MT55 Winter 2016 by Missoulian

winter 2016

huntress senior takes down moose

hero memories WWII vet still gets around cars elicit fond recollections

table of contents 4

maryleeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moose

foster grandparents

36 live strong and prosper

surviving war hero

retirement that counts

38 give generously

creative living

retirement strategy

40 caring for tribal elders

keep moving

30 disability happens

memories through cars

leaps in technology

42 response to stress

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Winter 2016

marylee’s moose

Submitted Photo

BRETT FRENCH Montana 55

The bull moose stood 7-foot tall at the shoulders, weighed more than a quarter of a ton and carried antlers almost 4 feet wide, yet Marylee Moreland wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

Rising from a crouch to stand, the 73-year-old archery hunter drew her compound bow, aimed and fired in one smooth, confident movement. “It was almost like slow motion seeing that arrow fly,” she said. The arrow pierced both of the massive animal’s lungs. It took four steps and crumpled to the ground. “It was basically textbook the way you practice, and a whole lot of luck,” Moreland said. “I knew he was big, but I didn’t count points.” It’s hard to tell who is more excited about the adventure, Moreland or her husband, Gary Temple.

montana55.com “This is the biggest bull I’ve ever photographed in 10 years down on this creek,” Temple said, beaming with pride in his bride. “The mass on it was phenomenal.” The bull was so big that the couple decided to have a full body mount made, with Cody, Wyo., taxidermist Ray Hatfield creating a unique display. “It’s the biggest moose we’ve gotten from Montana this year, for sure,” Hatfield said. “Usually we see moose in the 35- to 40-inch range. Once in a while we get one wider.” The antlers green scored, before drying and the resulting shrinkage, 319 1/8 inches under Safari Club International’s measuring system and 128 6/8 under Pope and Young Club guidelines, which deduct points for lack of symmetry between antlers. The largest bull scored in Montana under Pope and Young rules was a 169 2/8 moose shot by Sam Terakedis in Park County in 1995. Not one name on that Montana list, though, appears to be a woman, let alone a 73-year-old woman. Temple has been applying for a bull moose tag for 17 years, Moreland for only three. Last year there were almost 700 applicants in the south-central Montana hunting district for four bull moose tags. Temple was so excited when he opened the letter

with Moreland’s tag in it that he cut his telephone conversation short with a client to tell his wife the good news. Moreland has only been archery hunting about five years. She’s already shot a Canadian black bear and whitetail deer with a bow that requires her to pull back — called the draw weight — 40 pounds each time she shoots. Temple said in the sometimesmacho world of hunting, some men have poohpoohed the ability of a bow that size being able to effectively kill big game. So he’s happy Moreland has proven any naysayers wrong.

The couple had been diligently hunting in the Joliet area on private land along Rock Creek since the archery season opened, typically getting out twice a week — on Mondays and Thursdays to avoid any crowds. Their technique was to sit in tree stands while Temple blew a lonely cow moose tune on a large brown plastic tube resembling a megaphone. Staked in the ground below their stand was a cow moose decoy. On the first day out they saw a young bull but passed on the shot. “So that was encouraging to see a young moose,”

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Moreland said. “We also saw cows and calves. One cow in there had twins.” But the bigger bulls kept eluding them. Neighbors would call to say, “I saw your moose, he was up in Roberts or, I saw your moose he was crossing the highway,” Moreland noted. One person even had a bull in their yard eating apples. But the bigger bull avoided the hunters.

It wasn’t until their 13th day of hunting, on Oct. 26, that luck changed. Temple was calling and lured in a cow moose. Close behind it was a large bull. The bull would come no closer than 75 yards, though, too far out for Moreland to accurately and effectively shoot. Eventually the moose wandered off and Temple figured the hunt was over for the morning. He suggested they go home and return in the evening. But as they were driving away it began to rain. Temple had left his video camera in the treestand. Worried it would get too wet, he decided to turn around and go back. As they were navigating the road Moreland looked off to the side and saw the big bull about 100 yards from where they had originally seen him. Temple braked to a stop. Moreland eased off the four-wheeler, nocked an arrow and began stalking through the brush, under a barbed wire fence and across a gulley. Temple hung back and blew his moose call, hoping to keep the bull from leaving or maybe draw it closer to Moreland. “Mrs. Bullwinkle was still with him,” Moreland said. Using a rangefinder, which shoots a beam of light to measure distances to objects, Moreland discovered the bull was at 55 yards when she first peeked — still out of her comfortable shooting range. So she crept closer, even though she had a clean shot and a knee scheduled for surgery was throbbing. At no time did she feel anxious or excited from a surge of adrenaline,

even when standing and shooting, she said.

After the shot, Moreland and Temple backed out of the area. Archery lore suggests hunters give the animal time to bleed out and die. Going to the site right away can sometimes spook an injured animal into running away, never to be recovered. While waiting for an hour, Temple got on the phone and called Hatfield who volunteered to drive up from Cody to skin the moose. The landowner offered to haul the large critter out with his tractor and friend T.J. Smith showed up with his pickup to carry the carcass to the meat processor. “The funny thing was, it was like Tom Sawyer. Everybody jumped in to help, and we didn’t get our hands bloody,” Temple said. “That was the other part that made it so special, to watch the faces of these other people, watch their reactions to this,” Moreland said. “None of us had been up close and personal with a moose. So the conversation was everything from ‘look how big his feet are,’ to ‘look at the differences in the color of his hair.’” Upon close examination, the couple found that the bull had likely been in some recent tussles with another, equally big bull. He had a puncture wound in his shoulder, a large tear in one ear and scars and fresh scabs around his eyes and cheeks. “There’d been a couple of locomotives really going at it,” Temple said. Reflecting on the experience, and her exciting involvement in the sport of bowhunting, Moreland could only shake her silver mane as if hardly believing it herself, admitting she was under a lot of pressure to succeed when she drew the moose tag. “It’s an experience like nothing else,” she said, quoting one of her favorite TV hunting show hosts. “A lot of people don’t realize the joy of just being outside.”

That was the other part that made it so special, to watch the faces of these other people, watch their reactions to this. None of us had been up close and personal with a moose. So the conversation was everything from ‘look how big his feet are,’ to ‘look at the differences in the color of his hair.’ – marylee Moreland

montana55.com

Winter 2016

surviving war hero

TOMMY MARTINO, Montana 55

David Thatcher is one of only two remaining Doolittle Raiders.

KIM BRIGGEMAN Montana 55

David Thatcher, war hero, is doing fine these days. He uses a cane and walker at times â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all those years of tromping the pavement of Missoula delivering the mail finally took their toll on his knees.

But walk he does, at age 94. Missoulaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resident Doolittle Raider can still drive around town when the need arises, and come growing season Thatcher still nurtures the vegetables, raspberries and rhubarb in the garden he and Dawn have kept for decades.

montana55.com “I get around pretty good,” Thatcher allowed last week at his home on Dearborn Avenue. He remains an inspiration to generations of Americans and Chinese who know and honor what Jimmy Doolittle’s Raiders did on April 18, 1942, in the opening months of our nation’s involvement in World War II. Thatcher, then a corporal, was engineer/gunner in the back end of a B-25, one of 16 sent on a daring mission from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. They stunned Japan and punctured its aura of invulnerability by dropping bombs on a theretofore untouchable Tokyo and surrounding towns. While not especially destructive, the bombing provided a tremendous morale boost for an American military and public in desperate need of one after the attack on Pearl Harbor four months earlier. The Doolittle Raid remains a storied chapter in our nation’s past, and the surviving Raiders of all ranks forged an uncommonly tight bond in the following decades, cemented by reunions each April 18 from 1945 to 2013. In the past year, Thatcher has seen the passing of two more fellow Raiders and friends. That leaves just two of the original 80: Thatcher, who grew up around Billings and came to forestry school in Missoula after the war, and Dick Cole of Comfort, Texas, Doolittle’s co-pilot. Cole turned 100 years old in September, and though he’s hard of hearing, he too is spry. Those who know him compare Cole favorably to the Energizer Bunny. He’s in Washington, D.C., on this Veterans Day with his daughter, Cindy Chal, who accompanies him on regular trips to Doolittle and other military events. Thatcher counts Cole as a close friend, though their time together is limited by distance and age these days. Cole and Chal were in Missoula briefly in September, flown here from San Antonio in a twinengine private jet. They picked up the Thatchers and flew to Reno, Nevada, for the annual Reno Championship Air Races. There, Cole’s 100th birthday was marked with a cake that Thatcher could only marvel at. “It was about three feet high,” Thatcher said with a chuckle. “The top layer was the size of a regular birthday cake and it got bigger as it went down.” His is the same gentle demeanor that so impressed a military liaison with a flair for report writing in 1942. “Beyond the limits of human exertion, beyond

the call of friendship, beyond the call of duty, he – a corporal – brought his four wounded officers to safety,” Merian C. Cooper, a logistics officer for the Doolittle Raid, wrote of Thatcher after debriefing all the surviving, uncaptured Raiders. “Medal of Honor? Pin it on him. He earned it.” Instead, Thatcher received a Silver Star, one of just three endowed on heroic Raiders in the aftermath of their historic raid.

