than-life late grandmother, Ora, the longtime matriarch, lived to age 110. Ora gained celebrity as a shining example of successful aging, even appearing on Phil Donahue’s show and running her fingers through the host’s hair. In her younger years Ora was --Please turn to page 12.
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Union: Continuity, stability needed for children to mature --Continued from page 11. a housekeeper and nanny for some of Omaha’s elite families. One packinghouse owner family even brought her out to California to continue her duties when they moved there. Glass survived the Red Summer of 1919, when blacks were targeted by racists in riots that wreaked havoc from coast to coast, including Omaha and Orange County, Calif. “My grandmother had a whole lot of stories,” says Theresa. In her 70s and 80s Ora “reinvented” herself from a very strict, prim, and proper lady with politics tending toward the conservative” to loosening up on things like relationships and social issues, notes Theresa. “She told me, ‘I’m losing so many old friends that I have to make new friends, I have to use new opinions, and I have to make new decisions.’ She began reaching out and making new friends and gathering new family to her. She started trying different things. She went to political science classes at UNO (University of Nebraska at Omaha). She learned ceramics.” Even when she had to use a walker, Theresa says. Ora maintained her independence, riding the bus downtown for Mass at St. Mary Magdalene’s Church, a repast at Bishop’s Cafeteria, and taking in all the sights. Ora was then and is now an inspiration to Theresa. She carries her grandmother’s boundless curiosity, determination, and affirmation inside her. “She always persevered. She said, ‘Whatever you do you always do it to the best of your ability.’ She said, ‘You can always make more family’ and she always did generate more and more family for herself.” Ora was godmother to Omaha native Cathy Hughes, founder of the Radio One and TV One media empires, and played a big role in the media mogul’s early life. Ageless Ora ended up a resident at the Thomas Fitzgerald Veterans Home (the military service of her late husband Aaron Glass entitled her to stay there) and Theresa says her grandmother “recruited families from St. Vincent dePaul parish to visit residents there. There were a couple of families she adopted. The kids came and they called her grandma and they brought her gifts.” It’s figures and stories like these that Theresa didn’t want her three new children to miss. The family takes great pains to maintain its ties, celebrate its history, and records the additions and losses as well as the triumphs and tragedies among their family trees. Help abounds from loved ones she says because “there’s so many of us. There’s like 1,500 of us (dispersed around the country).” Theresa values the traditions and events that bind them and their rich legacy and she wouldn’t want
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the children now in her care to be deprived of any of it. “We’re called the ‘Dozens of Cousins.’ Yeah, I do take a lot of pride in that. I get that a lot from my aunt, Patricia Moss, because she wants there to be the continuity. We do have continuity.” Regarding the big August annual reunion, when hundreds gather at Levi Carter Park, Theresa says, “I try to always make it. Since coming back home in 2003 I haven’t missed any, and when I was younger it wasn’t an option, you were there.
have a break time. When my daughter Tracy has breaks from work she comes in and helps out. “So I have a support system around me and they’re all kin to these children, so they’re never outside of family.” Kelly Union says even if there wasn’t all that family support her mother would have done the same thing. “Without a doubt, she would have been that beacon without all of us supporting her. That is her character, that is the legacy she inherited
A graduate of Omaha’s Sacred Heart High School, Union completed her bachelor’s degree in human relations and organizational behavior at the University of San Francisco. We have the family picnic, we have family birthdays, we have that kind of continuity, and I think children need that to grow in their own maturity and emotional strength,” she says. “It can give them that stability. You’re not going to get that from strangers. And knowing at some point there’s going to be questions about who mom is, I have all those baby pictures and all that stuff. I can give them a sense of who she is if she doesn’t care to come around.” Having a large family around gives Theresa a ready-made support network. “I have a supportive family around me. I have everybody lined up that’s going to keep this continuity. My brother James wouldn’t say it before that he’s helping raise the kids, but he’s saying it now. My sister and cousins call and make sure I have break times. My granddaughter Chelsea came from Arizona recently to watch the kids so I could
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and the legacy she is passing on to all of us. We have all been known to help someone else, even when it isn’t easy or comfortable and that is a direct reflection of her.” The respite family provides Theresa has proven vital as she’s realized she’s not capable of doing everything like she was the first time she raised kids. She’s much more prone now to ask for help. Another difference between then and now is that her older daughters were spaced out three or four years, whereas the kids she’s raising today are all just a year or two apart. “My oldest was 4 before I had my second, and then my second was 7 before I had my third. It’s a different experience when you can devote your time to the one child at a time. And then by the time I had the second child the oldest child had more of her own things she was doing that she didn’t need me while I was taking care of this other one. And then the two of them did not need
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me as much when I was taking care of the third one, so every kid got to be like an only child.” Things started out differently the second time around. “’I found I was now taking care of two kids at the same time, so if I’m changing a diaper the other one’s right there fussing and attention grabbing, and boy that’s more wearing on me. The energy for two young ones is just wearing. “When I first got Keira and Miyonna I was working, so I got to take them to day care. But I could not keep my mind going well enough during the day to do a social work job. I could not keep up and my caseload was falling farther and farther behind. I even asked for more training, but I just couldn’t manage it. I thought I was super lady but my energy level is not the same as it was, trust me.” The two girls don’t need quite the attention they did before, which is good because their little brother needs it now. “We got through that and Keira and Miyonna started doing real good together. I even have them sleeping together in a big double bed. They sleep all night.” In terms of parenting, Union says she’s learned to “let some things go” that she would have stressed over before. For example she doesn’t worry whether the kids’ clothes or hair or bedrooms are perfect. “You do the best with what you have and you got to innovate,” she says. Her adult daughters may be the best gauge for what kind of mother Theresa is. The oldest, Kelly, wrote in an email: “My mother was always the “you can do it, give it a try” type of parent. She supported all our whims— Girl Scouts, musical instruments, sports, school plays, dance class. Whatever struck our fancy at the moment, she backed our efforts. No is not a big word in her vocabulary. Not that she was a permissive parent who let us get away with things. But more in the way that she was willing to let us try and learn our own likes, dislikes, pleasure, and pain first hand. “My mom was never really a yelling, scolding type of mom and that worked well for us. Life lessons taught with logic, love, and support go a long way to shaping a child the right way.” Kelly doesn’t see any marked difference in her how mom parents now than before. “No, the core is very much the same. My mom is home more with them but the attention, the opportunities, the lessons are all still the same.”
