October 2011
HOME | LIFESTYLE
Playing Life to Win a game plan for success in life
HEALTH | FITNESS
Promise Me
an excerpt from the new book by Nancy G. Brinker
ARTS| ENTERTAINMENT
Seeing the
Grand Canyon from the Back of a Horse chapter three from grandma needs a four-wheel drive
Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy giving patients the whole picture
Celebrating National Group Reading Month
TABLE OF CONTENTS
October is All (or most) Things Books! 14 COVER STORY
Celebrating Group Reading Month | If you are a reader and you have just finished the perfect book, you crave to share your thoughts and opinions with someone who has enjoyed the same tome. Short of forcing the book on a friend (guilty), what can you do? Join a Book Club!
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HOME | LIFESTYLE Playing Life to Win | In his book, Playing Life to Win, Dr. Taylor Hartman uses the metaphor of baseball to represent the game of life, shares dozens of personal and professional vignettes.
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HEALTH | FITNESS 8 | Promise Me | The story of how a vow made
by a heartbroken sister launched a thirty-year-long mission to change the way the world thought of, spoke of, and treated breast cancer. 10 | Breast Reconstruction After Cancer |
When a woman loses a breast to cancer, it can be devastating. Yet even though breast reconstructive surgery is available, most women don’t choose it.
16 ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
Seeing the Grand Canyon from the Back of a Horse | In Chapter 3 of Grandma Needs a Four-Wheel Drive, anet Webb
Farnsworth and Bernadette Heath take us on a fun trip down the Grand Canyon...on horseback.
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Editorial
Publisher.....................Utah Boomers Magazine, LLC Managing Editor..........................................Teresa Glenn Contributing Writers.............Taylor Hartman, PhD Stevens Anderson Lisa Anderson
“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” Paul Sweeney
Nacy G. Brinker
Photography.......................................................Mark Crim Advertising Sales info@utboomer.com media kit www.utahboomersmagazine.com Webmaster Claye Stokes, New Shoe Media
Dear Fellow Boomers, I am an avid reader. Most of my friends are avid readers. My son is receiving his graduate degree in library sciences. Books are important. Granted, I often read what my son refers to as “mind candy”, meaning anything that wasn’t written by Camus or his ilk. I confess this is true. I will read any well written book, no matter the genre. Thoughts and opinions about books are also important to me. What more joy can you have than a group of friends to share them with? Since October is National Group reading month, we have excerpts for some pretty good authors: Dr. Taylor Hartman, Janet Webb, Bernadette Heath and in honor of October being National Breast Cancer Awareness month, an excerpt from Nancy G. Brinker’s book, Promise Me.
Utah Boomers Magazine is published monthly for the baby boomer population of Utah. The information contained in this publication my be contributed by independent writers and does not necessarily reflect the views of Utah Boomers Magazine management. Copying or electronic distribution of any content within this publication is strictly prohibited without the written permission of Utah Boomers Magazine and the author. For reprint permission, editorial or submissions or comments, email teresa. glenn@utboomer.com.
On another note, I want to welcome our new subscribers from the Senior Expo. It was great meeting you and hope you’ll enjoy being part of the Utah Boomers readership. Until next month, Teresa
Questions and suggestions: info@utboomer.com
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I Playing Life to Win A Game Plan for Self Development A Preview of Dr. Taylor Hartman’s book Playing Life to Win
n his book, Playing Life to Win, Dr. Taylor Hartman uses the metaphor of baseball to represent the game of life, shares dozens of personal and professional vignettes, mixed with quotes, stories and examples from the lives of politicians, celebrities, sports stars, business leaders and family members. One needn’t be a fan of baseball in order to “get” Hartman’s many references to the sport or to “get” the book’s message. Most know that baseball’s objective is to hit the ball that’s pitched to you— or otherwise get safely on base—and, in turn, go from first base to second to third, and touch home plate, thus scoring a “run” for your team in hopes of winning the game. In effect, Hartman’s book is a game plan for success in life.
FIRST BASE: GET YOURSELF
To succeed in life, you start by getting to first base. And to get to first base you must first “get yourself.” If you can’t see yourself honestly and value who you are, you will never get on first base, let alone cross home plate and score. Self-awareness starts when you discover and refine your “signature swing,” your unique, often hidden, personal values, needs, strengths and limitations. Your signature swing includes your innermost reasons for why you think and act as you do, reflected in your needs and wants—your motives. Unearthing your signature swing sometimes takes seeing yourself from another’s point of view. Earnestly inviting candid feedback can be most insightful. Hartman tells of a time when his 12-year-old son TJ came to him for a bit of coaching. TJ had always struggled with shyness. Recognizing this blemish in himself and wanting to overcome it, he asked that he be permitted to answer the front door when adults stopped by. By forcing himself to look them in the eye and say “hello,” TJ gradually developed a remarkable degree of self-awareness and social confidence. In essence, he was able to transform his weakness into a strength—and become even more confident and self-aware in the process. When was the last time you received honest feedback from someone? What kinds of personality flaws did it expose? Though at times painful, acting on constructive criticism from teammates or coaches (co-workers, close friends, family…) can make a huge difference in getting over your pride, fears and insecurities; in a word, it can be enlightening.