David Thatcher was the only one of the fiveman crew who wasn’t seriously injured when Lt. Ted Lawson crash-landed their bomber – nicknamed “The Ruptured Duck” after a training mishap – near the shore of a Japanese-occupied island in China that dark and rainy night. In the ensuing days, Thatcher helped grateful Chinese guerrillas and fishermen smuggle the injured Lawson, copilot Dean Davenport, navigator Charles McClure and bombardier Robert Clever to the mainland and medical help, dodging Japanese patrols along the way. More than 70 years later, Thatcher vividly recalls the rainy trek, the courage of his guides and crew members, and the reception the assembled Raiders received at a banquet in Chongquing. A display of his medals at home includes the Chinese Medal of the Armed Forces, presented by Madame Chiang Kai-shek, wife of the Chinese leader. Thatcher describes in detail how he exchanged places with T.R. “Doc” White, one of the other Silver Star recipients, and made his way with White’s crews and then others across China to India, Africa, Brazil and Puerto Rico before landing stateside in Florida. The Doolittle Raid was a pivotal point in the war and “very necessary,” said Thatcher’s son-in-law, Jeff Miller, of Missoula. “But nobody talks about the rest of the story. These guys weren’t put on the sidelines. Too often, the story stops at the Doolittle Raiders.” Indeed, by October 1942 the famous raid in the Pacific was a distant memory. After rigorous and dangerous training in Tampa, Florida, on Martin B-26 bombers, Thatcher was one of 12,000 troops to ship out of New York Harbor on the Queen Mary, which zigzagged its way across the North Atlantic to avoid detection by German U-boats. In the next several months, Thatcher flew 26 bombing missions over North Africa, the Winter 2016

(The Chinese) had been fighting Japan for four years and had never been able to bomb the Japanese homeland, so when the Raiders bombed it, they treated us royally over there.

Mediterranean and Italy. He participated in the first bombing of Rome in July 1943. Through all the danger, disease was the only thing that slowed him down. Upon arriving in England, he spent two weeks in a hospital in Norwich with malaria while the rest of his outfit moved out to Tunisia. He probably contracted it in India, Thatcher said. Then, in October 1943, hepatitis that he blamed on sanitation issues laid Thatcher low. He spent 2 1/2 months in a tent hospital in Tunisia. He returned to his squadron, but he didn’t go flying after that.

Lawson, crew chief of “The Ruptured Duck” in the Tokyo raid, lost his leg but – thanks in large part to Thatcher – not his life from the crash. By the time Thatcher returned to the United States in December 1943, Lawson had finished his first-hand account of the Doolittle Raid that was published as “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo.” Hollywood immediately jumped on it. A movie by the same name was filmed at MGM Studios. It starred Van Johnson as Lawson, Robert Mitchum as pilot Robert Gray, Spencer Tracy as Doolittle and Robert Walker as Thatcher. “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” received an Academy Award in 1945 for best special effects and was nominated for an Oscar in the category of black and white cinematography. On leave in January of 1944, Thatcher toured the set and met the cast, including Walker. Thatcher was favorably impressed. “I think he did a decent job,” he said. Lawson’s “Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo” was the first of several books spawned by the Doolittle Raid. Just this year, “Dick Cole’s War” and “Target Tokyo” have appeared on the shelves. A film crew from China visited the Thatchers’ home in Missoula a couple of years ago, and the 10

documentary that resulted aired recently in China. “They’re still pretty proud of us for what we did,” Thatcher said. “They had been fighting Japan for four years and had never been able to bomb the Japanese homeland, so when the Raiders bombed it, they treated us royally over there.” It’s horrific to think about, but according to Chinese estimates, some 250,000 Chinese men, women and children were killed when Japanese troops went looking for the Raiders from May until August of 1942. The devastation they spread included cholera, typhoid and other pathogens, some of which spread to Japanese forces and killed some 1,700 of them. It was murder on par with the Nazi war camps in Europe, but largely unknown in the Western world.

The Thatchers’ son, Jeff, is director of communications for the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce. Last winter, several of the children of Raiders created a nonprofit corporation called The Children of the Doolittle Raiders, of which the younger Thatcher was named president. “Our mission is to keep the legacy of the Doolittle Raiders alive, and we’re trying to accomplish that through a lot of different areas,” Jeff Thatcher said from his office in Little Rock. In September, he was in Beijing where he was a guest of honor during the commemoration of the “70th Anniversary of the Victory of the World Anti-Fascist War and the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.” Among the dignitaries Jeff Thatcher met was Max Baucus, the U.S. ambassador to China from his home state of Montana. It was, Thatcher said, Chinese president Xi Jinping’s first big event and it was impressive: a grand assembly and military parade at Tiananmen Square, a memorial reception at the Great Hall of the People and an evening memorial gala, also

montana55.com at the Great Hall. “I was amazed by how much interest there is and how much they venerate the Raiders,” Thatcher said. “Me going there was like a huge deal to all of them. I felt a little like a rock star.” Afterward, he toured parts of Zhejiang Province, retracing his father’s footsteps from 1942. One of his escorts was his friend Melinda Liu, the Beijing bureau chief for Newsweek and daughter of “honorary Raider” Tung Sheng Liu, who died in 2009. Another was Doolittle Raid researcher Zheng Weiyong, who recently published a book in China about the Raiders. Jeff Thatcher saw and photographed a cave where members of one crew had hidden from Japanese troops, and toured an exhibition hall in Shipu and a city museum in Quozhou, where displays had been erected for the Raiders. In Linghai township, he was shown the restored Enze Clinic, where Lawson’s gangrenous left leg was amputated and where David Thatcher also stayed. Most impactful was a visit to the beach where “The Ruptured Duck” went down and David Thatcher’s true heroics began. A woman from the local village presented him with a piece of the airplane. “That was really a moving moment for me, really an emotional moment,” Thatcher said. “Just the

magnitude of it all hit me. My dad could have very easily been killed in that plane crash or the Japanese could have captured him as they did some of the other crews.” Thatcher left the piece of plane to display at the Enze Clinic, which has received $1 million in upgrades to restore it to the way it was during World War II. It includes an honorary memorial hall that includes a Raiders exhibit. He was contacted by the curator later for help upgrading the facility further. “The Raiders were such a ray of light to the Chinese when they desperately needed some morale boosting, just as they were to us,” Jeff Thatcher said. “The fact that these foreigners basically flew on a suicide mission. … They had the guts to strike a blow at Japan, which was kind of running roughshod over China at the time.” Such actions are very much valued and remembered in China, he said. “One thing I’ve found since I started researching this, history means a tremendous amount to the Chinese,” said Thatcher. “They don’t have short memories like we do in the United States. World War II is still vivid memory in the minds of a lot of them, and a lot of them felt like the Japanese were not sufficiently punished for their deeds.”

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creative living

JOY EARLS Montana 55

Colder weather is here and it’s a good time to settle into your current home for another winter.