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heresa would like for the children’s birth mother to be involved in the kids’ lives but thus far says her niece has shown little interest. In fact, Theresa’s lost most contact --Please turn to page 13.
Help is available through ENOA’s Grandparent Resource Center --Continued from page 12. with her niece of whose exact whereabouts she’s unsure. “She actually did visitation with Miyonna for the first three weeks of her life and then she back slid all the way and did a disappearance act. We didn’t know where she was.” The instability and unreliability of the mother were huge factors in Theresa taking charge and getting the kids in a safe home surrounded by family. She says she never wanted to have happen to these children what she’s seen happen to others, such as when kids age out of the system never having been reunited with family, much less visited by them. With their biological mother out of the picture, Theresa saw no option but to step up. “It’s hard to forge your own identity when your identity has been connected with state administrators,” she says of foster children. It’s not the first time Union’s taken in loved ones in need. When her uncle Joe Glass lived in a Milwaukee nursing home and was going to be transferred to a veterans home near the Canadian border, far from any family, Theresa and her brother James brought him to Omaha. Growing up, she saw the example of her family take in childhood friend Cathy Hughes when Cathy’s musician mother Helen Jones Woods was on the road. Hughes said growing up she and Theresa thought they were “blood sisters.” Theresa’s three birth daughters have embraced her returning to parenting young kids again all these years later. She says they’ve all accepted and bonded with their new “siblings” and go out of their way in spoiling them. “They don’t want for anything,” she says of her little ones. Kelly speaks for her sisters when she says they all admire and support their mother in assuming this new responsibility at her age but that it doesn’t surprise them. “That is just my mom. I don’t think she thought of it as parenting at her age, she just saw a need and filled it. Age really didn’t play into it, although she did discuss it with us because doing the right thing would impact all of us. My mom always does the ‘right thing,’ and right doesn’t mean easy and she accepts that whenever she takes on a task, a role, a responsibility. “My grandmother raised her and this is what my grandmother did and would have done if she was alive. Her opting to raise the kids did not surprise any of us in the least. It is the one characteristic both my parents had and handed down to us: Do what you can, when you can, and share of yourself, your home, your belongings, and your wealth (regardless of how much money you have or don’t have). It’s the right thing to do to help someone else, especially family.” Kelly and her sister Gabrielle have each assumed similar supernurturing roles as their mother.
Debra Scott coordinates ENOA’s Grandparent Resource Center. Kelly, who has three children of her own, has acted as a surrogate mom to athletes coached by her husband. Gabrielle is now the adult female figure in the home of her equally famous boyfriend, National Basketball Association superstar Dwyane Wade, whose two sons and a nephew live with him in Miami. Theresa’s justifiably proud of her three grown children, each a successful, independent woman in her own right. Kelly’s a corporate executive. Tracy’s a facilities coordinator at Arizona State University, and Gabrielle’s the movie star. Just as Theresa feels she prepared her older girls for life she hopes to do the same for their young siblings. “I got my three grown daughters there healthy and educated and then they had to travel it on themselves. Hopefully I can do this another time and the three young ones will be healthy and educated and they’ll be able to move on and enjoy their lives. “Nobody has to be famous but you have to be able enjoy and sustain your life. I think my girls have done really well and I hope the next ones do, too. “This time it’s a different experience and we’re working it out.”
neighborhood for raising children. So I had to start looking for the village (the proverbial village that helps raise a child). My village is right here. I have Kellom School and I have Educare.” Gabrielle says the way her mother intentionally seeks out educational and cultural opportunities for the young kids she’s raising now reminds her of how Theresa did the same thing when Gabrielle and her sisters were coming up. She says her mom’s always been about expanding children’s minds through enriching experiences. Theresa says the dearth of programs for young kids in northeast Omaha “is what prompted me to join the board of the Bryant Center Association – so we could add things (like recreation activities and counseling services).” The nonprofit association operates the Bryant Center, a community oasis at 24th and Grant streets that aims to improve the lives of youth, young adults, and seniors. Administrators are looking to expand programming. Theresa recently prevailed upon Cathy Hughes to co-chair the association’s capital fundraising campaign. In the final analysis Theresa doesn’t consider rearing young children at her age as anything heroic or out of the ordinary. It all comes back to family and doing the right thing. “I don’t call it being a saint,” she says. “You always take care of your own.” She wants others to know they can do what she’s doing. An aunt or a grandmother or another relation can be the parent when Mom and Dad cannot. “It is a doable process, especially in Omaha, because there is other help available. There are families
out there that could do this on their own because there is support for you in the community. Sometimes you have to really search for it depending on what your needs are. But even if there’s a problem where the natural parents aren’t available to participate, you can raise the children so they are still a part of a family.”
“I don’t call it being a saint. You always take care of your own.”
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elping navigate this type of experience is the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Grandparent Resource Center. It offers free monthly support group meetings, crisis phone intervention, transportation assistance, access to legal advice, and referrals to other services and programs. Participants need only be age 55 or above. Center coordinator Debra Scott, who is raising her granddaughter, says caregivers need to know they don’t have to do it alone. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help,” she says. “I’m learning I can’t be everything to everybody, I need to ask for help and that’s where this program comes in.” Call 402-444-6536, ext. 297 to learn more about ENOA’s Grandparent Resource Center. (Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.wordpress. com.)
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heresa says most of her parenting the first time happened in the suburbs compared to the inner city, where she, her brother, and the kids live today. She’s struck by the stark difference between the two environments and their impact on children. Gun violence and street gangs were foreign to west Omaha and Pleasanton but the northeast Omaha she’s come back to is rife with criminal activity. Where Pleasanton lacked for no amenities north Omaha has major gaps. “It’s interesting that this neighborhood doesn’t have the things that we had when we were young. The (black) population has been dispersed throughout the city. Things you take for granted, conveniences you have right there in the suburbs, are not so readily available in the inner city. It’s a lack of resources, lack of everything right in this
Support from family members like her brother James is vital as Theresa raises Keira, Amari, and Miyonna.