Summarized by Stevens Anderson
Another key component to understanding who we really are is stepping up to the plate—a powerful baseball phrase that entails taking responsibility and living up to our expectations. Perhaps one of the most basic (and most often ignored) principles in life is to take full responsibility for who you are. We can’t expect to hit the pitches life sends our way until we do. Taking full responsibility for ourselves and our actions involves checking our culture from time to time, both at home and at work, to see where the disconnects are. “We must face
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Most know that baseball’s objective is to hit the ball that’s pitched to you—or otherwise get safely on base—and, in turn, go from first base to second to third, and touch home plate, thus scoring a “run” for your team in hopes of winning the game. In effect, Hartman’s book is a game plan for success in life. ourselves honestly if we ever hope to have the mature muscle necessary to be members of the 100% Responsibility Club,” says Hartman. The club’s whose motto, in part, reads: I am 100% responsible for every relationship in my life…no excuse is legitimate, sought, or accepted. I am 100% responsible for creating what I get. And I get exactly what I deserve.” Other principles key to getting on first base include: •
Keep your eye on the ball in life. Ignore distractions and pay attention to the way you want to live your life.
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Be a hitter. Swing only at the pitches you know you can hit.
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Embrace your style; come to know and like yourself for simply being you.
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Understand and accept your natural strengths and limitations. Studies show that “Emotional Intelligence” (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills) is “four times more critical to life success than IQ and technical abilities.”
Once you master “getting yourself,” you will step up to the plate with confidence and meet the game with enthusiasm.
SECOND BASE: GET TRUTH
Moving on to second base, just 90 feet away from where you are, now requires that you face yourself, or “get truth.” Your ability to face yourself requires seeing your strengths and limitations in light of how they impact your life and the lives of those around you. Facing truth creates tremendous hope and momentum in your life.
and her choice to smoke, there was little difference between her and me—I had simply picked a different substance.” Forced to confront a rather uncomfortable truth, Hartman made a lasting personal commitment to improve his fitness level. The point behind his epiphany? Truth has a way of revealing itself; it always emerges. The decision is ours whether or not to accept it. We can welcome it now, face the brutal truths we are ignoring, and reap the benefits, or we can wait until it’s too late. The book teaches that there are three absolute truths we all must face: 1. All life is about relationships—a commitment to value others that involves finding common ground and building rapport. Relationships have been and will forever be with us…how you make people feel will always last longer than you do. 2. We are NOT born equal. Diversity truly is the spice of life. 3. You get what you deserve (and you continue to get what You Allow). We are not victims, nor can we blame others for our mistakes or misfortunes. Other vital points to consider while on second base: •
You likely will face between three and seven totally devastating experiences in the course of your life. To cope with such traumatic events, place your focus on how you respond rather than on the experience itself.
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Borne of insecurity, many people separate their personal attitudes, behaviors and relationships from their professional attitudes, behaviors and relationships—a tendency Hartman terms a “Personal and Professional Divide.” Cultivating a more consistent approach in both personal and professional arenas frees you to accept and relate to others more comfortably.
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Self-esteem comes simply because, as part of the human race, you breathe; while self-confidence is a result of your successes, your abilities, and the mark you leave daily on life.
What are you going to do? Are you leading off first at every pitch, looking for your opportunity to sprint to your next goal, or are you too afraid that you’ll get thrown out? You must let go of your insecurities. Getting to first was all about you, but from here on out, you need to forget yourself. We all have our insecurities, embarrassing facts about us that we would like to keep hidden. Facing truth and honestly embracing our limitations are critical steps toward bettering ourselves and becoming more self-assured. Hartman shares a lesson he learned one day while eating at an outdoor restaurant. Seated at the table next to him was a woman smoking a cigarette. In his mind, Hartman began to criticize her: How could she be so reckless with her health? Meanwhile, he realized, there he sat drinking another caffeine-packed diet soda, and not having exercised for weeks. “While I was judging this woman
Standing on second base, your focus having shifted continued
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from “self ” to “truth,” you are in scoring position. Now your game plan must shift further away from you to others. Third base is all about enhancing others’ lives and scoring as a team.
THIRD BASE: GET OVER YOURSELF
Hartman insists that, if we’re not careful, this base is where our fears and petty insecurities can trip us up. Selfishness is the number one reason that relationships fail both at work and home. Thus, third base requires self-discipline and emotional muscle, which allow us to “lift ourselves and others to higher ground.” Third base is a journey away from selfishness, toward selflessness. Consider the tremendous change that comes over a couple’s life with the birth of their first child. In an instant, their priorities are turned utterly upside down as they abandon their selfish, selfserving motives and focus all their time and energy on the needs of their little one. At the same time, in choosing their child’s happiness over their own, they find meaning, connection and peace. Life is all about change: growing up and evolving beyond the demanding, needy child you once were; taking responsibility; envisioning the life you want; proactively replacing negative attitudes and actions with value-added, positive ones; and finding meaning in close, caring relationships. So how can you promote greater selflessness in your relationships? One way is by creating a list of the most destructive, self-serving attitudes and behaviors that may prevent you from focusing on others. Hartman offers his readers an equation to help point out where change may be needed and how it can be actualized: D + V + P > C = CHANGE, where you combine your dissatisfaction with an aspect of your life (D) with a clear vision for how your life could improve (V) and add positive practical solutions for change (P). Tallied up, you will change when the cost of living life as you currently are (C) is greater than (>) the cost of remaining in a state of dysfunction. When people die, they are missed only by those whose lives they touched…ultimately, your life is a composite of what you did, with whom you did it, why you did it, and how it made people feel.