But it’s also time to think about the future. Are you rambling around a house that has more room than you want to deal with? Are you thinking about the mounting costs of heat, taxes and maintenance? Are you also thinking that you want to be some place warmer, at least for part of the winter? Of course, you may not be ready to sell your home yet. There are probably some good choices besides making a drastic change. If you’re open to some ideas, it doesn’t hurt to consider something a little different. I guarantee, if nothing else, you will have great dinner conversations during the holidays. Before I go further, I want to be sure that anyone reading this knows I am using creative thinking.

montana55.com I hope I don’t get a letter from a local government employee telling me this is an absolutely prohibited use for a residence. On the other hand, as members of the Baby Boomer generation, we are often ready to expand on or change the status quo. And when it comes to our homes and living choices, perhaps that is a good place to start. My caution is to know your building codes, zoning, covenants and anything in place in your neighborhood. And then take your ideas and see if they will fit into the current guidelines, or if they may need some tweaking. After that long disclaimer, let’s talk about some possible ideas for you to consider so you can enjoy where you are a little longer. There has been a lot of talk lately about Air BnB, Vacation Rental By Owner (VRBO) and others. Air BnB started as a way for some young San Franciscans to pay the rent by blowing up air mattresses and renting space in their apartment. It worked so well that renters and owners around the world are using the website as a way to meet new people and make a little bit of extra money each month. VRBOs are similar. If you have a large home or a spare bedroom, it may be something fun to try. We were in Colombia last spring, stayed in a fabulous condo with a roof-top pool and a doorman. Believe me, we don’t live like that or travel in such style. But when people open up their homes, they are able to travel themselves and have others experience their surroundings affordably. I was sold after that trip. There are other sites and services where people exchange their homes for more extended periods of time. You could find someone who has a home in a warm Southern town and wants to explore a winter in the snow. You could then experience the season in an urban environment where it’s warmer, while they get to go skiing and freeze their tootsies off. Or you could look even further and try an extended stay abroad. By traveling overseas and staying in an exchange home, you can settle in one spot. This makes some of the challenge of moving from place to place while exploring a new environment easier. And it is the perfect opportunity to really get an idea if you want to move from your current home or just have a change for a while. When my father-in-law retired, my in-laws had planned on lots of trips. They bought a new car and set out on the road soon after the last cup of congratulations was raised at his retirement party. They headed east first to visit my sister-in-law, and then came out west to visit those of us who lived out this way.

By traveling overseas and staying in an exchange home, you can settle in one spot. This makes some of the challenge of moving from place to place while exploring a new environment easier. After that round, they stayed close to home. They were comfortable with familiar surroundings and preferred us to come in their direction. They got their taste of longer trips away from home and learned that it wasn’t what they liked. I have known other people who took more drastic approaches. They sold their homes, bought big RVs and intended to roam the country, with long-term stays in their favorite locales. For some people, it may be everything they had hoped for. But others, after the thrill of being footloose, they decided the rambling life wasn’t for them. The old house looked a lot better after being on the road, like it did for my in-laws. For the people who sold their homes, it might have been a better idea to rent their home first on a longterm basis, find a house-sitter to oversee things for a time or even shut things down until their return. Keeping their home would have left them that option. Some houses have enough room for a family member to live in one area full time, and the owners can come and go knowing someone is around most of the time. This can work well as a person ages. The space can also accommodate a potential caregiver or roommate that isn’t too close for comfort, but is there to assist if needed. The options seem endless when you start daydreaming. It is helpful to know that there are so many choices. Selling your home is on one end of the spectrum, while sharing it or completely renting the entire premises is on the other.

Joy Earls is a broker/owner of Joy Earls Real Estate. She can be reached at 531-9811 or at joyearls@joyearls.com.

Winter 2016

keep moving

JESSEY BORDEN and LISA BECZKIEWICZ

We know that every human body needs to move. Seniors, boomers, generation Xers, millennials and children alike benefit from exercising daily. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take a closer look at where we stand in Missoula, and at how we boomers can move more, and even encourage our friends and family to be more physically active. Montana hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t escaped the obesity trend that is sweeping the nation. Obesity is defined as the state of abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health (World Health Organization, 2015). Obesity is a term that every American has become very familiar with over the years. We have all become increasingly aware of the risks and diseases associated with being overweight or obese. If you just looked at all the research and writing in the news and on the Internet, you would think America knows everything we need to combat obesity, and that we must be doing very well in our efforts to curb the epidemic. Unfortunately, this is not so.

montana55.com

Obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.

In 1980, no more than 15 percent of residents in any state were obese. By 2014, the story was completely different. The worst state obesity rate in 1980 would be the best rate today. In 2014, 42 states have a population that is 25 percent obese. Thirty of those 42 states have obesity rates of 30 percent or more, and two have rates greater than 35 percent. Montana is better off than most states. Our 2014 obesity rate was 26.4 percent. However, we shouldn’t congratulate ourselves too much, because Montana’s 2000 obesity rate was only 15.6 percent. That is a big, bad change in a short amount of time.

Unfortunately, childhood obesity rates are going up even faster.

Obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. Childhood obesity is now one of the biggest national health threats. Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to grow up to be obese or overweight adults. About 70 percent of obese children have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and are at greater risk for developing pre-diabetes, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems (Montana Healthy Foods and Communities Initiative, 2015). These health problems continue into adulthood. Obesity is a risk factor for more than 60 chronic diseases, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, liver and gallbladder disease, stroke, dementia, depression, and cancer problems (Gaines, 2015).

Montana Widow Comforted Knowing Husband Passed Peacefully

“

I’m grateful Erwin had this option. – Ethel Byrnes, Missoula, MT

On a sunny morning in March 2014, Erwin Byrnes’s long battle with cancer and Parkinson’s Disease had come to an end. He sat down in his favorite chair, took some medication prescribed by his doctor, and passed peacefully at home. He was surrounded by his loving wife and grown children.

”

The Montana Supreme Court’s 2009 Baxter ruling ensures Montanans can exercise their freedom through the end of life.

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Email:

Mail completed petitions to PO Box 1348 Helena, MT 59624.

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Winter 2016

What can we do about this problem? How do we make things better for our children and grandchildren? For starters, we need to move more. The American Medical Association says an adult should have 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily, and a child should have at least 60 minutes of moderately vigorous physical activity every day. Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving. Activity doesn’t have to be something you dread! Start with the things you like, even simple things like gardening or walking around the neighborhood. Try out activities that interest you or give you joy. Hike, dance, swim or run. Experiment and go from there! Remember that your children and grandchildren are always observing you; your habits will affect their habits. You are already a role model, so be a positive one! Birthday or holiday gifts offer a perfect chance to promote physical activity. Skip gifts with a screen, like movies or video games. Instead, give the children in your life the gift of play! Gift them with something that requires them to

be physically active. A scooter, ice skates, a sled, a giant Frisbee, a soccer or basketball all encourage children and youth to go play. An even better option is to give the gift of your time. Go to the park and kick the ball around, take a walk in your neighborhood, learn to ice skate, or take a dip in the pool. The possibilities are endless, and Montana is a great place to get your body moving. A child will cherish these memories, and it will help you form strong family connections. The energy and health benefits you will all start to see will be the gift that keeps on giving, for yourself and future generations.

Jessey Borden works at the Missoula City-County Health Department as an intern for Let’s Move! Missoula and is currently completing her education requirements at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse toward a degree in Community Health Education. Lisa Beczkiewicz is the Let’s Move! Missoula coordinator, with the Health Promotion Division at the Missoula City-County Health Department, and can be reached by phone at 406258-3895 or lbeczkiewicz@co.missoula.mt.us.

montana55.com

Winter 2016

memories through cars

KURT WILSON, Montana 55

Keith Anderson, a UM associate professor of social work, has found that older people’s reminiscences about cars they have owned can improve mood and make them happier, even for a day. Here, Anderson holds a photograph of a woman with her “honeymoon car,” in the 1950s.

KEILA SZPALLER Montana 55

Dwain Wright fell in love with the ’66 Pontiac GTO the moment he set eyes on it.

In 1977, he bought the dusty blue muscle car on the spot for $2,400, and he didn’t sell it until last year. In nearly 40 years, Wright replaced the front seat covers, fixed the cracked dash, and even let his children take the wheel on occasion. “One of ‘em had a fender bender in it, so that pretty much scotched anybody else driving it unless I was with them,” he said. Now, the cruiser is in the hands of another owner, but the memories it holds are

montana55.com still with Wright, now 77. “Cars were a big thing for me. ... That was my midlife crisis,” he said. In a study published earlier this year in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, a University of Montana researcher and his colleague at Ohio State University showed that using automobiles as a focus of reminiscence has emotional and even cognitive benefits for older adults. “I can’t say it’s going to be a life changer, but it could be a day changer,” said Keith Anderson, a UM associate professor of social work. “And maybe it could count toward improving the days of some of these (senior) folks.” Called “Auto Therapy: Using Automobiles as Vehicles for Reminiscence with Older Adults,” the report is one of 600 that UM researchers published in scholarly journals and other media in the 2015 school year, according to UM.

Anderson, who came to UM last year from Ohio State, decided he wanted to work in geriatrics in 2000 when he was a social worker in a nursing home in Washington, D.C. “I decided that I wanted to go back and do my Ph.D. in gerontology and then focus my work on improving the lives of older adults and their caregivers,” he said. The study came after Anderson had done some work with pets and older adults. Originally, he thought he could use pets as the focus point for a study, but doing so had a downside. “It could elicit some very strong emotions, sadness and grief, because all the pets would have died over the course of their lifetimes,” he said. He wanted to create a positive experience, and he looked for a focus point that would parallel an animal in terms of a lifespan. “So I thought of an automobile,” Anderson said.