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Dora Bingel Senior Center You’re invited to visit the Dora Bingel Senior Center, 923 N. 38th St., this month for the following: • Dec. 3, 10, & 17: Al-Anon meeting @ 7 p.m. • Dec. 4, 11, & 18: Grief Support Group meeting @ 10 a.m. • Dec. 14: Regeneration lunch featuring singer Kim Eames @ noon. The cost is $3. • Dec. 19: Birthday party luncheon @ noon. Eat free if you have a December birthday. • Dec. 20: Red Hat Club meeting @ noon. • Dec. 21: Hard of Hearing Support Group @10:30 a.m. The center will be closed Dec. 24 through Jan. 1. A nutritious lunch is served on Tuesday and Friday. A fancier lunch is offered on Wednesday. A $1 donation is suggested for the meals, other than $3 for Regeneration. Round-trip transportation is available for $3. Reservations are required 24 hours in advance for all meals. Other activities offered at the facility include: Foot care clinics Wednesdays from noon to 3 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. The cost is $10. • Tuesday: Free matinee movie @ 12:30 p.m. • Wednesdays: Nurse @ 9:30 a.m. Devotions @ 10:30 a.m. Tai Chi class @ 11:15 a.m., and Bible study @ 1 p.m. • Fridays: Joy Club @ 9:30 a.m. Bible study @ 1 p.m. For more information, please call 402-898-5854.
Lewy Body Dementia Support Group to meet on Tuesday, Dec. 18
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he Metro Omaha Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) Support Group will meet on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 1 p.m. at the Millard branch of the Omaha Public Library, 13214 Westwood Ln. LBD is a group of progressive brain diseases that are the second leading cause of degenerative dementia among older adults, affecting more than 1.3 million American families. More information about Lewy Body Dementia is available online at www.lbda.org/go/ awareness. For more information about the support group, please log on to annt88@ cox.net or call Ann Taylor at 402-452-3952.
AAA program offers information on the impact of meds on drivers More than 80 percent of drivers age 65 and older regularly take medications, yet only half of them have talked to a medical professional about the possible subsequent safety issues related to driving. The AAA Foundation for Safety has developed Roadwise Rx, a free online tool that details common side effects of prescription and over-the-counter medications for older drivers. Roadwise Rx gives users an easy way to virtually pool together their pill bottles and talk to their doctor, according to AAA President and CEO Robert Darbeinet. Certain medications have been shown to increase automobile crash risks by up to 41 percent Research has shown nearly one in five older drivers use five or more prescription medications. AAA felt there was a need to develop a tool to help older drivers understand the safety risks of driving while using multiple medications. “In most states, including Nebraska, a motorist may be charged for driving under the influence of drugs, which includes prescription and over-the-counter medications, “ said Fred Zwonecheck, administrator of the Nebraska Office on Highway Safety. “For that reason, it’s important to know and understand the side effects of any medications being consumed before operating a motor vehicle.” For more information, log on the Internet to seniordriving.aaa.com.
SeniorHelp Volunteer Opportunities The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s SeniorHelp Program has a variety of volunteer opportunities available for persons of all ages that provide services to help older adults in ways that support dignity and independence in their daily lives. For more information, please call Karen Kelly at 402561-2238 or send an e-mail to karen.kelly@nebraska. gov. • Companionship: Volunteers are needed to visit clients in the Omaha and Bellevue areas. • Transportation: Drivers are being asked to take older adults grocery shopping, to medical appointments as needed, etc. in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties. • Handyman/Home Maintenance: Volunteers are needed to provide home repairs in Omaha and the surrounding areas. • Household assistance: Volunteers are being recruited to provide housekeeping, sorting and/or organizing, do laundry, and to help carry groceries from the car into the home for older adults in the Omaha and Bellevue areas. • Meals delivery: Drivers are needed to deliver midday meals in Zip codes 68114 and 68144. • Snow removal: Volunteers are needed to remove snow in the Omaha and Bellevue areas. • Yard work: Volunteers are being recruited to rake leaves, clean gutters, and clean flowerbeds in several areas. Law Offices of Charles E. Dorwart 31 years of legal experience • Wills • Living Trusts • Probate • Healthcare and Financial Powers of Attorney • In Home Consultations • Free Initial Consultation 440 Regency Parkway Drive • Suite 139 Omaha, NE 68114 Office: (402) 558-1404 • Fax: (402) 779-7498 Cdorwartjd@aol.com
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Flu shot facts and figures
Dealing with cancer during the holidays By Deborah J. Cornwall
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aving cancer or caring for a cancer patient in the family is hard, but dealing with cancer during the traditionally happy holiday season is even harder. It’s a time when each family enjoys traditional shared activities usually characterized by good food, drink, and company. Yet how can you carry out these traditions when you’re in the throes of cancer treatment or even dealing with the aftermath? The most important message from cancer caregivers who have worked through these challenges is to seek normalcy, no matter what the patient’s prognosis. It may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s profound. It all stems from the issue of control. Throughout the cancer care process, both caregivers and patients experience a fundamental loss of control. On some days, it may feel as though there is nothing left of the “good old days.” They describe their quest for normalcy – for moments of P.C. (Pre-Cancer) life – and their feelings that every aspect of their lives has been turned upside down. They’re less available than usual, and even when available, they may be feeling depressed, anxious, or preoccupied. Perhaps worst of all, their friends and relatives often don’t know what to say or do to help. The combination of these factors can make the holidays feel like a particularly sad and lonely time, and it might bring the temptation to mourn what’s been lost. But cancer caregivers recommend that you do just the opposite. Try to maintain a few of your past traditions, social connections, and day-to-day activities in the interest of being able to celebrate what you still have. Pursuing normalcy means doing four things: Keep it festive: As tempting as it might be, don’t ignore the holidays. Instead, find a way to put a smile on your and your patient’s faces. There are several things to try: • Make sure you find something every day to bring you joy. It may be a baby’s laugh, smelling a rose, or telling a joke that breaks a loved one’s sense of depression or isolation. It may be preparing the world’s best clear chicken broth for a patient who’s having trouble keeping food down, or it may be just a few minutes holding hands while favorite holiday music plays. • Identify a few key elements of your traditions that you can maintain. • Maintain some of the traditions like Christmas Eve Mass and decorated sugar cookies, or lighting the Chanukah Menorah and giving the kids chocolate coins. Keep it simple: Caregivers are often so tired and stressed when the holidays come the idea of maintaining all of the traditional holiday activities and “fixings” can feel overwhelming. This is an important time to focus on simplicity. Don’t think about buying or doing too much. Only do the part of the holiday that matters the most for you and your patient. That means: • If the patient can’t eat or isn’t strong enough to leave home, have guests come to your home. • Plan a group meal where each guest brings a dish and people volunteer for dishwashing patrol. • Accept offers of help from friends and neighbors. Consider buying some of the items that you used to make (unless the “nesting” process of cooking is therapy for
you). • Accept invitations to join friends for dinner so you don’t have to cook or clean as often. • At home, if you decorate, only bring out your favorite ornaments. Keep decoration simple and focus on things that remind you of the good times. • Consider postponing gift-giving completely and focus on togetherness. For adults, time with family and friends is usually far more enriching than opening presents. • If you must shop for gifts, find ways to do holiday shopping online or by phone for things like a decorated tabletop tree, a basket of fruit, or cheese goodies. Also consider developing a theme, like “laughter” or “comfort” that can focus gift giving and divert from the daily stresses of treatment. • Think about playing a game (like the New Yorker Cartoon Captions Game which involves writing captions for cartoons) with family or friends that will bring laughter and good feelings. • Let people do things for you. Keep a notepad handy for noting who brought you things and when you thanked them. You might even want to keep some little bags of Hershey’s Kisses or Ghirardelli mints next to your front door as a thank you so you don’t have to write thank you notes. Keep it social: Remember the real meaning of the holiday is togetherness, whether that means gathering family members or getting together with friends. Family and friends bring normalcy.
