Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday, June 23, 2021
B3
SENIOR NEWS
Normal memory loss not a sign of dementia
Senior
Living
Scott
McKay
A
T OUR AGE, IT’S
common to wor-
ry when you can’t
remember a name, or you
can’t find that word on the
tip of your tongue. When
that happens, I often ask
myself, “Is this normal for
my age? Or am I in the early
stages of dementia?” And
then the more I worry, the
more I seem to forget!
To relieve my anxiety, I
found an article by Dr. Mike
Davis who gives the follow-
ing three examples demon-
strating the distinctions be-
tween normal memory loss
and dementia: 1) Misplacing
keys is normal. Forgetting
what they are for is not. 2)
Forgetting a person’s name
is normal. Not remembering
knowing the person is not.
3) Forgetting to turn into
a familiar street is normal.
Becoming easily disoriented
or lost in familiar places for
hours is not.
Good. I don’t need to wor-
ry. I often misplace my keys,
but I do know what they are
for. I seem to have a harder
time remembering names,
but they eventually come to
me by the end of the con-
versation. And when I’m in
a hurry, there are times I do
turn down the wrong street,
but so far, I’ve always found
my way home. But then
I read the next sentence.
“These lines are distinct
for most of us, BUT in early
dementia patients, it can be
tricky to tell.” Now, what the
heck does that mean, tricky
to tell? Could my forgetful-
ness seem normal, but be-
cause of some subtle signs,
I could unknowingly be in
the early stages of dementia?
Should I still be worrying?
It does give me pause. But
there is one sign that gives
me hope. I figure as long as
I can spell Alzheimer’s with-
out looking it up, I’m okay.
For those who have been
diagnosed with dementia,
there is hope. There have
been huge investments in
understanding more about
the brain and what causes
Alzheimer’s Disease. There
are many theories includ-
ing lysosomal storage. (I’ll
have to ask my son what
that means. He just received
his degree in biology, so he
should know, right?) But
the most dominant theory
is that Alzheimer’s Disease
is caused by sticky brain
plaques called beta-amy-
loid that have been found
to build up in the brains of
people with Alzheimer’s.
Just recently at the
urging of the Alzheimer’s
Association and other advo-
cates, the FDA approved a
new drug, Aducanumab, that
has proved highly effective in
reducing the plaques to treat
persons in the early stages
of Alzheimer’s disease. BUT
(there’s always a but!) it’s not
yet clear whether reducing
the plaques is actually effec-
tive in slowing the progres-
sion of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Two large studies offered
conflicting evidence.
Next week I will share
more about dementia and
the brain: The different types
of dementia, treatable condi-
tions that mimic dementia,
and most importantly tips
on what you can do now to
maintain your brain health.
Don’t forget!
•••
The name of the
five-member band known
for their vocal harmo-
nies and epitomized the
“California Sound” were
the Beach Boys. I received
correct answers from Susan
Ellis, Jeannie Pesicka,
Emmett Sampson, Rhonda
Spies, Sandy Haechrel,
Barbara Cadwell, Diana
Weston, Jess Birge, Dave
Lutgens, Tiiu Vahtel, Margo
Dameier. And this week’s
winner of a quilt raffle ticket
has to be Linda Frizzell, who
graduated from Hawthorne
High School with the Beach
Boys! And from the previ-
ous week, I received the
correct answer from Barbara
Cadwell, Susan Ellis, Steve
Woolpert, Patty Burnet,
Diana Weston, Gene Uczen,
Pat Evenson-Brady, Dave
Lutgens, Rose Schulz, Doug
Nelson, and the winner Lana
Tepfer.
Okay, the Beach Boys was
way too easy for most of you
so let’s move to something
more challenging: Broadway
musicals. This original 1965
Broadway production won
five Tony Awards including
Best Musical. Inspired by
Miguel de Cervantes and
his 17th-century novel Don
Quixote, it tells the story
of the “mad” knight Don
Quixote. For this week’s
“Remember When” ques-
tion, what was the name of
this musical. E-mail your
answer to mcseniorcenter@
gmail.com, call 541-296-
4788 or send it with a
recording of “The Impossible
Dream.”