The car matched his goals perfectly. “They’re able to define each period of your life,” he said. “For instance, a young person may have a fixerupper because that’s all they can afford. “Someone with children may have, back in the day, a station wagon, nowadays a minivan. And then, occasionally, you get these moments in life (where) you get a convertible when you’re a bachelor or you have a midlife crisis.” Unlike a failed relationship, though, a clunker can still elicit good memories, and ones that make a

person laugh. “Even if it was a complete piece of junk,” Anderson said. Previous research backed up his idea. Mobility is the primary purpose of a car, but automobiles hold much more meaning to people, according to the study. “A substantial body of literature has firmly established the importance of automobiles in modern society, especially in the United States,” the study said. “Although mobility may be the core function, automobiles transcend this primary purpose and have become social instruments, symbols of personality and well-being, reflections and engines of cultural change, markers to past places, people and events, and in some cases, treasured members of our families.”

At first, Anderson thought he would conduct the initial testing on men, but colleagues encouraged him to include women, and he’s glad he did. He recalls a story he heard from an AfricanAmerican woman who was pleased to buy a car in the 1950s.

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“She told me about the first time she purchased a car and was able to sign her name on the purchasing document. It was a moment of pride for her, and I’m glad we were able to capture that,” Anderson said. He and Katherine Weber, of Ohio State’s College of Social Work, performed the study in Ohio on 19 older adults. Anderson said when he looked at the signup sheet asking for participants, more women than men had signed up, and the journal notes 10 women and nine men as subjects. Reminiscence was the foundation in the research. “In this pilot study, we introduce a novel approach to reminiscence using automobiles as vehicles to accessing and sharing memories,” the study said. Already, researchers found that reminiscence that promotes positive images can contribute to a person’s psychological well-being. The qualitative research by Anderson and Weber showed the car was an effective focus point.

Now, Anderson is building on those results. In the current phase of the study, his team is using qualitative and quantitative data to measure the impacts on mood. Kimberly Mader, a senior student in social work at UM, is working with Anderson on the research, and she has found the simple prompt about a person’s car to be a great conversation starter. The question about a car isn’t so personal that it’s threatening, she said, and interview subjects can reveal as much or as little as they want about their lives. “It’s a really innocent question,” Mader said. The car was an icon of that generation as well. Decades ago, many seniors didn’t fly, she said, and they relied on their vehicles and linked cars to milestones, too. “I had one woman who recently lost her husband. She was talking about how they went on a honeymoon

trip together in their first car, and how they traveled through Montana and saw all these beautiful sites,” Mader said. Mader is the site administrator for research at the Missoula Senior Center, and at school she has focused her studies on gerontology. It isn’t the most popular field, she said, but it’s gaining interest as Baby Boomers hit retirement. “More and more people are starting to realize they’re the next generation we’re going to have to focus on,” Mader said.

Wright, retired from the military, is one subject of the study, and he agrees that reminiscing about cars can improve a person’s outlook. “I think that’s very true. I mean, you still have a lot of car enthusiasts around, and when you start talking to ‘em, they just get hyper. They love their cars,” Wright said. Most of the time, his prize GTO stayed in the garage, but Wright remembers taking it to his first big car show, in Sandpoint, Idaho. He and his wife, Judy Wright, remember driving it in a parade in Missoula, too, with five grandkids in tow. The little girls dressed in poodle skirts and handed out bubble gum, and the little boys slicked back their hair. “It was an integral part of our family,” Judy Wright said. She herself was thrilled to hear her husband had fallen in love with the Pontiac, which had a license plate that read, “GTO4ME.” He always put his family first, and she was pleased to see him do something for himself.

Last year, after the car earned a first place award in

montana55.com

KURT WILSON, Montana 55

Dwain Wright smiles as he talks about the day he fell in love with a 1966 Pontiac GTO. the Garden City River Rod Run, Dwain Wright opted to sell it. He wasn’t doing much with it, and he didn’t want to play favorites with his children. He sold it at an auction for some $22,500. “I’m still grieving,” Wright said, laughing as he made the admission. The man who bought the classic car lives in the Bitterroot, and Judy Wright suspects it’s more of a possession to him than a beloved family member. He didn’t want to hear any of the stories that went with the car, and he didn’t want the equipment that went with it, either, she said. “It was like a charm on a charm bracelet for him. That kind of hurt you a little, don’t you think?” Judy Wright said. Replied Wright: “I’ve never seen the car since he bought it.”

Anderson’s research to help older people

continues, and his study on the automobile as a point of reminiscence is ongoing in Missoula. So far, he said, the most surprising finding is the importance of the honeymoon car. One advantage of the research is that a person doesn’t need extensive training or a license to ask a simple question that will take someone down memory lane, he said. Volunteers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities can do it as easily as staff members, social workers and therapists, he said. Plus, he said, photos of all the cars are online, a phenomenon that has shocked some subjects seeing “their” cars on a computer screen. “One older gentleman said, ‘How did you get my car inside that box?’ “ Anderson said. Plus, he said, the person asking the question gains as well. “It’s one of those feel-good research projects. ... I feel like the researchers benefit as much as the folks who are in the intervention,” Anderson said. Winter 2016

foster grandparents

TOM BAUER, Montana 55

Foster grandparent Jane Butler works with a group of second graders at Sussex School.

KIM BRIGGEMAN Montana 55

Stories are the most important story of the Foster Grandparent program, in Montana and elsewhere.

There are thousands to tell from the 50 years since Sargent Shriver developed the federal program as part of President Lyndon Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s War on Poverty. Sometime in the early 1970s, women and a few men of retirement age and limited income started receiving small stipends to help teach reading and math in schools all across the state. Their job, as a current executive of the program puts it, was â&#x20AC;&#x153;to provide the kind of unconditional love that sets a child on a path to a secure future.â&#x20AC;?

montana55.com For a dozen years Flossie Jacobson drove a distinctive 1956 Rambler to the work she loved at Franklin School in Missoula. Judy Edwards recalled the winter day in the 1980s that was so cold Missoula’s District 1 called off school. Edwards was the first-grade teacher at Franklin, and said she went to school, albeit a bit late. “Flossie’s pink Rambler was there, and when I went inside, she had hot chocolate ready for all the kids who would come to school anyway,” said Edwards, who retired in 2000 after 30 years as a teacher and principal in the Missoula district. Jacobson turned 90 on the job in 1987, and Franklin primary-grade students who are now in their 30s surrounded her at the party. “Happy birthday,” one little girl whispered in her ear. “I love you, Grandma Flossie.”

Dot Baker discovered Foster Grandparents at a trying time. She’d just become a widow. “Every morning my husband would come into the kitchen and say, ‘Good morning, honey.’ I think I sometimes miss that good morning most of all,” Baker told the Golden Star News in 1990. “Now it’s the children who say, ‘Good morning,’ and give me so many hugs. I’ve never had so many hugs in my whole life. The hugs can’t be measured by money.”

Dorothy Appelman had a stroke and couldn’t speak for more than a year. But the beloved foster grandmother was beckoned back to Willard School, where she had found a home. It was at a time in the early ‘80s when Hmong children from families displaced in Laos were filtering into the Missoula school system. “It was maybe the first time in a long time the schools were struggling with non-English students,” said Colleen Baldwin, who as director of Senior Corps at Missoula Aging Services oversees the Foster Grandparent program, Senior Companion and RSVP. “She came back and worked with the children who could not speak English. She said being with those young people was delightful,” Baldwin said. “She didn’t know what they were saying, they didn’t know what she was saying, and it made them feel equal. It’s one of the most touching stories I’ve ever, ever heard.”