HOME PLATE: GET OTHERS
Who would miss you most right now if you were gone? Reflecting on this question, you will recognize that crossing home plate and building a full, rich life requires empathy and self-sacrifice— a genuine caring and connection with others. Having gotten over yourself, you now wish to use your newfound emotional strength, your time, energy and considerable gifts to lift others. Being “home” means something different to each of us. But, in general, home is a place of safety, peace, acceptance, trust, forgiveness and delight; at home, we are free to be our best selves
and to connect fully with those around us. “Home” is also how we can face the world at large; we can be and act our best beyond the walls of our homes. Leo Tolstoy once remarked, “Everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to change himself.” Yet, ironically, the only person you actually can change is yourself, whether in your marriage, your role as parent, your business associations or your connections with your neighbors. You have to “get them” in order to succeed in getting along with them. You hold the key to every relationship in your life. In summing up Playing Life to Win, Hartman writes: We need to wake up and pay attention to those whom we value. The ultimate goal for an abundant life is to help others be successful. To live this life you must become vulnerable and allow yourself to risk looking foolish. Becoming real is never easy and doesn’t happen overnight. It takes a long time and doesn’t happen when people are insecure and spend all their energy protecting themselves from the possibility of being hurt. Shortly before his death, renowned American psychiatrist Karl Menninger was asked what he believed was the best therapy for mental illness. His reply: “Lock up your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone in need, and do something for them.” Getting to third base is “locking up your house and crossing the railroad tracks.” Coming home is “finding someone in need and doing something for them.” Crossing home plate is all about proactively seeking opportunities to improve the living conditions of others. We need to be willing to commit and ready to sacrifice our own personal agendas if we ever hope to cross home plate. At the end of the day, it’s not about you. The well-lived life is about serving others, serving their wants and needs, understanding their fears and hopes, making them successful in life. In some strange way, lifting others frees you to drive your own life abundantly. Dr. Taylor Hartman has been helping individuals improve their lives through his business consulting, personal coaching, and public speaking for over 30 years. He is the best-selling author of The Color Code and Color Your Future. For more information visit www.colorcode.com. True to his minimalist editing approach, the long and short of Stevens Anderson’s existence is: he has a loving wife and eight delightful children, likes books, words and word games, and earns his keep by playing with words all day and marketing on the side. His philosophy for life: “Be kind. Remember, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical. -Yogi Berra 6|
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Find time to
|SQUEEZE|
in a Mammogram
Photos courtesy of Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
An Excerpt From
Promise Me The story of how a vow made by a heartbroken sister launched a thirty-year-long mission to change the way the world thought of, spoke of, and treated breast cancer. Reprinted from the book Promise Me by Nancy G. Brinker. Copyright Š 2010 by Nancy G. Brinker. Published by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
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M
y waking memories of my sister have grown hazy over the years, but Suzy still passes through my dreams as animate and vivid as a migrating butterfly. Her face is fresh and full of energy, her hair windblown but still beautiful. In a freshly ironed skirt and patent leather ballerina flats, she defies gravity, scrambling over a pile of slick rocks, Roman ruins stacked like unclaimed luggage on a hilly roadside in Southern Spain. Suzy, be careful, I call as she climbs higher. Oh, Nanny, she waves me off, mugging for the boy with the camera. (Boys could never keep their eyes, or cameras, off her.) He tells Suzy to smile. Say queso! But she’s already smiling. In studio and fashion photos, she was always slightly Mona Lisa, never haute couture haughty. Almost every candid photograph I have of Suzy seems to have been snapped just as she’s bubbling up to giggle, that precise moment when you can see the laughter in her eyes and feel the active upturn of her mouth, but the notquite sound of it is forever suspended in the air, teasing like the unplayed eighth note of a full octave. Even in the dream, I ache for the unfinished music of her life. Back home, Suzy would write something silly on the back of the photo of the Roman ruins—I swear, it was like this when we got here!—while I’d carefully record the date and precise location where the picture was taken. I’m simply not gifted with silliness like Suzy was. I appreciate it as an art form, and I try not to be frustrated by it, but gifted with it? No, I am not. Suzy wasn’t serious or “bookish” like me, but all her teachers loved her, and I always thought of her as the smart one. In addition to her savant silliness, she was gifted with emotional intelligence, empathy, our mother’s generous heart, an unfairly fabulous sense of style, and a humming, youthful happiness that made her naturally magnetic. She
had a shy side, but people loved her to her dying day because she was just so much fun to be around. I can be a bit of a task to be around, I’m afraid. I have no talent for sitting still. I’m not capable of pretending something is fine and dandy when in fact it’s not. If something needs to be said, I’m compelled to say it, and I do it as diplomatically as I can. But let’s face it, candor’s less endearing than coquettishness on any playground. My gifts were sturdy construction, a stalwart sense of justice, and the ability to whistle, ride horses bareback, and skip stones over water as well as any boy. I was a natural bridge builder. Even as a little girl, I was the ambassador between my highspirited sister and our rightly starched father. She was three years older, but when Suzy was grounded, I was the hostage negotiator. continued on page 20
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Breast Reconstruction after Mastectomy Giving Patients the Whole Picture By Lisa Anderson
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Why would so many women hesitate to have breast reconstruction surgery? A number of reasons, says Agarwal. “When breast cancer patients who must have mastectomies consider reconstruction surgery, they wonder whether it will delay chemotherapy or radiation treatments. They worry that complications such as an infection might interfere with their treatment,” he says. “Sometimes patients are worried that they’re focusing on the wrong thing—that they should be more focused on their cancer and not on their breast reconstruction.”
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hen a woman loses a breast to cancer, it can be devastating. Yet even though breast reconstructive surgery is available, most women don’t choose it. In fact, says Jayant Agarwal, MD, a plastic surgeon at Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), “We’ve looked at the number of women across the country that actually get breast reconstruction after mastectomy, and that number is only about 20 percent of women.”