•••
Well, it has been another
week, glad to be back in the
Gorge. Until we meet again,
as Dan Jaworski who was di-
agnosed with mild cognitive
impairment at age 54 says,
“There is no day like today.”
•••
“If people were meant to
pop out of bed, we’d all sleep
in toasters”.
— Unknown
•••
Nutritious home-deliv-
ered meals and pick-ups are
available for anyone over 60.
For more information, you
can call the meal site in your
area.
Hood River Valley Adult
Center at 541-386-2060;
The Dalles Meals-on-
Wheels at 541-298-8333;
Sherman County Senior
and Community Center at
541-565-3191;
Klickitat County Senior
Services — Goldendale,
509-773-3757 or White
Salmon, 509-493-3068;
Skamania County Senior
Services at 509-427-3990;
Seniors of Mosier
Valley at 541-503-5660 or
541-980-1157.
The City Council: A fictional narrative of rural life in the American West
Episode 164: Mary Means’ Return to Warhaven
Jim Tindall
■ In By Warhaven
— from a
distance through the dust
— tarnish, rust, patina, they
look about the same. Her
aged beauty and tested
mettle of her demeanor still
cast a clarion call for respect.
That was Mary Means in
1940, age 73, the oil exec-
utive who was born and
raised on the West Hills farm
of her parents.
Some called her demean-
or haughty, others, less ob-
servant, labeled it shyness.
Despite her long years spent
in the Mediterranean and
Middle East in business, she
was of that class of strong
western women, indepen-
dent, blunt, succinct.
Mary had been away
a long while, working for
Standard Oil and doing well.
When her husband, John
Dee, passed away in Beirut
in 1938, she lost that edgy
will to continue in business.
Mary had kept the family
farm, and decided to return
to Warhaven, which she did
the following year.
Immediately she was ap-
proached by Ohio DuMont,
who convinced her to run
for the West Hills seat which
would open in the next
year’s election. She reasoned
this would give her some
focus, would permit her to
reconnect in meaningful
ways, would perhaps bring
her some joy and walk her
out of her grieving for her
beloved John Dee. She won
the election. She was a quick
study and in 1943 served her
first of three terms as mayor
of Warhaven.
When Mary and John
worked for Standard Oil, it
was his strident mandate
that she carry a gun out
of sheer prudence. Her
handgun of choice was
the Remington 95 Double
Deringer with pearl grip.
Now in Warhaven she
laughed out loud, thinking,
“A western desperado would
sneer at such a measly piece
of concealed steel.” So her
persona donned a tooled
leather holster on the back of
her hip, tied off to her lower
thigh which housed a 12-
inch barreled Colt Buntline
Special, her .45 cartridges
filled with No. 9 shot. She
became a walking billboard
for the Second Amendment
rights of women. When a
tourist questioned the civili-
ty of such a practice in 1946,
Mary looked down her nose
at the man in his khaki vest
and pith helmet and said in
her throaty voice, “Why, sir,
I believe all adults ought to
pack weapons, every one,
every Indian, every Black
man and woman, every
Japanese American neigh-
bor of mine, even you, sir,
although I surmise you’d be
one foot shy shortly.”
This was about the
time she took to smoking
Chesterfields, saying good-
bye to her favored, exotic
Sobranie Black Russian
cigarettes, and wearing
a crushed down fedora,
beneath which hung her
full long gray locks, streaked
with some red of her youth,
braided in pigtails. She
savored delight in riding her
roan horse Betsy down into
town, clad in jodhpurs and
snake boots. Mary would tie
up Betsy in front of Brown’s
Lunch Counter and walk
about town with errands and
social visits, her freckled face
and cornflower blue eyes
glowing in anticipation of
small adventures.