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here are two reasons for you to let others help. First, the patient needs friends, now more than ever and especially during the holiday season that represents togetherness. Too many people are afraid of cancer. It’s not necessarily that they think they can catch it from the patient, but they don’t know how to talk to either of you, so they may shy away. Encouraging friends to stay close reminds you of normalcy. Second, no caregiver knows how long the cancer caregiving experience will last. It can last for a few weeks or for more than 20 years. You may well need friends and their help a lot later in your caregiving, especially when you get caregiver fatigue. So make sure you reach out to friends and family. If invitations to you both dwindle, invite others to your house. Sometimes friends don’t want to intrude on your privacy, so they stop inviting you out. Make it clear to them you’re determined to maintain your social connections, even if the visits are shorter or closer to home. Keep it positive: Cancer disrupts your whole life, and sometimes it’s hard to remember the good things you still have. If you’re dealing with a patient’s death, and you’re wrestling with how you’ll get through the holidays, be willing to change family rituals. Many cancer patients live long and happy lives well after their initial diagnoses. Holiday periods nourish their spirits and remind them how much they have to live for. Family caregivers can help lengthen their lives simply by reminding them of normalcy and reducing anxiety. They can do that by celebrating holidays with zest that keeps things festive, simple, social, and positive. (Deborah Cornwall is a cancer survivor and author of Things I Wish I’d Known: Cancer Caregivers Speak Out.)
December 2012
By Marvin J. Bittner M.D. Here are some facts older adults need to know about influenza: • Of the 23,000 Americans who die in an average influenza season, more than 90 percent are over age 65. That’s remarkable since only about one in eight Americans is over age 65. • The Douglas County Health Department gets laboratory reports on influenza cases. Looking at the last 10 years, you can see variations. The worst influenza season was five times as bad as the mildest season. Timing is unpredictable, too. Usually the peak month is February. The peak of flu season has come as early as November and as late as May. Sometimes the virus that circulates is closely matched by the vaccine. Sometimes it’s not. That explains why the vaccine doesn’t always work and why we needed to get a special pandemic influenza vaccine in 2009. The best way to deal with this unpredictability is to get a vaccine every year. • An egg allergy is no longer an excuse for avoiding vaccine. The influenza vaccine is made from eggs so the vaccine has tiny amounts of egg protein. Provided you follow safety guidelines, practically everyone can get vaccine including those who report egg allergy • Don’t worry about Guillain-Barré syndrome. The 1976 swine flu vaccine experience highlighted a rare, but serious side effect of influenza vaccine: Guillain-Barré syndrome can paralyze you for weeks to months before it goes away. The risk from influenza vaccine is about one in a million. Influenza itself can give you Guillain-Barré, too. The risk from influenza itself is 40 to 70 out of every million cases of influenza. In other words, the risk from influenza itself is so high it’s silly for you to worry about the risk from the vaccine. • There’s a better vaccine for older adults. In older people, standard influenza vaccine doesn’t work as well as it does in younger people. In older people, antibody levels are lower. For that reason, a special vaccine is available for people over age 65. It has four times as much material to stimulate the immune system. The high dose vaccine produces higher levels of antibodies in people over age 65. Studies show groups of people with higher levels of antibodies have less influenza. That’s why I recommend the high dose vaccine for everyone over 65. (Marvin J. Bittner M.D. is an infectious diseases specialist in Omaha.)
ElderCare Resource Handbook available online, as a hard copy Copies of the 2012 to 2014 ElderCare Resource Handbook are available online or as a hard copy from Care Consultants for the Aging. The 10th edition of the publication provides information about programs and services for older adults in eastern Nebraska. Divided into five sections, the ElderCare Resource Handbook lists options for medical support, home health care and support services, living options, senior services, and government, financial, and legal services. The ElderCare Resource Handbook is available three ways: • For $7 at the Care Consultants for the Aging office, 7701 Pacific St., Suite 100. • By sending your name, address, and a check or money order for $10 to Care Consultants for the Aging, 7701 Pacific St., Suite 100, Omaha, Neb. 68114. The book will be mailed to you. You can also order the handbook using your credit card, by calling 402-398-1848. • By logging on the Internet to www.careconsultants. com. Click on the Resource Handbook tab. For more information, please call 402-398-1848.
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Do
you
about
?
have questions
aging services
in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, or Washington counties? Log on to
enoa.org
The Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Web site includes information about: • • • • • • • • • • •
Bath aides Care management Chore services Community education Durable medical equipment Emergency food pantry Emergency response systems ENOA facts and figures ENOA Library ENOA senior centers Grandparent Resource Center
24 hours a day, • Homemakers 7 days a week! • Information & assistance telephone lines • Intergeneration Orchestra of Omaha • Legal services • Meals on Wheels • Medicaid Waiver • New Horizons • Nutrition counseling
• • • • • • •
Ombudsman advocates Respite care Respite Resource Center Rural transportation Senior Care Options Senior employment Support of adult day facilities • Volunteer opportunities
We need your
Traditional funding sources are making it more difficult for ENOA to fulfill its mission. Partnership opportunities are available to businesses and individuals wanting to help us. These opportunities include volunteering, memorials, honorariums, gift annuities, and other tax deductible contributions.