But Agarwal wants breast cancer patients to know that breast reconstruction after mastectomy is now an accepted part of taking care of patients with breast cancer. “It’s no longer [considered] a privilege to have breast reconstruction—it’s part of a patient’s complete cancer care,” he says. And now, in a recent study of more than 5,000 breast cancer patients from various regions of the United States, Agarwal and his colleagues have found reconstruction surgery adds no risk to breast cancer survival. In fact, overall survival in patients who chose breast reconstruction was significantly higher than in patients who did not.
Agarwal has noticed in his own patients that those who undergo reconstruction seem to have a better quality of life. “If you ask patients [the benefits of reconstruction] some of them say it has improved their general well-being,” he says. “Maybe there’s something to it psychologically in terms of overall health and wellbeing, or maybe there’s something to it in terms of [patients being more invested] in their follow-up care. This study revealed the statistics, and now we need to go deeper to find the reasons.” Agarwal and colleagues have continued looking at the effects of reconstructive breast surgery on patients. One study looks into the relationship of the surgery to breast cancer survival by narrowing the focus to patients who died specifically from breast cancer as opposed to other conditions such as diabetes or heart disease to make sure that the higher survival rate holds true. Another study looks specifically at the relationship of reconstructive surgery to distress and depression, two important quality-oflife issues. A national study such as Agarwal’s can help create broad changes continued on page 20
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Celebrating National Group Reading Month
Teresa Glenn
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For the hundredth time, you look at the clock. It’s 2:00 am and you have to go to work tomorrow. You need to sleep, but you can’t put the book down. Just one more chapter, and then you’ll turn out your reading light. But, alas, it’s not to be. If you are a reader and you have just finished the perfect book, you crave to share your thoughts and opinions with someone who has enjoyed the same tome. Short of forcing the book on a friend (guilty) or reading other’s reviews on goodreads.com, what can you do? Join a book club! October is National Group Reading Month. Book clubs—or reading groups—refer to a collection of likeminded readers who meet regularly to discuss a previously determined book. They have been around for a long time but have not lost their appeal. In fact, the popularity of book clubs has grown substantially. Once considered a woman’s past-time, book clubs are becoming more and more popular with men. In an article by the LA Times entitled “Hey dude, what are you reading?”it was reported that just like women’s book groups, it turns out, sometimes they don’t get around to talking about the books at all—instead they wind up eating, drinking and talking about life’s vicissitudes. But those that do get to the books have some pretty amusing criteria. Ned Pride, whose men’s book group has been meeting for 16 years, explains: “There has to be something pretty sick going on on page 69 for us to read the book,” says Pride. “Either a sexual encounter or some crazy situation. You can count on it with [John] Updike or [Tom] Wolfe, guys like that.”
How to Start a Book Club Think about what your intentions are for your book club. Before you start looking for prospective members, sit down for a few minutes and ask yourself the following questions posted on www.oprah.com/oprahsbookclub/ How-to-Start-Your-Own-Book-Club: • Why are you starting a book club? What do you hope to get out of it? • What type of people will make up the club? Are you hoping that all of you will have something in common (beside your love of books), or are you looking to form a diverse group? • What types of books will your club primarily read? Fiction? Non-fiction? One particular genre, such as romance, bestsellers or biographies? Will you rotate through themes each month, like Asian literature, travel books or classics? • Do you want to lead the club? If so, for how long, and how much time can you devote to organizing meetings, refreshments and discussions? If not, will other members be willing to take on these responsibilities? • What are the minimum and maximum number of members your club can accommodate? • When will your first meeting take place? How often will your club meet afterward? What about the summer months, and during the winter holidays? Another thing to consider is where you will meet. If it is in your home, you will want to limit your members to a number that will be comfortable. Will you serve light refreshments? Will you rotate meetings at the homes of other members? There are other choices for meeting space. Most libraries have meeting rooms available at no charge. The Salt Lake
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Library System suggests that you go online at least two weeks prior to your meeting an fill out a request form. You will be notified within a few days if your meeting has been approved. The King’s English Bookstore on 15th and 15th provides meeting space to several book clubs, and many are open to the public. If you are a closet sleuth, you might want to check out the “Armchair Travel Mystery” book club that meets there the 3rd Tuesday of every month. You may also get that thriller at a discount. According to Sarah Ray, The King’s English Bookstore provides a ten percent discount to those book clubs who are registered with them. They also offer literature on the how to’s of a successful book club.
Online Book Clubs
Oprah’s Book Club® I love books! I think books open windows to the world for all of us.” — Oprah Winfrey On September 17, 1996, Oprah announced the start of Oprah’s Book Club, a reading club featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She chose works of fiction regularly and invited the author and selected viewers to join her for an intimate follow-up discussion. In April 2002, Oprah put the Book Club on hold until June 2003, when she re-launched it with John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, which became the 47th selection to skyrocket to the top of bestseller lists.
Online book club forums are cropping up too. Goodreads.com allows you to create your own online book group or join one of many others. Search “Utah” and you will find fifty-three results including Sunday Sinners and Semi-Readers in S.L.C., Utah County Book Club, Utah Readers, and Northern Utah Reads. Much like other social networking sites, you have friends, join groups and have a wealth of knowledge at your disposal about practically any book you’re curious about.
With hopes of creating the biggest Book Club in the world along with the re-launch in June 2003, viewers were given the opportunity to join Oprah’s Book Club online at Oprah.com. To date, there are approximately 2 million members who are offered in-depth study guides, and expert Q and A. Book Club members can also connect with other readers from their local area or create book clubs online with people from around the world.
“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” - Abraham Lincoln
Oprah’s Book Club also partners with the American Library Association (ALA) to distribute thousands of free Book Club selections, donated by the publisher, to school, public and community college libraries nationwide. The ALA is the oldest and largest library association in the world with 64,000 members.