The essence of the Foster Grandparent program hasn’t changed much in 50 years. Minimum age was 60, but is now 55. Grandparents

go into a classroom or sometimes a hallway to work individually or in small groups for four hours a day with vulnerable students who need individual attention that teachers don’t have time to give. They generally come out, as a current foster grandparent says, feeling like super heroes to a much larger segment of the school population. Baldwin said the one part of her job she regrets is telling a foster grandparent she or he has to give it up. In the beginning, grandparents received stipends equal to minimum wage, which was something south of $2 an hour. Fifty years later it’s all the way up to $2.65. “Let’s just say it hasn’t kept pace with inflation,” Baldwin said. The monthly pay of $225 sounds more digestible to would-be grandparents, most of whom can put it to good use for rent, gas and food. “You have to have the capacity to get out of the house, so the stipend is designed to reimburse them for what the cost of volunteering might be in their budgets,” Baldwin said. “We’re not in it for the money,” said Nancy Elkins, a veteran foster grandmother at Hellgate Elementary School. “But it’s good for transportation.” American taxpayers pay for most of the program through the Corporation for National and Community Service, or CNCS. Local programs pick up the rest. In Montana, four other Foster Grandparent programs are administered by Senior Corps directors based in Billings, Great Falls, Helena and Polson. Micky Snyder recently took over the latter, which is run through the Western Montana Area VI Agency on Aging and covers the six westernmost counties in the state, other than Missoula, as well as the Flathead Reservation. According to Baldwin, Missoula receives money from grants and local sources, including the United Way, the schools and local government. The program has placed 42 grandparents in eight Missoula County Public Schools elementary schools as well as in Bonner, Frenchtown, Hellgate Elementary, Lolo, Potomac, Seeley Lake, St. Joseph and Target Range schools; Head Start and Early Head Start; Missoula Community School, and Spirit at Play preschool on Stephens Avenue. Federal investment for the 2015-16 school year in Missoula is $126,438. It’s supplemented by more than $96,000 in local grants, cash and in-kind donations. Still, Foster Grandparent and other CNCS programs are again under the gun in Congress. Baldwin said sequestration hit AmeriCorps hardest, but the cuts inevitably seep over to other programs. “One might say that congressmen can still say they’re supporting seniors while at the same time gutting the program, and they can feel quite good about that,” Baldwin said. Winter 2016

TOM BAUER, Montana 55

Jonna Rhein, a foster grandparent at Paxson School, looks at photographs with second-grader Sophia Tucker. Rhein, a retired nurse, has spent five years with the program, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Grandparents didn’t fare well in the years after World War II. The nation was in motion. “Our society changed and when the family – mom, dad and children – started to move and go where the jobs were, they left behind the grandparents,” Baldwin said. No longer could they play with grandchildren or move in with their kids. A federal study found “not only were our seniors so poorly socialized that depression was rampant, they were malnourished,” Baldwin said. “There was not enough food to feed them, they were stuck at home if 24

they were lucky enough to have homes.” Congress sought to help in the 1960s, she said. America’s elders have maturity, experience and time, and many would welcome a chance to work with children, the reasoning went. “And the second thought was, these people are so extraordinarily low income, let’s give them a stipend in return for their service,” Baldwin said. Shriver was a political administrator and diplomat who founded and directed the U.S. Peace Corps during the presidential administration of his brotherin-law, John F. Kennedy. Later he was special assistant to Kennedy’s successor, Lyndon Johnson. It was in that role that Shriver led the War on Poverty,

montana55.com creating the likes of Head Start, VISTA, Job Corps, and Foster Grandparents. Over the years clippings and photos pertaining to the Missoula Foster Grandparents program have been compiled in a scrapbook. Most news accounts date the start of the local program to 1972. The earliest clipping, from June 17, 1974, reported on a dinner at the Holiday Inn that honored 10 retired senior volunteers who had served as foster grandparents in six Missoula schools. They were Marie Howard and Willard Nichols at Central School; Violet Porter, Mabel Teskey and Francis Moore at C.S. Porter; Ada Ferguson at Lewis and Clark; Grace Eichart and Peggy Sherman at Lowell; Clara Hiday at Whittier; and Anna Hamilton at Willard. The program has had its low points during the past 40 years. There was an uproar in 1977 when the state office administering the federal funds fired 20 foster grandparents in Missoula and 35 elsewhere for falling outside the federal income guidelines.

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But, oh, the highs. “One of the teachers tells us what the grandparents give to the children is time,” Baldwin said. “The time to catch up with the class, the time to learn to read … They teach time because nobody else does. “You get a hug from Grandma. You get the time to sit and actually work with one person who’s paying attention to you.” “And the grandma gets that time too,” said Elkins, who worked at the YMCA Early Learning Center and at Lowell before moving to Hellgate Elementary. Her own grandchildren live out of state, she said, and that’s not uncommon. “So that’s a huge thing for me,” she said. “It gives me something back I can’t get otherwise.” Elkins was sitting outside at her home visiting one day when the voice of a 6-year-old child came through her slatted board fence. “Grandma Nancy?” it said. She looked around in puzzlement. “Noah, is that you?” Elkins said. “It is. Are you my neighbor?” “Just like Mr. Rogers,” she replied. Noah has moved on to second grade, but every now and then Elkins will hear a knock-knock-knock on her fence. “Hello, Noah. Is that you?” “Yes, it is, Grandma,” the boy will reply. “Are you having a good day?”

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retirement that counts

TOM LUTEY, Montana 55

TOM LUTEY Montana 55

BILLINGS –– Don Roberts wasn’t sure what he was getting into when a nurse approached him about performing oral surgery in Tanzania.

The cause sounded worthy. In two weeks of work, Roberts, a Billings retiree, would be able to alleviate the pain of hundreds of impoverished people in Sakila, Tanzania. The enormity of the need couldn’t have been overestimated. Roberts pulled more than 800 teeth in his short visit. He did his work on the tables fashioned from pews of a Sakila church partitioned by sheets and wire into operating rooms. And even though many of his patients had never before seen a

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It’s just very gratifying to have a skill that can make life a lot easier for somebody else. – Don Roberts

dentist, let alone had a tooth pulled with the benefit of anesthetic or antibiotics, Roberts said he was the one who benefited most. “It’s just very gratifying to have a skill that can make life a lot easier for somebody else,” Roberts said. “The trust that they give you, not knowing you, just based on one human being hoping that this person is there to truly help them because a lot of times in their life, because these people are poorest of the poor, a lot of people take advantage of these people.” Roberts has made the trip twice and is sharing his experiences partly because at age 67, he isn’t sure he has another trip left. It takes two years to gear up for a mission. Roberts would be 69 next time around. What the people of Sakila need, he said, is an oral surgeon closer to 50, someone good for a few roundtrips to a part of the world with more need than most Americans can fathom. The trip was put together by Life Covenant Church, a Helena evangelical congregation that has for more than a decade sent medical professionals to Sakila, a village that is both rural in services and great in population because of surrounding communities. Life Covenant pastor Keith Johnson offers a prayer every day at the Legislature. Roberts served in the state House for four sessions. Tanzania is a poor African country of 51 million people. Because of AIDS and other diseases, roughly 64 percent of the population is younger than 25, according U.S. data on Tanzania. “A Tanzanian who lives to be 5 years old is a healthy Tanzanian,” Roberts said. Sakila is a higher-elevation community at 3,500 feet. The elevation helps keep some insect-related illnesses at bay. Mount Kilimanjaro towers on the horizon at 19,000 feet and Kenya is close enough that machine guns come out and troops begin moving

through this part of Tanzania when Islamic militant activity flares up across the border.

Missionaries like Roberts pay their own way, said Sami Butler, a registered nurse and trip organizer who attends Life Covenant Church. “All of the team members pay for their own trips, which end up being about $3,500 minimum, with plane tickets and room and board,” Butler said. “There’s some skin in the game for our folks. It’s not about us coming over and swooping in and being saviors. It’s about using our expertise to come alongside the people there to help the villages in that area.” The teams are sent out with a letter issued “to whom it may concern” explaining their destination and that the medicine in their cargo is a gift to the International Evangelism Centre in Sakila and won’t be sold. The name of IEC’s founder, Tanzanian Eluidi Issangya, is included in the letter to help clear passage at checkpoints as they make their way on narrow dirt roads from the city of Arusha. Bishop Eluidi Issangya carries a lot of respect in the nation because of IEC services, which include children’s schools, a medical center and an orphanage. Life Covenant Church raises money to cover the costs of a full-time medical staff for the IEC clinic. Issangya is also Sakila’s connection Life Covenant Church and other groups in the United States committed to helping IEC. Bishop Eluidi, as Issangya is known, will be in Billings in early February, hosted by Bethany Church. Bethany Pastor Jordan Work said Bishop Eluidi has been working with Montana churches for years. Winter 2016

retirement strategy

Mickie Douglas Social Security Public Affairs Specialist

Wright Brothers Day, observed each December 17, harkens to the day in 1903 that two adventurous brothers in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, took to the air for the first time. It was a modern miracle at the time and a catalyst for the age of intercontinental travel. Over a hundred years later, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commonplace for people to fly across the country. Most of us donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t consider all the preparation and patience it took to achieve this modern feat of flight.