! t r o p sup
I would like to become a partner with the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging, and help fulfill your mission with older adults.
ENOA
$30 = 7 meals or 1.75 hours of in-home homemaker services or 1 bath aide service for frail older adults. $75 = 17 meals or 4.75 hours of in-home homemaker services or 4 bath aide services for frail older adults. $150 = 35 meals or 9.5 hours of in-home homemaker services or 8 bath aide services for frail older adults. $300 = 70 meals or 19.25 hours of in-home homemaker services or 16 bath aide services for frail older adults. Other amount (please designate)__________________________ Please contact me. I would like to learn more about how to include the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging in my estate planning. Name:_____________________________________
Please ma donationil your tax deducti with this fo ble rm to: Easter
n Office oNebraska n Aging Address:___________________________________ Attention : Jef City:______________State:_____ Zip: __________ Phone:____________________________________
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f Reinha 4223 C rdt Omaha, enter Street NE 6810 5-2431 (402
) 444-665
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December 2012
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program is recruiting persons age 55 and older for a variety of opportunities. For more information in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties, please call 402-444-6536, ext. 229. In Dodge and Washington counties, please call 402721-7780. The following have volunteer opportunities in Douglas, Sarpy, and Cass counties: • Omaha Serves needs volunteers to help with disaster recovery. • Mount View Elementary School wants a TeamMates mentor. • Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Hospital needs volunteers. • Boys Town wants volunteer mentors and a volunteer office assistant. • The Disabled American Veterans needs drivers. • The Ronald McDonald House Charities needs volunteers for general duties. • The Omaha Home for Boys is looking for mentors. • Pathfinder House is looking for volunteers. • The Heartland Council New Outlook Pioneers wants volunteers to help
with its Hug a Bear Project. • Keep Omaha Beautiful needs volunteers to help with yard cleaning projects. • The Omaha Children’s Museum wants a volunteer member check-in assistant. • The Douglas County Historical Society is looking for volunteer to greet visitors and to serve refreshments. • The Douglas County Health Center wants volunteers. • The Omaha Police Department needs volunteers for general duties. • Together Inc. is looking for an intake assistant. The following have volunteer opportunities in Dodge and Washington counties: • The Blair and Fremont Car-Go Programs needs volunteer drivers. • The Fremont Friendship Center needs help with its Tuesday Supper Club. • The Fremont Area Medical Center is looking for volunteers for its information desk on weekends and to help out evenings at the A.J. Merrick Manor. • The Danish American Archive and Library in Blair needs volunteers for a variety of assignments.
Call 402-444-6617 for an appointment
Medicare D enrollment runs through Dec. 7 The 2012 open enrollment period for Medicare Part D runs through Dec. 7. During this time, Medicare beneficiaries have the ability to review their prescription drug coverage and/or switch to a prescription drug plan that best meets their needs. Medicare beneficiaries are encouraged to review their drug plan annually. Medicare Part D drug plans can change their costs and the formulary (list of drugs) covered each year. The prescription drug plan a beneficiary has may not include the same medications for the coming year, resulting in their being responsible for the full price for a needed medication. During the open enrollment period, beneficiaries can switch from original Medicare with a prescription drug plan to a Medicare Advantage plan or from an Advantage plan back to original Medicare. They can also switch from one Advantage plan to another and from one prescription drug plan to another depending on what scenario best meets their needs. When choosing a Medicare Part D drug plan, beneficiaries need to look at all the costs, not just the premium. The costs throughout the year will depend on what drugs the person takes, if the plan they choose includes their medications on its formulary, and whether there are any restrictions. Another plan may have lower co-pays, cover more of the beneficiary’s drugs, have fewer restrictions, or offer some coverage during the coverage gap. Even if a beneficiary is satisfied with their plan, they should check to see if they have the best coverage available to meet their needs in 2013. In Omaha, Volunteers Assisting Seniors serves as the regional office for the Senior Health Insurance Information Program. During the open enrollment period, VAS will provide Medicare-trained counselors to assist beneficiaries in reviewing their plan at enrollment events throughout the metro Omaha area. For a schedule of enrollment events, please visit www. vas-nebraska.com. To schedule an appointment, please call VAS at 402-444-6617.
Symphonic Chorus’ Christmas show set for Dec. 7 and 9
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erformances of the Omaha Symphonic Chorus’ 17th annual Christmas at the Cathedral are scheduled for Dec. 7 and 9 at the St. Cecilia Cathedral, 701 N. 40th St. Show times are 8 p.m. on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. The Omaha Symphony Chamber Orchestra, the Archdiocesan Children’s Choir, and the Trinity Lutheran Hand Bell Choir will join the chorus which is under the direction of Dr. Greg Zielke. The program will feature both original classical works and arrangements of well-loved carols. Preferred seating tickets are $30 and general seating tickets are $18. A 10 percent discount is available for groups of 10 or more. For more information, please call 402-398-1766 or log on the Internet to www.omahasymphonicchorus.org.
Agencies adding smoke-free housing
Creativity programs aimed at older adults
The Douglas County Health Department is calling attention to some local efforts that are helping hundreds of families to live healthier, smoke-free lives. As success builds on success, new properties are being added to the list of smoke-free living options for families at local public housing agencies. More than 1,400 housing units in the 11 towers managed by the Omaha Housing Authority are smoke-free, and by Dec. 1 another 215 units were made available to provide additional healthy living options. Family developments and scattered-site housing could follow in 2013, potentially tripling the number of smoke-free units and providing 100 percent smokefree living. “The concept of smokefree living has worked so well, we are expanding it,” said OHA’s Gail SayersProby. “We want more of our residents to enjoy smoke-free living.” While OHA has the most smoke-free public hous ing units, the agency is not
The Omaha chapter of the National League of American Pen Women offers a series of programs on creativity designed to help stem the advance of dementia in older adults and to relieve stress. For more information on chapter activities, please call Connie Spittler at 402-330-4755 or Marty Pierson at 402-393-0259.
alone. In 2007, the Douglas County Housing Authority started its move toward smoke-free living. The policy, which affects 297 units, has been fully in place since January. Four major reasons for the move have been cited by the agencies: • Health benefits for residents and employees. • Reduced costs in preparing units for turnover to new tenants. • Support for residents who want to stop smoking. • To respond to residents who expressed concerns about secondhand smoke. “The change to smokefree living has been a tremendous benefit to our residents,” said Joan Bertolini, CEO of the Douglas County Housing Authority. “Secondhand smoke is a killer that finds its way from room to room and makes people sick, including children.” In fact, studies show every year secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 deaths from lung cancer and as many as 69,600 deaths from heart disease. The Douglas County
Health Department and the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition are working to help privately owned properties convert to a smoke-free policy. That includes technical assistance and materials to help with the policy from initiation to completion. The Douglas County Health Department also can assist with compliance and maintenance of the program.