The Hybrid Some Book Clubs combine the best of both worlds. SLC Bookclub Over Dinner is a “Meetup” site (www.meetup.com/ SLC-Book-Club-Over-Dinner ) with 234 members, or as they call them “worms”. The worms are a healthy mix of men and women; young and not so young. Their motto is: Read. Eat. Discuss. Have fun. Repeat. True to their word, they meet several times per month at different eating establishments to partake in good food and to discuss the book of the week. The October meetings are: The Graveyard Book at Shivers, The Reader at Spaghetti Mama’s, and The Lost Symbol at Salt Lake City Burger Co. Book clubs are a great way to combine your love of a good book with the great company of smart, like-minded friends. What could be better?
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Oprah’s Book Club has been one of the most closely watched and heralded events on television by the general public, as well as the media and publishing industries. Recognizing her dedication to promoting the joys and benefits of reading, industry leaders have credited Oprah with rejuvenating the publishing industry. Newsweek named her the most important person in the world of books and media in 1997 and The National Book Foundation awarded Oprah its 50th Anniversary Gold Medal in 1999. In 2003, the Association of American Publishers presented her with its highest award, the “AAP Honors.” Read more: http://www.oprah.com/pressroom/AboutOprahs-Book-Club#ixzz1YtaVkIon
Heard
A Good Book Lately?
For the past few years, I have been enjoying most of my books via audio. Many of my reader friends act as though this is a lazy solution, and I have to admit that for awhile, I was a closet listener. Now, firmly out of the closet, you can find me with my earbuds plugged in while doing housework, shopping, driving, etc. I fall asleep while listening to books in the dark...things impossible to do with a printed book.
Want the kids to quit fighting in the car? Try playing a book. My granddaughters and I have listened to Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many more delightful books, while driving to and from school.
Narrators A narrator can make or break a book. A good book read by a poor narrator can be it’s ruination. But a book read by a good narrator can bring the book to life in a way in which my limited imagination is incapable. Take the best seller, The Help. This is obviously a great book given the amount of time it has been on the New York Times best seller list. Narrated by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and Cassandra Campbell, the book becomes a performance of characters that tears at your heartstrings. Octavia Spencer, reading the part of Minny Jackson was chosen to play her in the movie illustrating the talent she brings to the reading. Simon Vance who narrates the Millennium Trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larrson, brings a vulnerability to Lisbeth Salander that endears us to this unlikely heroin. I have only just discovered the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. These books are beautifully written historical accounts of fictional Scotsman, James Fraser (dubbed on some websites at the Scottish Hottie) and Englishwomen Clare Beauchamp. Throughout the series we are introduced to a variety of accents—English, Scots (Highland and Lowland), Gaelic, French, Irish, Swedish, Chinese—the list goes on and on. In written form, this can prove to be a difficult read. However, the remarkable talent of narrator
Davina Portor makes listening a pleasure. Not only does she capture the accents and tone perfectly, but she is able to bring a distinct and memorable voice to each character, both male and female.
Availability There are many websites from which you can download audio books. One of the most popular is audible.com. For a monthly fee, you are awarded credits. Most audio books are one credit. Audible.com has an extensive selection of books from the latest New York Times bestsellers to the Classics such as Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey. Once you purchase a book, it is placed in your library, where you can access it at any time. Like any digital intellectual property, you are not allowed to make multiple copies of the book. To share with a friend, they do allow you to download to more than one (but a limited number of) MP3 players without violating copyright laws. If you are on a limited budget, check your local library’s website. Most have a limited selection—chances are you won’t find the latest bestsellers, but they are free and come from very reputable recording producers. Links to Library Audio Collections
Salt Lake City Library http://overdrive.slcpl.org/3D1752DB-BE2A-427B-A49A-E1FEC1BB5BC2/10/791/en/Default.htm Salt Lake County Library http://www.slcolibrary.org/rc/rcbg/index.htm#rcEaudioBooks Davis County http://daviscout.oneclickdigital.com/ Weber County ttp://www.weberpl.lib.ut.us/content/rec_websites/index.php?c=34 Provo http://provout.oneclickdigital.com/
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North Rim ride:
Seeing the Grand Canyon from the Back of a Horse
“North Rim Ride, Seeing the Grand Canyon from the Back of a Horse” By: Janet Webb Farnsworth
Chapter 3 of Grandma Needs a Four-Wheel Drive by Janet Webb Farnsworth and Bernadette Heath
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“Why?” my son asked after I told him I was
taking a week-long horseback trek down Kanab Creek on the north side of the Grand Canyon—and in winter, to boot. My 88-year-old-father said, “I’ll bet you’re ‘a-walking’ and ‘a-leading’ by the second day”—his terminology for being too sore to ride. It’s hard to explain, but the chance to visit a section of the Grand Canyon seen by fewer than 70 people a year and to do it on horseback during the winter drew me like a proverbial moth to a flame. Plus, veteran outfitter Mel Heaton, knows this lonesome rugged country and he could show me its secret places. Photographer Bernadette Heath and I met up with Heaton and his son, Justin, two dogs and four other riders in Moccasin, a small town 10 miles south of the Utah border. We made an eclectic group. There was a Florida retiree, an Australian journalist, a Los Angeles publicist, and an Australian soldier. From Moccasin we headed south for 35 miles across the sage-covered Arizona Strip, then turned down Hack Canyon for another 6 miles before stopping to make camp. We traveled just outside the park, which remains closed in winter, on the North Rim.