Luckily, planning your financial future isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as daunting as pioneering modern aviation. Social Security has secure and easy-to-use online resources

montana55.com that can ensure your retirement soars above the clouds. The sooner your start planning for retirement, the better prepared you’ll be. Just like building a reliable airplane, you’ll need finely tuned parts that will work together for you to take flight. Think of your retirement strategy as a flight plan that propels you higher. We have many resources at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/retire that help you find the age at which you may first become entitled to unreduced retirement benefits, estimate your life expectancy, and calculate your estimated benefits. These tools explain how much money you will need and for how long — something you can adjust through personal savings, pensions, and other benefits. You can also get personalized benefit estimates using the Retirement Estimator at www. socialsecurity.gov/estimator. The Estimator shows different scenarios, like how future wage changes or alternate retirement dates will affect your future benefits. Benefit amounts may differ from the estimates provided because: • Your earnings may increase or decrease in the future. • After you start receiving benefits, they may be

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adjusted for cost-of-living increases. Your estimated benefits are based on current law. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2034, the payroll taxes collected under current law will be enough to pay only about 79 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits. • Your benefit amount may be affected by military service, railroad employment or pensions earned through work on which you did not pay Social Security tax. As you can see, your flight plan to retirement may change over your lifetime. It’s important you understand that no matter where life takes you, the long journey to retirement is one of your most important trips. With every right decision, you’re making your retirement flight plan a success that will carry you through the heights of your golden years. It’s never too early to start planning. Whether you are nearly ready to retire or if you’re just getting off the ground in your career, I recommend you create your own my Social Security account so you can also learn about all the future benefits available to you. Visit www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount to create your account. •

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disability happens

Mickie Douglas Social Security Public Affairs Specialist

For many of us, preparing for winter involves pulling out heavy coats from the closet and making sure our vehicle is ready for intense weather. Whether your winter brings snow, ice, or flooding, you need to be prepared.

Preparing for a possible physical or mental disability is the same. Many people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think of disability as something that could happen to them. Statistics show the chances of becoming disabled are greater than most realize. Fifty-six million Americans, or 1-in-5, live with a disability. Thirtyeight million Americans, or 1-in-10, live with a severe disability. A sobering

montana55.com fact for 20 year-olds is that more than a quarter of them will become disabled before reaching retirement age. Disability can happen to anyone. But who is prepared? When disability does happen, Social Security can help people meet their basic needs. Our disability programs provide financial and medical benefits for those who qualify to pay for doctors’ visits, medicines, and treatments. You can learn more about how you might be covered if you are disabled at www.socialsecurity.gov/planners/disability. Social Security pays benefits to people who worked and paid Social Security taxes, but who can no longer work and whose medical condition meets the strict definition of disability under the Social Security Act. A person is considered disabled under this definition if he or she cannot work due to a severe medical condition that has lasted or is expected to last at least one year or result in death. The person’s medical condition must prevent him or her from doing work that he or she did in the past, and it must prevent the person from adjusting to other work based on their age, education, and experience. Supplemental Security Income (SSI), our other

Many people don’t think of disability as something that could happen to them.

disability program, is a needs-based program for people with limited income and resources. You can find all the information you need about eligibility and benefits available to you by reading our publication, Disability Benefits, available at www. socialsecurity.gov/pubs. While extreme winter weather may not affect all of us, the risk of being disabled and needing help isn’t based on geography. Chances are you know someone who is disabled or perhaps you live with a disability. If you wish to help a friend or family member — or need to plan for disability yourself — visit www. socialsecurity.gov/disability. If you have difficulty understanding words clearly over the phone, just fill out this form! You may qualify for free assistive telephone equipment through the

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leaps in technology

HANNAH POTES, Montana 55

ZACH BENOIT Montana 55

BILLINGS — Growing up, Diane Kylander noticed that her mother’s hands would shake but didn’t think much of it.

Now 72, the Billings performer and writer for decades figured it was just something that happened later in life, until it began happening to her, too. “I always thought it was just age,” Kylander said. “I knew nothing about the essential tremor, and I thought she was just old. But I started noticing it myself while acting about 15 years ago.” An essential tremor is a neurological disorder that causes a rhythmic shaking, most often in the hands, that tends to increase in

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This allows us the capability to really think about what treatments we can provide. You have to have the experts, you have to have the people that are willing to commit, and you have to have the technology. – Dr. John Schallenkamp, chair of the Billings Clinic radiation oncology department

intensity during attempts at basic tasks like holding something up or writing. Years after her own shaking began and when it took a toll on her work, Kylander learned more about the condition and decided to treat it with a new, hightech and noninvasive brain surgery at Billings Clinic. “It’s not like you stand up and say, ‘Oh my God, it’s a miracle,’ after,” she said. “It’s very subtle. But to someone like me, it makes a huge difference.” Called the Gamma Knife, the treatment is a radiosurgery technique – and related technology – that treats some benign and metastatic tumors, abnormalities, neurological conditions and other issues in the brain and head. It uses intense, focused shots of about 200 tiny concentrated beams of radiation to treat a small targeted area while leaving surrounding tissue undamaged, unlike other more invasive procedures. Billings Clinic purchased the $4.7 million tool in 2014 after years of planning, bringing in an alternative to standard, more invasive brain surgeries for some patients. It’s the only Gamma Knife in a five-state region that includes Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, and with it the clinic can to expand patients’

options, said Dr. John Schallenkamp, chair of the hospital’s radiation oncology department. “This allows us the capability to really think about what treatments we can provide,” he said. “You have to have the experts, you have to have the people that are willing to commit, and you have to have the technology.”

Billings Clinic doctors has used the Gamma Knife to treat more than 100 patients. Kylander was the very first. She underwent the procedure in March, receiving a single shot from the Gamma Knife after living with her tremor for 15 years. When Kylander first noticed the tremor, she said she didn’t know exactly what it was but noticed a slight shake in her hand while holding things. Over time, the tremor worsened. She often worked as a substitute teacher at Senior High and had trouble writing on the chalkboard. A playwright, writer, performer and stand-up comedian, she noticed that her hand and arm would shake while holding a microphone. Most concerning

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Dr. Mark Piedra said that the Gamma Knife isn’t an option for every condition and that it can only be used for procedures on the head and possibly the upper neck.

of all, she could barely write, a process she’s always done using a pen and yellow legal pad. “It got to the point where I just couldn’t do it,” Kylander said. Compounding things was Kylander’s depression, for which she took antidepressants. “Something like a tremor just escalates the frustration you feel,” she said. She began to research her condition and eventually met with her doctor and then officials from Billings Clinic’s neurosurgery department.

Dr. Mark Piedra, a neurosurgeon, said that Kylander initially had a number of treatment 34

options. Those included medication; a process called deep brain stimulation that involves a surgery to put electrodes into the brain to stimulate the thalamus, which among other things relays sensory and motor signals; or an older, more invasive surgery that involves burning part of the surface of the thalamus. None of those options seemed right for Kylander. “It’s very invasive,” she said of the surgeries. “I didn’t want to go that route.” That’s when she was introduced to Piedra, who told her about Gamma Knife. He went over the possible side effects and complications — including weakness, vision problems and loss of sensation — and they decided to move forward. “It’s to alleviate patients’ fear and balance the risk

montana55.com against the results,” Piedra said. Doctors from several departments planned the treatment using MRIs and CT scans. When the time came, Kylander lay on the machine with a sort of cage or mask over her face to help keep her head in place and line up the radiation shot. Everything went pretty quickly, with the single shot to the right side of Kylander’s brain focusing on an area about 4 millimeters around. “The amazing thing is we checked in at about 6:30 that morning and by 11:30, I was at Perkins eating lunch,” Kylander said. “The only discomfort, during and after, was that cage on my head.”

Piedra said that the Gamma Knife isn’t an option for every condition and that it can only be used for procedures on the head and possibly the upper neck. He also said results might not be seen right away, since the procedure doesn’t physically remove anything. “It takes time,” he said. “You do not have an immediate awareness or see immediate improvement. But it’s another option for people who can’t handle the other procedures or don’t want to (go through them).” That was the case for Kylander — and almost 100 other patients, mostly being treated for tumors — who will go in for an evaluation next spring to check her progress and see if she needs another round with the Gamma Knife. So far, though, she’s thrilled with the results as they settle in over time. “See that?” she said, sticking out her hand flat in front of her and holding it steady. “I couldn’t do that before.”

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live strong and prosper

BRACE HAYDEN for Montana 55

There are many advantages to maintaining your muscle and bone health as you age, the least of which might be living long enough to see the next “Star Trek” series for more sage advice from ancient sci-fi heroes like Mr. Spock.