Diabetes Education Center is offering classes, support groups The Diabetes Education Center of the Midlands is offering a series of programs this month that will be held at its 2910 S. 84th St. location. • Dec. 4: Pre-pump class from 4 to 6 p.m. This class is designed for persons considering insulin pump therapy or who are awaiting individual training for insulin pump initiation. • Dec. 8: Living Well with Diabetes support group meeting from 10 to 11:30 a.m. This class is designed for persons with diabetes, their family, and friends. • Dec. 10 to 13: Diabetes management class from 1 to 5:30 p.m. • Dec. 17 & 20: Basic diabetes skills class from 1 to 5 p.m. To register or for more information, please call 402-399-0777.
Christmas Around the World You are cordially invited to attend two
Christmas Around the World Open Houses!
Come share with us and experience the different Christmas decorations and customs from around the world while touring our beautiful communities! Saturday, December 8 1 to 4 p.m.
Saturday, December 8 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Woodbridge Senior Village
Harrison Heights Senior Village
7205 N. 73rd Plaza Circle Omaha, NE 68122
7544 Gertrude Street LaVista, NE 68128
Enjoy complimentary refreshments and register to win a 40” flat screen television along with other prizes.
Community craft show and bake sale included. Register to win a deluxe remote control car starter.
SELF
Make Woodbridge Senior Village your home.
Make Harrison Heights your home.
Please RSVP to 402-573-5555 by Friday, December 7
Please RSVP to 402-933-8080 by Friday, December 7
Lease with us at either of our open houses, move in by 1/31/13, and receive special incentives!
December 2012
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Retired teacher Shana Emge wins UNO poetry contest My ’46 Ford coupe At age sixteen my Dad came home, With the car I’d seen in dreams. I am the only girl, I thought, Will he give that car to me? From that day on my friends and I, Went cruisin’ round the town. In the cutest little Ford, Not seen for miles around. I loved that car and all it meant, With white wall tires and rumble seat. It gave me back some confidence, And put some fears at ease. Teenagers through all of time, On this one thing would sure agree. Our lives are filled with ups and downs, Mine were filled with both, you see. From championships in basketball, To a guy named Joe, who broke my heart. I’d trade it not for anything, It’s all of me, a part. Shana Emge August 2012
Shana Emge, age 76, enjoyed reminiscing about her teenage days and her 32-year Omaha-area teaching career while writing her award-winning poems.
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s a teenager in Salix, Iowa, Shana Emge loved her 1946 Ford Coupe, a gift from her Dad. Decades later, memories of riding around town with her friends in that special vehicle inspired Emge, age 76, to write a poem about those experiences. In September, Emge, a resident of Waterford at Miracle Hills, 11909 Miracle Hills Dr., submitted the poem, My ’46 Ford Coupe, in a contest sponsored by the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Department of Gerontology. Titled Poetry Across the Generations: Building Bridges to Success for Urban Youth, the fourth annual competition offered first ($100), second ($50), and third ($25) place cash prizes to poets entering grades 7 to 12 and men and women age 50 and older. In addition to first, second, and third place finishers, honorable mention recognition (and $10 cash prizes) was also given out to six participants in the youth and elders categories. “An annual contest with prizes for youth and elders encourages people to express their thoughts in poetry,” said Dr. Lyn Holley, a gerontology professor at UNO. “Reading and discussing the poetry bridges the generation gap. It might also deepen the poet’s understanding of their own life experience.” Contestants were required to submit two original poems, one about life as a teenager and one about life as a person age 60 and older.
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mge retired in 1997 after a 32-year career teaching math and science at Omaha Holy Name Elementary School, Westbrook Junior High School, and Westside Middle School. Shana, who began writing poetry as a stu-
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dent at Salix Consolidated School, said she has become more serious about the craft during the second half of her life. Emge’s pleased Jo Rundy, the activities director at Waterford, encouraged her to enter UNO’s poetry contest. In addition to My ’46 Ford Coupe, Shana submitted a poem titled Lessons I’ve Learned. That combination earned her first place honors in the intergenerational poetry competition. The poems are featured on this page. “Poems tells a story like a short novelette in verse,” Emge – whose favorite poets are E.E. Cummings and Elizabeth Barrett Browning – explained. “They don’t have to rhyme.” She said when enjoying a “good poem,” readers are able to visualize what the poet is writing about. “A good poet is someone who enjoys writing but who wants to do it in a way other than if they were writing a book,” Emge added. eminiscing about her childhood and her years in the classroom while writing My ’46 Ford Coupe and Lessons I’ve Learned was enjoyable for Shana who was surprised to win the UNO competition. “I was flabbergasted. I had no ideas I’d even get an honorable mention,” she said. “I’m honored and I’m humbled.” In October, the poetry contest winners were honored at a reception held at UNO’s Milo Bail Student Center. Emge, who read her poems to the reception audience, said she isn’t sure how she’s going to spend the $100 prize. “I want to do something special. Maybe I’ll buy a book of poems.”