My horse, a dependable-looking sorrel with a blaze face had the not very romantic name of “Itchy.” I scratched his ears to make friends. Heath wanted a mule, as she thinks they’re more sure-footed, so Red was her ride. She offered him a carrot, which he gladly munched while keeping a wary eye on her. A man of few words and a hardy constitution, Heaton sleeps outside about 190 nights a year. “When I quit lying on the ground,” he said, “I’ll be under it.” And he’s been at it a long time. Arizona Highways inadvertently helped to launch Heaton’s career as an outfitter in 1976 when he participated in a re-created wagon train that went from Pipe Spring National Monument to St. George, Utah. After the magazine covered the story and listed his address, Heaton received more than 2,500 letters, and the Honeymoon Trail Company was born. As we started down Hack Canyon, the mounts settled into a measured gait with the constant clop of hooves and squeaks of saddles. The silence was broken occasionally with an “I-said-WHOA!-I-want -that-shot” from Heath. I think she’d met a mule as stubborn as she is. Red had a “hard mouth” and Heath could “saw” those reins all day long, but he still went where he wanted to.
I awoke the next morning doubting my sanity. The temperature hovered in the low 20s, with a wind chill even colder. Layering on thermals and caps, I dashed for the campfire. Justin promised that our next camp, at 1,000 feet down into the Canyon, would be warmer.
By lunchtime, the landscape presented an eroded maze of red rock pocked with water-filled potholes in which the brilliant blue sky was reflected. Some rocks displayed tops of dark limestone and contained fossils from a long-gone sea. In the distance loomed the South Rim on the opposite side of the Grand Canyon.
As we ate breakfast, two cowboys from Moccasin, arrived with a herd of 11 horses that we’d help drive down to their winter pasture in the Canyon. A century ago, ranchers routinely wintered cattle there.
Just before dark we reached camp. We’d traveled 15 miles on horseback for our first full day and I swung stiffly out of the saddle. This was not a ride for greenhorns. We were expected to saddle our mounts and handle them in rugged
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terrain, pitch tents and help with camp chores. The second and third nights, we would sleep on big slabs of red slickrock near camp. We all got tired. The Florida retiree found the altitude bothered him and gladly retired to his tent. Red, the mule, hadn’t broken a sweat, but Heath looked worse for the wear and before falling asleep whined about all the good shots she had missed. The second morning dawned bright and clear. Justin Heaton was right. It felt warmer down in the Canyon—the temperature climbed to 30 degrees. I gingerly tried out my legs to see if Dad’s prediction about “a-walkin and a-leading” would come true. I had a few sore spots but nothing like I’d expected. Heaton told me about ancient pictographs nearby and I took off exploring. Two shallow caves held more than a hundred red and white drawings—animals, shamans, geometric designs—painted on the red Supai limestone walls. I wondered if this place had served as a hunting camp or a shrine. Except for distant jet trails in the sky, the figures were the only sign of humans I’d seen. After eating breakfast, we rode up Chamberlain Canyon on a trail visible only in Heaton’s mind. I was getting use to Itchy and realized that he liked to rub his “itchy” head on any nearby horse. He proved surefooted with only one bad habit—occasionally he stopped and shook all over. Most horses do this, but with Itchy it was like being in a 9.9 earthquake, and I grabbed the saddle horn whenever I felt a tremor coming on. We rode single-file due to the ruggedness of the countryside. Justin drove the horse herd. Heath, in noman’s land between riders and horse herd, continued her attempt to show Red who was boss. When she wanted photos, I led Red and she stayed to take pictures of the horse herd. Suddenly, the horses came barreling off the hill straight at her. She scrambled up a rock, cowboys yelled to turn the horses and I glanced at Red. Yup, his lip curled into a smug mule grin. Heaton gave us the choice of riding down steep places or walking. Most of the riders dismounted. Not me. I believe
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the old cowboy adage “Why walk when you can ride?” and Itchy and I went off slick-rock and up steep hills. This proved no easy ride, but it was why I went. I wanted to see what few others have seen and experience the Grand Canyon in my own way. We left the extra horses at Dripping Spring Cove and headed back to our camp—a short ride today, just 12 miles. We swapped stories around the campfire before I yawned loudly. Embarrassed, I realized it was only 7pm, but I swallowed my pride and headed to my tent. The next morning we broke camp, as we moved on down to Kanab Creek to spend two more nights. Heath treated Red to another carrot and was talking to him face-to-face. I couldn’t hear what she told him, but he chomped the carrot, and then emphatically shook his head in a definite “no.” The trail became too rough for even me that day, and I had to walk in and out of a steep canyon. There was one advantage to walking, though: Justin was manhandling Red now while I was on foot. Heath had taken off in the morning and left me dragging Red. She’s saved my life on previous adventures, but we’re even now. My right arm feels 3 inches longer from tugging on Red. I almost resorted to muleskinner language before we found Heath and I handed over her cantankerous mount. We camped that night along Kanab Creek, where tamarisks lined the tiny waterway and prickly pear cacti gripped the sandy sides. The horses enjoyed the sand and rolled in a bathing frenzy. Heath tried to tie Red to one bush when he preferred another. For once she won and the tug-of-war, but the mule promptly lay down and rolled in the sand, all four legs waving wildly in the air with all of Heath’s photo equipment still tied on behind the saddle. She jumped and screamed, “No, Red, no! Get up,” but Red rolled on. I just shook my head wondering when she would realize this mule was the boss. The small creek provided enough water for a very cold spit-bath while Heaton cooked fried potatoes and onions in a Dutch oven and grilled some pork chops. We decided nothing smells better than fried potatoes and onions and pork shops cooking over an open fire.