Growing old is often associated with many undesired reductions like slowed physical activity, muscular atrophy, compressed cartilage, worn tendons, thinning hair … along with a thinning patience for bad pop music. Increases that the advanced-aged can expect come with elevated blood pressure, more time at the doctor’s office, and increased disease processes associated with aging.1 The upshot to the functional impacts of living longer is despite the inevitable list of reductions, you can do a lot to stay independent and fit. The mature adult can expect, even in the absence of a disease process (osteoarthritis, for example), structural and functional joint changes to occur. If there was one medication that could help maintain and increase your physical strength and fitness, improve your balance, reduce feelings of depression and elevate your feelings of well-being, and bolster your resilience against diseases like diabetes and heart

montana55.com complications – it would be EXERCISE.1 Not exactly a convenient pill, but movement is the best medicine for your joints, cardiovascular system, and mind. Why strength train? A few big motivators for most seniors are daily tasks like lifting your own bags of groceries in and out of your car, loading your own carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, or even getting up off the ground. A physical therapist, personal trainer, group fitness class, or workout companion can offer the support you need to begin a new exercise routine. If you are experiencing discomfort in your joints or having difficulty getting around, a physical therapist can offer individualized treatment and an exercise program to increase your strength and balance. Personal trainers can help design customized exercise programs. Many communities have group fitness classes designed for seniors. In addition, many people find success in getting a workout buddy to hold them accountable and consistent. A well-balanced fitness program for older adults should include strength exercises to maintain or build muscle and boost your metabolism. Balance exercises help improve the steadiness on your feet and can decrease your risk of falling. Stretching helps keep your joint movements free and reduce natural stiffening of (you name it) your back, knees, hips and fingers. Lastly, daily endurance exercise for 30-60 minutes are critical to keeping our heart and lungs circulating well and giving us the stamina to stay active.2

To build a solid strength program, keep these basics in mind: dosing, discipline and deploying the big muscle groups. The dosage: strength train three days each week, with one to two sets of 10-20 repetitions per exercise, for a total duration of least 20-30 minutes. Maintaining or building your strength takes discipline, which is why classes, trainers, or fitness buddies will increase the likelihood of sticking with a program. Gradually build up your weight. If you are new to strength training, start with no weight or light weights, as heavier weights can cause injuries or joint discomfort. Adding incremental amounts of weight to challenge your muscles will help develop strength gains and adapt your body to the increased demands. Try adding one to two pounds every week for functional strength improvements.3 I often incorporate these three exercises in a general strength program: modified push-ups, partial squats, and single leg step-ups. Performing a push-up on a counter top or the back of a sturdy couch helps develop upper body strength in the pectoral, triceps, and many shoulder blade muscles. The partial squat or “touch-your-bottom-to-a-

chair” helps build your legs’ power muscles like the quads and gluteals. The single leg step up can be done on the standard entry way or basement step. The railing can be used for a little assistance or not used for an added balance challenge. Be sure to go slow, make each repetition count, and stop once the muscle is fatigued or lightly burning. For the do-it-yourself crowd, the National Institute on Aging has a fantastic website (www.go4life.nia.nih. gov) with free DVDs, exercise booklets, goal and plan developing sheets, and many other motivational tools. The bottom line to improving your fitness and gaining the most benefit from an exercise program is to stick with it, enjoy your exercises, and be safe while exercising. In closing, and the appropriate reply for this article’s adapted title of “Star Trek’s” Vulcan salutation, “live long and prosper,” is “have peace and a long life.”

Brace Hayden, DPT, OCS, CSCS is a physical therapist that specializes in strength and conditioning and balance and vestibular therapy at Alpine Physical Therapy in Missoula, MT. Sources: 1) Guccione, A. Geriatric Physical Therapy. Mosby. St. Louis, MO 2) 4 Types of Exercises. Retrieved from: www.go4life.nia.nih.gov 3) Fekete, M. Strength Training for Seniors: How to Rewind Your Biological Clock. Hunter House. Newport, RI

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give generously

KATHRYN HUNGERFORD Montana 55

As baby boomers enter new life stages, many are becoming philanthropists. In fact, by the year 2055, some $41 trillion will change hands as Americans pass on their accumulated assets to the next generation.

One of my favorite philanthropists shares this story that has stayed with me over the years. In her family, it was a tradition to help others, particularly after snowstorms.

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Philanthropy is the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed by the generous donation of money and time to good causes.

She recalls the whole family piling into their fourwheel-drive vehicle and setting off with the sole purpose of looking for people stuck in ditches. The family would hitch up and pull others out of the deep snow, expecting nothing in return. Then they would call out cheery greetings, smiling and waving as they headed off in search of the next stranded neighbor. She recalls feelings of deep joy, just to have been able to help others in their time of need. That was a lesson she learned well at an early age, and she continues to positively impact the lives of others through her family business and small foundation. Although most of us don’t consider ourselves to be philanthropists, many of us fit the definition. Originating from the Greek “philo,” which means “love of,” and “anthropo,” which means “mankind,” at its core philanthropy simply means love of mankind. It is the desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed by the generous donation of money and time to good causes. Synonyms include benevolence, generosity, humanitarianism, altruism, charitableness, brotherly love, unselfishness, kindheartedness and compassion. There are many ways to care for others less fortunate in our community this holiday season and throughout the year. Volunteers often give of themselves in ways that are meaningful to both the giver and the beneficiary. Parents can model the spirit of giving by involving their children in shoveling an older neighbor’s walk or baking treats to share at homeless shelters. Other opportunities range from bagging bulk food at the local food bank to serving as a foster grandparent in our schools. Watching the Missoulian for needed items, such as used computers, furniture or jewelry, can provide a chance to donate and make a big difference in someone else’s life. It is natural to move toward a desire to give in increasingly impactful ways. But how many of us own a business or are knowledgeable about ways that we can become major donors?

Interestingly, last year in America 72 percent of charitable giving came from individuals (not businesses or foundations), and most donor households earned less than $60,000 annually. One simple method is to pledge a relatively small monthly donation that can add up to a major gift over time. For example, committing to a gift of $42 per month for two years, in order to give a gift of over $1,000, would qualify as a major gift at most local charities. Monthly gifts also provide desirable sustainability for the donor’s favorite charity and can be accomplished online with a credit card. For those who live on fixed incomes, or have little left at the end of the month, naming a favorite nonprofit organization in one’s will is a way to give a significant contribution that costs nothing in the donor’s lifetime. This is what one donor named Mary did, by adding specific language in her will that was suggested by the development officer at her favorite charity. Mary’s will said a lot about her and she was named in the organization’s Legacy Society for many years. For others, the Montana Tax Credit for Charitable Endowment gifts can be of benefit. Through this unique tax credit incentive, a Montana taxpayer receives a reduction on the taxes owed - up to $10,000 per year - by making a qualified charitable contribution to a qualified endowment. Other planned giving options include life insurance policies, a wide variety of annuities, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The main key is to decide what is meaningful to you and your family, and then sit down with a development professional to see what is possible. As always, donors are advised to consult with their financial and legal advisers prior to making philanthropic contributions.

Kathryn Hungerford, a recognized Certified Fund Raising Executive through CFRE International, is development officer at Missoula Aging Services. Winter 2016

caring for tribal elders

KURT WILSON, Montana 55

Eighty-six-year-old Pearl Yellow Hawk, a tribal elder on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, waves to one of the purebred bison released near Poplar in northeast Montana.

DEBRA WHITMAN for Montana 55

I grew up next to the Colville Indian Reservation in Washington state and I remember how native elders were revered throughout the community. At the annual powwow the elders shared their history through song and dance, and all generations sat together, joining in the chanting and drumming.

Those memories rushed back as AARP’s Public Policy Institute released its most recent report, “Lifelong Disparities among Older American Indians and Alaska Natives.” AARP, along with researchers from Western Carolina University and the

montana55.com International Association for Indigenous Aging, took a closer look at aging American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) because the U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050, the number of AI/ANs age 65 and older will more than triple and AI/ANs age 85 and over will increase more than sevenfold. The report found that AI/ANs age 50 and over have lower life expectancies, less education, lower income and employment, and worse access to health care than the same-aged U.S. population. These findings highlight a challenge for policymakers: Too often, aging American Indians and Alaska Natives are not getting the services they need to move ahead but remain stuck with problems that have lasted for generations. The authors cite many reasons for that deep unmet need, but one in particular drew my attention. While my personal memories involve reservation life, data suggests a growing number of AI/ANs live beyond rural reservations and tribal lands. This ongoing migration has profound consequences for the wellbeing of Native Americans and efforts to help them. For example, the report cited a 2008 examination of U.S. Census data by the National Urban Indian Family Coalition that found a 23 percent increase between 1970 and 2000 in AI/ANs of all ages who did not reside on tribal lands. It also referenced more

recent analysis of U.S. Census data by the Urban Indian Health Insti¬tute that found that the number of AI/ANs residing in urban areas increased by 34 percent from 2000 to 2010. And according to the authors’ analysis for this study, just 44 percent of AI/ ANs age 50 and over reside on tribal lands. The authors’ conclusion: Services need to reach AI/AN elders wherever they may live, including in urban and metropolitan areas across the nation, and strategies designed to reach this population should reflect that changing reality. I couldn’t agree more. The exponential growth of aging AI/ANs is an opportunity to take advantage of the wisdom, experience, knowledge and contributions that they make to communities across the country. Policymakers have much to do to address long-standing socioeconomic and health coverage disparities that have historically characterized their lives and which remain, to a large extent, unresolved. This new research presents some compelling ideas to move forward.