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Lessons I’ve learned Growing old is not so bad, It’s mostly the way I hoped it would be. With time to relax and time to play, Time to look back and time to be me. For forty years I lived my dream. To teach and to guide the very young. In turn they gave to me unsurpassed joy, With a sense of fulfillment in what I had done. I sometimes wish I’d had a child, Or maybe two or three. But one thing I’ve learned in growing up, Most things come out the way they should be. Since I retired, age sixty-two, I’ve had my share of grief and pain. But through it all I had a home, a job, Many good friends and my dog, Sadie Mae. Shana Emge September 2012
New findings in Alzheimer’s research Curtailing the imminent rise in Alzheimer’s disease will require early, accurate diagnostic tests and treatments, and researchers are closer to achieving these two goals. AD is the most common cause of dementia and affects 5 million people in the United States. By 2015, this number could increase to 13 million people. These new findings show: • Changes in brain function occur many years before symptoms in people with AD. These changes could be detected by PET scans and might one day be used to identify people at risk for developing the disease. • A new drug that targets biochemical changes in proteins improved symptoms and increased survival in a mouse model of AD. Just how it works is a mystery. • An antibody-based probe that uses nanotechnology and magnetic resonance imaging can distinguish between diseased and non-diseased brain tissue and could lead to a test for early detection of AD. AD, Parkinson’s disease, and Dementia with Lewy Bodies have specific molecular
signatures caused by epigenetics – mechanisms that determine how and when DNA is expressed – that could assist in accurate diagnosis and earlier treatment. A new mouse model for AD gives researchers more control over an Alzheimer’s-related protein in mice, and could lead to better research on effective treatments. “Being able to detect AD early – perhaps even before symptoms begin – is an essential pre-condition if we are to develop effective treatments that slow or stop the changes that occur in the brain during Alzheimer’s. Our studies in mice already tell us this,” said Sam Gandy, PhD, MD, of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, an expert on AD and dementia. “Being able to distinguish AD from other neurodegenerative diseases will help us give the right treatments to the right patients,” he added. This research was supported by national funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, as well as private andphilanthropic organizations.
ENOA’s SeniorHelp, Chore Program are available to provide snow removal
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he Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging has two programs available that remove snow from the driveways and sidewalks of older adults in Douglas, Sarpy, Dodge, Cass, and Washington
counties. The agency’s SeniorHelp Volunteer Program provides this service for persons age 60 and older that are physically unable to remove snow and have no other options available for snow removal. Volunteers are pre-screened before being matched with clients. ENOA’s Chore Program uses paid providers to remove snow for persons age 60 and older that are physically unable to perform these duties. Individuals using this service will be sent a contribution request based on their income. For more information, please call the SeniorHelp program at 402-444-6536.
OLD STUFF WANTED (before 1975) Postcards, photos, drapes, lamps, 1950s and before fabrics, clothes, lady’s hats, & men’s ties, pictures, pottery, glass, jewelry, toys, fountain pens, furniture, etc. Call anytime 402-397-0254 or 402-250-9389
Tree Trimming Beat the falling flakes! Chipping & removal. Your prunings chipped. Experienced & insured. Senior discount.
402-894-9206
• Remodeling & Home Improvement
Julie Kessel-Schultz, LCSW
Certified Grief Recovery Specialist
• Geriatrics • Chronic Illness • Depression • Anxiety • Caregiver Stress
Most Major Insurance Plans Accepted
Take charge of your future, call me today at
402-431-3459 www.kesselcounseling.com 6901 Dodge St. Omaha, Nebraska 68132
Immanuel Communities offers beautiful affordable independent apartment homes for seniors who are on a fixed income. Call today to schedule a personal visit.
Income guidelines apply
Immanuel Courtyard 6757 Newport Avenue Omaha, NE 68152 402-829-2912
• Safety Equipment Handrails Smoke and Fire Alarms
To share my home. Private room. Washer/dryer. 10th & 212-1930 Pacific streets area. $450/month includes utilities.
402-212-1930 Buying or selling? Use the New Horizons CLASSIFIEDS
deFreese Rita Rhoades Manor
Subsidized housing for Visa #: 4600 1019 0075 5036 those age 62 and over with incomes Expires:under 7/14 $25,050 (1 person) $28,600 # on back:or541 (two persons)
Amount:2669 $16 Dodge
Omaha, NE 402-345-0622
Integrity Builders
Two-bedroom units for rent • $530/month plus utilities Must be age 55 or older
Lamplighter II
Some of the nicest, newer 1 bedroom apartments. Elevator, w & d, heated parking garage. Small complex. By bus & shopping. No pets or smoking. 93rd & Maple • 402-397-6921
POOL TABLES Moving, refelting, assemble, repair, tear down. Used slate tables. We pay CASH for slate pool tables.
Big Red Billiards 402-598-5225
TOP CASH PAID
Best & honest prices paid for: Old jewelry, furniture, glassware, Hummels, knick-knacks, old hats & purses, dolls, old toys, quilts, linens, buttons, pottery, etc. Also buying estates & partial estates. Call Bev at 402-339-2856
PAID THRO DECEMBE Senior Citizens (62+) Accepting applications for HUD-subsidized apartments in Papillion & Bellevue. Rent determined by income and medical expenses.
Free estimates & inspections • Roofs • Windows • Siding • Gutters
• Handyman Services • Senior Discounts
www.immanuelcommunities.com
Please call 402-444-4148 or 402- 444-6654 to place your ad
FEMALE HOUSEMATE WANTED
• Painting Interior & Exterior
• Free Estimates
Trinity Courtyard 620 West Lincoln Street Papillion, NE 68046 402-614-1900
Affilated with the Nebraska Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Monarch Villa West 201 Cedar Dale Road Papillion (402) 331-6882
Storm damage specialist
Bellewood Courts 1002 Bellewood Court Bellevue (402) 292-3300
Call Colin @ 402-510-7360
Managed by Kimball Management., Inc.
• References • Fully Insured Quality Professional Service
NORTH OMAHA SENIOR COTTAGES
Assisted Living at Immanuel Courtyard 6759 Newport Avenue Omaha, NE 68152 402-829-2990
CLASSIFIEDS
REPUTABLE SERVICES, INC.
Specializing in:
Immanuel Affordable Communities
Better Business Bureau Member
BBB Honor Roll member
402-4 5 5-7 0 0 0
We do business in accordance with the Fair Housing Law.
