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About Columbia Gorge news. (The Dalles, OR) 2020-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2021)
Columbia Gorge News www.columbiagorgenews.com Wednesday, November 24, 2021 B5 SENIOR LIVING Navigating past hurts and slights during the holiday Senior Living Scott McKay W ELL, IT’S THE beginning of the holiday season — when we enjoy the company of family and also gain seven pounds by the start of the New Year! But while visiting with parents, children, grandchildren, or all three, it can be difficult navigating around and through past hurts and slights that are brought to family gatherings along with gifts and holiday treats. But I found this advice that might help avoid the traps and difficulties often encountered at family gatherings. It is from the website Next Avenue (www. nextavenue.org), a service of several PBS stations that offers advice for older adults. First, bury the hatchet (and although tempting — not in someone’s back!). You may not forget past wrongs but try to maintain a spirit of forgiveness. Second, keep your mouth shut! Well, not exactly. But hold your tongue — even when they have it all wrong! Follow the advice of Rumi, a 13th century Persian poet and philosopher, who suggested before you speak, let your words pass through three gates. “At the first gate, ask yourself, ‘Is it true?’ At the second ask, ‘Is it neces- sary?’ At the third gate ask, ‘Is it kind?’” Third, simplify and re- duce stress. Don’t be totally worn out when guests arrive. Determine ahead of time what is essential and what is not. And skip what is not. Fourth, sneak in a few breaks to relax be- fore, during and after the gathering. Fifth, reinvent your tra- ditions. Find a new location for the gathering. Or go as a family to help volunteer for a community event. Think outside the turkey roll. Sixth, rethink your gift-giving. Give “experi- ence” gifts: Tickets to the theater or a gift card to a restaurant they would not normally visit. Or donate on behalf of your loved one to a non-profit. (Great idea. But I’m not sure that will go well with the grandkids!) Families are our support system in times of trouble and our connections to the past and future. And when families are so scattered and often disconnected, the time together is a special time to be enjoyed and savored. ••• A while back I challenged you to decipher several humorous quotes where I removed most of the vowels — a tough assignment. This time it will make it a little easier. Here are a couple more quotes from two famous comedians — this time spelled backwards. Good luck. “.secalp esoht ot gniog tiuq ot em dlot eH .secalp owt ni gel ym ekorb I rotcod eht dlot I” — Henny Youngman “!srorriM ?elbmuh em speek tahw wonk uoY” — Phyllis Diller ••• The hair care product that used the catchphras “a little dab’ll do ya” was Brylcreem. (You may also remember Edd Byrnes played Kookie on the 1958-1964 TV series 77 Sunset Strip and recorded “Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb” with Connie Stevens.) I received cor- rect answers from Steven Woolpert, Susan Ellis, Sam Bilyeu, Jess Birge, Rhonda Spies, Gene Uczen, Dave Lutgens, Doug Nelson, Rose Shultz, Pat Evenson-Brady, Linda Frizzell, Keith Clymer, and Lana Tepfer, who I missed last week but this week is the winner of a quilt raffle ticket. And I missed Rus Hargrave from several weeks back. ••• Tis the season to be grateful and one particular song expressing that feeling is “It’s a Wonderful World.” The song was recorded and released in 1967 but sold poorly in the U.S., although it was number one on the British pop charts. But in 1987 it was featured in Good Morning, Vietnam starring Robin Williams and became a major hit. For this week’s “Remember When” ques- tion, what singer and jazz musician first recorded the song? E-mail your answer to mcseniorcenter@gmail. com, call 541-296-4788, or mail it with a copy of “Hello, Dolly,” his most successful recording. ••• Well, it has been anoth- er week waiting for the curveball to zip around the corner. Until we meet again, from Oprah Winfrey, the entertainment mogul, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” ••• “My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor.” — Phyllis Diller ••• 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. Seniors of Mosier Valley — In-person dining now at noon Mondays and Wednesdays. On Nov. 24, live music at 11 a.m. and Thanksgiving dinner at noon. For more informa- tion call 541-980-1157; Hood River Valley Adult Center at 541-386-2060 — open for in-person dining; Sherman County Senior and Community Center at 541-565-3191 — open for in-person dining; The Dalles Meals-on-Wheels at 541-298-8333 — open for in-person dining Tuesday through Thursday; Klickitat County Senior Services — Goldendale office at 509-773-3757 or the White Salmon office at 509-493-3068; Skamania County Senior Services at 509-427-3990. The City Council: A fictional narrative of rural life in the American West Episode 175: Life Saver ■ By Jim Tindall George Ansbach had been leisurely