Debra Whitman is AARP’s chief public policy officer and leads policy development, analysis and research, as well as global thought leadership that supports and advances the interests of individuals age 50-plus and their families.

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1-800-551-3191 Administered by Missoula Aging Services and supported, in part, by a grant from the Administration for Community Living, AoA, DHHS. Points of view or opinions do not necessarily represent official AoA policy.

Winter 2016

response to stress

EMILY BERGER and REBECCA MORLEY

No, it’s not just in your head. When you’re stressed out, scientific research confirms that your body responds physiologically. Think back to the last time you had butterflies in your stomach before an important presentation. They may have initiated in the brain, but it was the stomach that felt them. Did you know that the stomach and intestines actually have more nerve cells than the entire spinal cord? That is why our digestive tract is so sensitive and might be the root of the term “gut feelings.” Chris Woolston earned his master’s degree in biology from Montana State University in Bozeman and has a graduate certificate in science writing and

montana55.com communication from the University of California Santa Cruz. He tells us that some experts call the digestive system a “mini brain.” He writes, “A highway of nerves runs directly from the real brain to the digestive system, and messages flow in two directions. “ Doctors have uncovered a remarkably complex connection between the brain and the digestive system. When the brain feels severely stressed, it unleashes a cascade of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol that can put the whole digestive system in an uproar. These stress hormones help fuel us for the “fight or flight” response by elevating our blood pressure, accelerating our pulse, raising our blood sugar levels, and releasing fat from fat cells. Though this response is necessary for the survival of the human species and life-saving under high-risk circumstances, today’s complex society can cause frequent or even what feels like constant stress. Long-term exposure to cortisol from chronic stress can be toxic to our bodies and is associated with weight gain, increased irritability, anxiety, insomnia and may encourage poor eating habits. Over time, when stress isn’t managed effectively, it will start to hinder other systems in the body, also. Chronic stress has been shown to negatively impact hormone balance, immune function, musculoskeletal health, and neurological health.

The sources of stress can vary and overlap to increase our risk for distress and disease: • Mental/emotional such as conflict in relationships with family, friends or coworkers, death of a loved one, difficult deadlines, or financial problems. • Physiological stress, including our body’s response to both acute and chronic disease and medications used to treat them. • Environmental stress such as exposure to toxins, radiation, pesticides, excessive noise, crowding and excessive screen time. • Physical stress such as over- or improper exercising, exposure to extreme hot or cold. Stress of any kind can wreak havoc on the digestive tract, leading to inflammation, constipation, diarrhea, bloating, and a slew of other negative symptoms. Even short bouts of stress can cause us to experience sudden lack of appetite, heartburn, nausea and stomach pains. Stress can decrease

nutrient absorption, increase nutrient excretion, affect how the body uses the nutrients, as well as increase nutrient requirements. Stress is seen as a major player in a wide range of digestive problems, including irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, heartburn and ulcers. Stress hormones also cause inflammation throughout the digestive system, which leads to aggravation of the digestive tract.

Throwing your digestive tract out of whack impacts the absorption of nutrients from foods, which may help explain why you’re more prone to allergies, eczema, colds, flu and mental fog when you’re under serious and/or continual stress. You can help lower cortisol levels, boost natural defenses, and decrease negative effects of stress on your body and mind by fueling your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy. If you crave junk food during times of stress, you are not alone. Though steamed broccoli or a nice green salad would probably do our body more good than that candy bar, they’re not typical stressinduced choices. The stress hormones, which are basically steroids, can make a person feel uncontrollably hungry, which is why some people fight stress with ice cream, chocolate, or potato chips. On the other side of the fence, some people’s bodies react to stress by a lack of appetite, which causes them to almost quit eating entirely. Others turn to alcohol, or stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. The better nourished you are, the better able you are to cope with stress. It is well known that changes take place in the levels of circulating hormones when stress occurs. Though much is known, the precise influence of a stress-altered metabolism on nutrient requirements is still being researched. Some scientists have stated that almost any form of stress may influence nutritional balance. This is because stress causes a general arousal (the fight or flight response already mentioned) that increases the body’s metabolism, or the rate at which the body changes food supplies into energy. Metabolic rate drives the requirements for nutrients. Simply put, just as a speeding car needs more gas, a stressed body needs more fuel. Better fuel quality leads in optimal performance. The increased metabolism can also cause an increase in the use and excretion of vitamins such as A, C, D, E, K and B complex, and minerals such Winter 2016

as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, chromium, selenium, zinc, and potassium. You can imagine what happens if your body’s “tank” is low on nutrition “fuel.” While stress alters nutrient needs, if you are marginally deficient in a nutrient, stress can make that deficiency even worse. Poor nutrition or under-nutrition is itself a stress on the body. If you react to stress with increased sugar and fat consumption, it also contributes to the stress our body experiences due to widely fluctuating blood sugar and potentially clogged arteries. Another vicious cycle! According to Philip Rice, of the Stress and Health Department at Moorhead State University, “Eating right is just as important as managing stress because vulnerability to stress increases with poor diet.” A high-fiber diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains provides greater appetite satisfaction over a longer period than processed, high-fat, and high-sugar snacks. More importantly, when you replace junk foods 44

with fresh, high-fiber plant foods, you are more likely to consume greater amounts of vitamins A, B6, C and the B vitamins niacin, thiamin, riboflavin and folate. These nutrients are all vital to a healthy metabolism and provide significant stress protection.

Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford University stress expert and author of the best-selling book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers,” says people are looking for scientific explanations for some of life’s most common maladies. By understanding how stress affects our bodies, we can explore new avenues for prevention and treatment of many conditions. With the holidays around the corner, we may eagerly anticipate celebrations with family and friends. But there may also be increased pressures and demands on time and budgets that cause us to feel stressed. The good news is that a well-balanced diet can

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By understanding how stress affects our bodies, we can explore new avenues for prevention and treatment of many conditions.

affect how you handle stress. While we cannot eliminate all of the stress in our lives, we can certainly practice better management of it. In addition to diet, these are simple, yet healthy tools, proven to reduce stress: • Meditation • Deep breathing • Yoga • A leisurely walk • Call a supportive friend or family member After implementing a healthy diet and practicing stress reduction activities, if your digestive system still isn’t running smoothly, don’t suffer in silence. According to a report from the University of North Carolina, as many as 80 percent of people with IBS or other functional gastrointestinal problems never discuss their symptoms with a doctor. That’s unfortunate, because doctors can often prescribe medications to get the digestive system back on track. Your health care provider can also check for underlying diseases that might explain your symptoms. Consider asking if you would be a good candidate for cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, relaxation therapy, or another form of counseling. You can do your part to battle stress by eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting plenty of sleep. Learn to live well and relax by adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors today. You’ll benefit from better nutrient absorption and decreased stress levels. You can alter the vicious stress-induced cycle to a more positive energy flow.

Emily Berger is a Community Health and Prevention Sciences Program major at the University of Montana interning with the Missoula City-County Health Department. Rebecca Morley provides nutrition services through the Eat Smart Program at the Missoula City-County Health Department and can be reached at 258-3827 or at rmorley@ co.missoulian.mt.us.

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Each day to the fullest. The secret to happiness as we age is to stay as mentally, physically and socially engaged as possible. To feel a sense of purpose. And to be surrounded by those who truly care. Helping residents live each day to the fullest is our mission at Highgate. We offer a host of activities, nutritious and delicious meals, and full care for all in a lovely, homelike setting. If you or your loved one needs either a little or a lot of extra help with daily living, call today and schedule a tour of our Assisted Living or Memory Care community. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see why a move to Highgate is one of the best moves you can make. Highgate at Great Falls 3000 11th Avenue South Call: 406-454-0991 Highgate at Bozeman 2219 West Oak Street Call: 406-587-5100

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