Amenities include geothermal heating for lower utility bills, stove, refrigerator, microwave oven, and dishwasher. Washer & dryer in every unit plus an attached garage and a community garden. Contact John Boone at Holy Name Housing
402-453-6100
Enoa Aging December 2012
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New Horizons
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Heartland Family Service Senior Center
Helping to protect the world’s water supply
You’re invited to visit the Heartland Family Service Senior Center, 2101 S. 42nd St. for the following: • Dec. 6, 13, & 20: Holiday music with Jill from WhyArts? @ 10:30 a.m. • Dec. 7, 14, & 21: Embroidery with Gail from WhyArts? @ 10:30 a.m. • Dec. 12: Santa visit @ 11 a.m. • Dec. 16: Decorate cookies with Student League members from 3 to 5 p.m. • Dec. 17: Birthday party featuring music by Michael from the Merrymakers @ 10:45 a.m. Bring a snack. • Dec. 28: Wear your sparkles as we roast in 2013. The center will be closed Dec. 24, 25, and 31 for the holidays. A nurse visits Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon. Call Karen at 402-553-5300 for details. The Heartland Family Service Senior Center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch is normally served at noon. A $3 donation is suggested for the meal. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the lunch you wish to attend. Regular activities include Tai Chi classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday @ 10:15 a.m.; Bingo on Wednesday and Friday; and Craft Day on Tuesday. For meal reservations call Karen Sides at 402-552-7480.
New Cassel Retirement Center It’s Truly a Place to Call Home!
Come see our Christmas Village Every Friday in December 1-3pm Tours available Special Performance December 14 Voices of Boys Town at 1:30pm
New Cassel Offers: 24-hour Health Services Restaurant Style Meals Weekly Housekeeping Scheduled Transportation Daily / Weekly Worship Utilities / Cable Social Activities Computer Lab / Free Wi-Fi Gift Shop / Beauty Salon
Call (402) 393-2277
900 North 90th Street / Omaha, NE 68114 www.newcassel.org
Sponsored by the School Sisters of Saint Francis
Y
Wills • Trusts • Probate
ou’re invited to join Vincent J. Leinen and friends in sharing the joy and the spirit of the holiday season at the 38th annual Omaha Holiday Caroling Festivities. This year’s event is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 16 at 2:30 p.m. at the Nebraska Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, 7410 Mercy Rd. The Omaha Holiday Caroling Festivities are part of a nationwide initiative designed to promote happiness to older adults and their caregivers during the holiday season. Leinen said the events are open to entertainers, singers, and musicians of all talent levels and ages. “Together, we have the power to make a difference and to make the world a better place,” he added. Following the caroling, participants are invited to attend a party at Godfather’s Pizza, 2117 S. 67th Street. For more information, please call Leinen at 818-3429336 or log on the Internet to www.holidaymusicmakingadifference.com.
Ask A Lawyer: Is Your Will Up-To-Date? Could a Trust Be the Best Choice For You? How Can You Avoid Probate? Do You Need Powers of Attorney? Are You In Need of a Probate Attorney in Your Time of Loss? We can help. Call today for your free, no-obligation initial consultation with Tom Whitmore. Tom has over 40 years of experience in the field of estate planning and probate and will help ensure your plans are exactly what you want and need.
Have a question about estate planning? Give us a call!
AARP Legal Service Network • No Charge For Initial Consultation
7602 Pacific Street, Ste 200 • (402) 391-2400 http://whitmorelaw.com
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New Horizons
the 150,000 public water entities across the country must meet. Third party laboratories provide detailed analyses to ensure local supplies live up to the EPA’s expectations. These laws work together to keep groundwater supplies safe, but environmentalists would like to see both strengthened substantially in the face of drought-inducing global warming and other threats. While regulation and enforcement of industry and agriculture are important for protecting our limited groundwater supplies, consumers also must play a role. The Groundwater Foundation, a Nebraskabased non-profit working to educate people and inspire action to ensure sustainable, clean groundwater for future generations, suggests taking short showers, shutting off the faucet while brushing teeth and shaving, running full loads of dishes and laundry, checking for leaky faucets and getting them fixed, and watering plants and the lawn only when necessary. Likewise, the group advocates that consumers recycle used motor oils, limit the amount of fertilizer and pesticides used on plants, lawns, and gardens, and generally reduce household chemical use. Leftover chemicals should be disposed of at hazardous waste collection sites, not down the drain or into the gutter. Another way to help is to initiate a Source Water Protection process, which involves locating local groundwater sources and identifying ways to protect
and conserve them. The Groundwater Foundation’s free Source Water Assessment and Protection Workshop Guide has detailed information about a number of source water protection strategies and additional information on areas where the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act intersect. Funding for the guide was provided by the EPA’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water, which considers it a must-read for officials, policymakers, and activists deliberating land use and water quality issues. (EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E The Environmental Magazine.) Older Nebraskans have free access to legal info Legal Aid of Nebraska operates a free telephone access line for Nebraskans age 60 and older. Information is offered to help the state’s older men and women with questions on topics like bankruptcy, homestead exemptions, collections, powers of attorney, Medicare, Medicaid, grandparent rights, and Section 8 housing. The telephone number for the Elder Access Line is 402-827-5656 in Omaha and 1-800-5277249 statewide. This service is available to Nebraskans age 60 and older regardless of income, race, or ethnicity. For more information, log on the Internet to http://www.legalaidofnebraska.com/EAL.
Annual holiday caroling event scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 16 Christmas play at
WHITMORE LAW OFFICE
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Keeping fresh water safe and abundant is a challenge for everyone. In the United States, about half the country’s drinking water comes from groundwater sources. Many rural areas derive all their drinking water from groundwater, which also provides 40 percent of the irrigation needs of American farmers. While underground aquifers may at one point have seemed limitless, huge demand for water especially in arid areas like the Southwest means groundwater reserves are precious and need to be carefully managed with conservation in mind. Groundwater is easily contaminated by any number of common man-made products like gasoline, oil, road salts, pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals. Management of specific water supplies is decentralized. While local and regional water authorities manage supplies for municipalities and counties around the country, oversight comes from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as mandated by the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Enacted in 1972, the Clean Water Act addresses water pollution in general and requires everyone, especially large water users including large industrial and agricultural operations, to deal with their water inflows and outflows in a responsible, non-polluting manner. Meanwhile, 1974’s Safe Drinking Water Act requires the EPA to set standards for drinking water quality
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December 2012
Blue Barn Theatre Neil Haven’s Who Killed Santa? will be on stage at the Blue Barn Theatre, 614 S. 11th St., through Dec. 15. Tempers flare as Santa deals with Frosty, Tiny Tim, The Little Drummer Boy, and Rudolph at a holiday party. With the audience’s help, detectives solve St. Nick’s murder in this whodunit. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and Sunday at 6 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and groups of 10 or more. For reservations and more information, please call 402345-1576.