Another event from
August 1946 is well worth
mentioning. Tony Dini,
then manager of the L&M
Merc, was planning to retire
in the coming year. He was
having his weekly lunch with
competitor Henry Fieldman,
manager and owner of Sid’s
Groceries. This tradition
had begun 21 years before.
They always sat in the back
booth, and the contents of
their whispered confabs
were guardedly confidential.
Many thought it was merely
to share dirty jokes or snide
remarks about customers.
No one suspected, not
even their wives, that these
men were the founders
and administrators of the
mysterious and generous
Illustration by Peggy Ohlson
Sisterhood of Kindness, that
anonymous charity that had
done so much to diminish
the pain and anguish of
World War II here in New
Hope County.
Mary was about as astute
as a person can be. She
found herself at Brown’s
that afternoon, dining on a
Reuben sandwich and iced
sweet tea. Two of her busi-
ness skill sets were foreign
languages (Farsi, Arabic,
Turkish, and Kurmanji) and
lipreading, the latter coming
in handy virtually every day
of her career with Standard
Oil.
In the middle of a bite she
glanced up, absent-minded-
ly entering the conversation
of Henty and Tony, discover-
ing their long-held secret.
She was the consummate
diplomat, practicing the
delicate touch in business on
sheiks, emirs, and princes.
Mary sensed Henry’s burden
of carrying the charity along
alone, knowing now Henry’s
sadness over Tony’s immi-
nent retirement.
She finished her meal,
paid the bill, and strolled
over to their table. They both
looked up, startled.
“Gentlemen, excuse me.”
She leaned down, over the
table and whispered, “You
two are deep in conver-
sation. I simply want to
say your work is highly
Your home is only as smart as your Internet.
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SafeSpace campaigns for home
Oberst
■ By For Gail
Columbia Gorge News
The area’s only nonprofit specifically
serving abused children is launching a
fundraising campaign to build and staff
a permanent home of its own.
Since 2009, the newly-renamed
SafeSpace Children’s Advocacy Center
(CAC) of the Gorge, formerly the
Columbia Gorge CAC, has rented or
leased space in Hood River and in other
communities it serves, according to
Executive Director Beatriz Lynch, who
gave an update on the campaign for
the Hood River County Commissioners
June 7. Under one roof, SafeSpace
coordinates multiple services to abused
children provided by child protective
services, law enforcement, family
advocates, medical experts and mental
health professionals. The nonprofit
serves children who have been physi-
cally or sexually abused in Hood River,
Wasco, Gilliam, Wheeler, and Klickitat
counties.
SafeSpace has outgrown its current
1,300-square-foot headquarters on
Woods Court, off of Pacific Avenue in
Hood River, Lynch said. The campaign,
which officially begins in mid-July,
hopes to raise an estimated $2 mil-
lion in grants and community dona-
tions in the next two years to build a
4,000-square-foot building to coordi-
nate services to children and to house
additional outreach and intervention
staff. Additional campaign events will
be planned later this year, Lynch said.
Despite tight quarters, SafeSpace in
2019 saw 132 children and respond-
ed to 160 calls, but Lynch told Hood
Available
last
week of the
month
River County Commissioners that
with outreach and additional space,
the nonprofit could easily double the
number of children it serves. Since
2009, SafeSpace has seen more than
800 children. She estimated that in
the Gorge-area served by SafeSpace,
as many as 1,500 children suffer some
form of abuse each year, but many are
not reported or do not get the support
they need. As a front-line responder,
SafeSpace staff provides one-stop
services for the child including medical
assessments, forensic interviews, child
and family advocacy and crisis inter-
vention services and referrals to mental
health therapy.
For more information on SafeSpace
and its fundraising campaign, visit
www.safespacecac.org/ or its Facebook
page.
appreciated and respected.
Thank you.”
She turned to leave, but
turned back, placing a check
on the tabletop. She smiled
and walked away.
“Gosh!” exclaimed Tony,
“It’s a check for $5,000!”
Henry grabbed it, reading,
stammering, “She knows!”
Incredulous, dumbfound-
ed, they stared at each other.
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