The soft nicker of horses awakened us the next morning. We had a routine now: help fix breakfast, clean up, then water, curry and saddle our animals. We each made our own lunch and tied it behind the saddle and filled our water bottles. I climbed on Itchy and it felt natural, my body was conforming to the saddle. As we rode down Kanab Creek this day, it gradually narrowed and deepened. After two hours in the Canyon, the first sign of another visitor appeared—an inscription pecked through the dark desert varnish of the canyon wall. “A. Starr A.D. 1872,” it said—another mystery in this place of mystery. We couldn’t resist exploring on foot a dark, 600-foot-deep slot canyon, eerie and cold with a pool of deep water. Heading back, we watched for bighorn sheep and badger tracks. It was another good day. My muscles were adjusted to riding, my soul attuned to the Canyon, everything seemed peaceful—except for an occasional “Whoa, Red!” coming from Heath. During our last day in the Canyon, a light haze covered the sun, a precursor to a storm cloud rising to the southwest. Radio and cell phone signals couldn’t reach this deep into the canyon, so we predicted weather the old-fashioned way—by looking at the sky and guessing. With a sense of urgency we broke camp. A 2,000-foot climb back to the vehicles loomed and we wanted to beat the storm. Still, everyone seemed reluctant to return to civilization’s turmoil. Even Heath and Red were quietly enduring each other and finally, she woefully admitted. “He won. I’ve been bested by a mule.” After six hours of steady climbing, we reached the vehicles ahead of the storm and spent one more night camped there before heading home. We’d ridden 57 miles on horseback and witnessed some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. We felt as if we were losing several of our friends when we loaded the animals into the trailers. Even Heath spoke quietly to Red and scratched his ears. My family may think I’m crazy, but I’d just had the experience of a lifetime.
North Rim Ride, the Photographer’s Point of View By: Bernadette Heath The heck with the carrots, what I needed was “an attitude adjuster.” This small switch, about 18” long with leather strips 4” long, wrapped around the end, is something that mules understand. It keeps them in line and they will go where you want them too and “Stop” when you need them too. Of course, I could have been using the wrong word. But as obstinate and stubborn as Red was he did save my life and I am thankful for his “take charge” attitude when it was needed. One of our companions, Gene Downs, the 6’5” Australian soldier required a 16 hands horse. Heading up Chamberlain Canyon in a dry wash with rocks rolling down from the six horses ahead of us, Gene’s huge horse lost his footing and started to roll. Gene was able to hop off in time but the horse, #367, was coming down and Red and I were right behind him. Red reacted quickly and shoved both of us up against a rock wall. We missed being gathered up in the roll, by inches. The horse rolled down the dry wash three times before he came to a stop, stood up and shook off dirt, his saddle and Gene’s lunch. Cowboys gathered up the throw offs, saddled horse #367 again and off we went. Both Gene and I had a few nightmares after that. I don’t know if mules have dreams but I’m sure Red was stubborn enough not to allow a nightmare. There are numerous trail riding companies in the Southwest. The Grand Canyon National Park, south rim, has a mule ride, also. You don’t have to go down into the canyon to experience this adventure. Two Grandmothers team up for their second careers, one as a writer and the other as a photographer. Their job is to find adventure, live that adventure and then tell their stories in leading travel magazines and newspapers. Now they are book publishing these adventures and misadventures along with their fumbling, bumbling mishaps which add great humor to their stories, in their latest book “Grandma Needs a Four-Wheel Drive, Adventure Travel for Seniors”. Visit their web site: www.Grandmaneedsafour-wheeldrive.com Join them daily on their blog site: www.adventurousseniors.blogspot Book for sale at: Amazon.com
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When Suzy exceeded her curfew, I was the peace envoy. When Suzy died, my life’s work was born. Her meaning became my mission. Born on Halloween, 1943 in Peoria, Illinois, a gentle and generous place that embodies the very soul of Americana, Suzy was three when I came along in December 1946. Mom says she peered at me over the edge of the bassinet and said, “Well! She’s quite a character.” We were thick as thieves from that moment on. Suzy was always a queen bee in the neighborhood gang, and I was thrilled to be Suzy Goodman’s little sister. I was her entourage, her liege, her cheerful sidekick, ambitiously pedaling my tricycle in the wake of her fleetfooted, inventive escapades. I can’t remember a single instance of her telling me to buzz off or leave her alone or go play with the other kindergarten babies so she could hang out with the big girls who had more sophisticated things to do.
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because it examines a large number of patients from a wide range of age and demographic groups. Agarwal offers the hope that the results of his study will help provide a firm factual basis for discussing breast reconstruction with cancer patients for doctors across the nation. This is important, he says, because “the fact of the matter is that the majority of women who don’t get reconstruction don’t get it because they were never informed about it.” Agarwal is also spreading the word one-on-one to other physicians through a breast reconstruction fellowship he developed at HCI. The fellowship trains plastic surgeons in the available breast reconstruction
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As our mother ages so gracefully, I can’t help thinking what a couple of grand old ladies Suzy and I would have been together. That was our plan from the time we were little girls. My sister and I expected to age gracefully, set up housekeeping, cultivate a nice cutting garden, and sit in lawn chairs, watching our grandchildren play. We never discussed the fate of our beloved spouses; we just naturally assumed we’d outlive them in some “God’s in his Heaven, all’s right with the world” kind of way. It never crossed our minds that we’d be hip-broken or infirm. Not us. We’d be the spry old dames delivering Meals on Wheels, organizing holiday toy drives, knitting mittens for the underprivileged, quilting lap robes for all the tragic polio children. Nancy G. Brinker is the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. She has served as Ambassador to Hungary and White House Chief of Protocol and is currently the Global Ambassador for Cancer Control for the World Health Organization. She has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that can be bestowed on a civilian. Joni Rodgers is the New York Times bestselling author of Bald in the Land of Big Hair, a memoir of her cancer treatment and recovery. www.shopkomen.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1467&catID=655
techniques and teaches them how to work with other cancer care doctors to deliver the best possible treatment for each patient. “I want [those who finish the fellowship] to be able to offer a wide range of reconstructive options and to individualize the treatment for the patient,” he says. “That’s part of the reason for starting this fellowship—so that we can have advocates go out into different institutions and at least educate patients about these options that are available. It’s always the patient’s decision in the end whether to choose breast reconstruction, but it’s unfortunate when a patient never had the opportunity at least to hear about what’s available.”