driving down Mt. Rushing Highway through the Plateau, nestled in a rare, relaxed frame of mind, still reeling from Angeline’s sudden death. He listened to a John Klemmer CD, a soothing tenor sax melody. As he approached Uptown, he passed a red Firebird parked haphazardly on the side of Ginkgo Avenue. In the driver’s seat, head back, mouth open, slouched Butch Simtreen, a former drug friend of his daughter Becky. The car was running. Guns and Roses played loudly. On appearances, Butch was napping. It just didn’t look right. George pulled over, jumped out, and jogged back. Butch was un- responsive. Upon checking the red haired, pockmarked face, he found hints of breath and pulse. A 3-inch square of foil sat between Butch’s thighs. Becky’s dangerous addic- tions had led to the emer- gency room many times. Her near-death experiences were soul-breaking memories, consequently George took drug abuse awareness with a keen, special interest. As a Vietnam vet, he had had too many friends who had veered and crashed into that swamp. While Becky was now a vital part of the farm and was providing care for her grieving dad with his many bouts of PSTD, she had once been a walking wreck. George grabbed his cell phone and called 911. He gave his location, the specifics of the emergency, the person involved. He ran to his truck and reached in the glove compartment, grabbed a small kit bag and returned to the scene, checking back in with the dispatcher. The dispatcher com- manded George to remove Butch from the vehicle and put him flat on the ground, and to extend his head back. George took a different step. “The subject is a drug user. This is clearly a drug over- dose. I am administering Narcan now into his nasal passage.” “Somewhere close a flicker works a metal roof, nak, nak, nak. Camouflaged guerilla bird, not like a woodpecker, decked out like a British officer in the Revolution. Nak, nak, nak. The jungle, the snakes, the dank so far from the warm quilt, from the wood stove. Nak, nak, nak, face in the muck, trees shredding above, shrieks to my left, cries to my right, moaning within. Search for the carot- id, that pulse, that fleeting bird, the guns, the end of it all, the end of it all, the peace that comes only in stupor of exhaustion, marching, marching, trudging, the snakes, the spiders, the bullets in ambush sound like any flying pest, but does this one, that one whisper my name? Drag him, drag the private behind the tree. Give him his moment of aware- ness out of fire, his grasp of the inevitable end, then the welcome shaking of the hand of God, the introduc- tions, the passing. Nak, nak, nak. Every noise a wakeup call, all bloody death-defying taunts, the sobbing, shaking. I can’t shake it. I’ll never shake it. You lose a friend; you lose a wife. Why hang on by a thread when you can just let go and float down into the recliner and lean back? Why nak, nak, nak fight? Why? Why do their SUDOKU HOW TO PLAY: Each row, column and set of 3-by-3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 through 9 without repetition. Need exposure? Reserve this ad space one week in advance, and support this popular feature. Sales@GorgeNews.com bullets and our helicopters begin to sound the same, some strange drum duet, some long Dead jam that goes and goes and. Brush back the hair out of his eyes, although he is seeing now with other eyes, struggling to wonder where is where. Nak, nak, nak. I’m sleepy. My eyes lids are so heavy. What I would give for a chair in the emergency room, waiting for survival, not surviving death. I am here. I am alive. And I listen and He says to us, Butch, I will not leave you until I have done everything that I have promised you.” Many seconds pass before Butch jolts. George hears the sirens approaching. Butch jolts again, eyes now wide open. George places his hand on Butch’s shoulder. “Sit still, fella. Sit still. You’re OK.” The sirens grew in volume; a Warhaven Police squad car brakes to a stop, closely followed by a Warhaven Fire Department ambulance. Illustration by Peggy Ohlson About ‘The City Council’ The City Council is a work of fiction that sprang from observing contentious poli- ticians. This narrative serial was initially conceived as a radio project back in 2006. That year it began to be pub- lished in print in the White Salmon Enterprise. It now appears every two weeks in the Columbia Gorge News. This creative writing is set in the imaginary western town of Warhaven, which lies at the confluence of the Rushing and Big rivers. The town was settled in 1867 by veterans of the Battle of Gettysburg, who sought to leave the carnage and duplicity of the East for a more harmonious society in the West. In Warhaven, city government works efficiently with altruism for the commonweal of the community, which is the work’s overriding theme. 401-K Plans Start Ups Rollovers Consulting Education Gary Akiyama, CPIA AKIYAMA FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC AKIYAMA FINANCIAL SERVICES, LLC Call 800-620-0950 or email gary@akiyamafinancial.net. Call 800-620-0950 or email gary@akiyamafinancial.net.