Agarwal estimates that 80 to 90 percent of breast cancer patients at HCI choose reconstruction after learning about their options. “Once they get the whole picture of information—not just that the option is there, but that it’s not a vanity issue, it’s not going to compromise the delivery of their cancer treatments, it’s not going to increase their chances of getting recurrent disease—they are able to make an informed decision.” Lisa Anderson is a staff writer for Huntsman Cancer Institute. For more information go to www.huntsmancancer.org
RESOURCES Advocacy
AARP of Utah 801.561.1037 Utah Dept of Aging and Adult Services (DAAS) Phone: 801.538.3991 www.hsdaas.utah.gov/ Utah State Courts Estate Planning & Probate www.utcourts.gov/howto/wills/ Phone: 801.578.3800 Social Security Administration 1.800.772.1213 www.ssa.gov SAGE Utah Services & Advocacy for GLBTQ Elders www.glccu.com/programs/lgbtqelders-50
Dental Services
Legal Services Utah Legal Services 800.662.4245
Senior Centers
Most Senior Centers supply transportation and meals. They are open Monday through Friday, and the hours varies. Call your center for times. Davis County Autumn Glow Center 81 East Center Kaysville, UT 84037 Phone: 801.544.1235 Golden Years Center 726 South 100 East Bountiful, UT 84010 Phone: 801.295.3479 Heritage Center 140 East Center Clearfield, UT 84015 Phone: 801. 773.7065 Salt Lake County Columbus Senior Center 2531 South 400 East Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801.412.3295
Magna Center 9228 West 2700 South Magna, UT 84044 Phone: 801.250.0692 Midvale Senior Center 350 West Park Street 7610 S Midvale, UT 84047 Phone: 801.566.6590 Mount Olympus Senior Center 1635 East Murray.Holliday Road Salt Lake City, UT 84117 Phone: 801.274.1710 River’s Bend Senior Center 300 North 1300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: 801.596.0208 Riverton Senior Center 12891 South Redwood Road Riverton, UT 84065 Phone: 801.254.7609 Sandy Senior Center 9310 South 1300 East Sandy, UT 84094 Phone: 801.561.3265
Draper Senior Center 12350 South 800 East Draper, UT 84020 Phone: 801.572.6342
South Jordan Senior Center 10778 South Redwood Road South Jordan, UT 84095 Phone: 801.302.1222
Eddie P. Mayne Kearns Senior Center 4851 West 4715 South Salt Lake City, UT 84118 Phone: 801.965.9183
Sunday Anderson Westside Senior Center 868 West 900 South Salt Lake City, UT 84104 Phone: 801.538.2092
American Diabetes Association-Utah 801.363.3024
Friendly Neighborhood Center 1992 South 200 East Salt Lake City, UT 84115 Phone: 801.468.2781
George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 500 Foothill Drive Salt Lake City, Utah 84148 Phone: 801.582.1565
Harman Senior Recreation Center 4090 South 3600 West West Valley City, UT 84119 Phone: 801.965.5822
Taylorsville Senior Citizen Center 4743 South Plymouth View Dr. Taylorsville, UT 84123 Phone: 801.293.8340
Healthcare Resources
Alzheimer’s Association of Utah 801.265.1944 American Cancer Society of Utah 801.483.1500 American Chronic Pain Association 800.533.3231
Respite Care
Medical Home Portal www.medicalhomeportal.org CHTOP Chapel Hill Training-Outreach Program chtop.org/ARCH/National-Respite-Locator.html
Tenth East Senior Center 237 South 1000 East Salt Lake City, UT 84102 Phone: 801.538.2084
Kearns Senior Center 4850 West 4715 South Salt Lake City, UT 84118 Phone: 801.965.9183
West Jordan Center 8025 South 2200 West West Jordan, UT 84088 Phone: 801.561.7320
Liberty City Center 251 East 700 South Salt Lake City, UT 84111 Phone: 801.532.5079
Washington County Council on Aging http://www.washco.utah.gov/ contact
The Washington County Council on Aging provides services for senior citizens 60 and older. These include classes (pottery, painting, aerobics, yoga, square dancing, and computer training) tax assistance during tax season and other services. Nutrition is a main focus of the senior centers. In-house meals are served as well as Meals on Wheels. The following centers are supported in part through the donations of those patrons who use the facilities. Gayle & Mary Aldred Senior Center 245 North 200 West St. George , UT 84770 435.634 . 5743 Washington County Senior Citizens 150 East 100 South Street Enterprise, UT 84725 435.878.2557 Hurricane Senior Citizens Center 95 N 300 W Hurricane, UT 84737 435.635.2089
Volunteering
Utah State Parks Volunteer Coordinator 1594 W North Temple, 116 Salt Lake City, UT 84116 (801) 537-3445 robinwatson@utah.gov The Nature Conservancy in Utah www.nature.org/wherewework northamerica/states/utah/volunteer/ Volunteer Match www.volunteermatch.org United Way www.unitedwayucv.org/volunteer Utah Commission on Volunteers volunteers.utah.gov/
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