T he C olumbia P ress
August 24, 2018
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
Even nonagenarians can learn to live well
While on the phone recent-
ly with my daughter, Lynn,
she had to take another call
so she put me on hold.
Neither of us could remem-
ber what we were talking
about when we resumed our
call.
“Just think, Mom,” she
said, “now that all of your
children are seniors, we can
have our dementia times to-
gether!”
One of the toughest things
to hear is a senior lament-
ing “Nobody needs me any-
more.”
What can family and
friends do to assure seniors
they’re needed and to give
them purpose for living lon-
ger and longer?
Astoria man
passes basic Air
Force training
U.S. Air Force Airman
Timothy Hennessee gradu-
ated from ba-
sic training at
Joint Base San
Antonio-Lack-
land in San An-
tonio, Texas.
The airman,
a 2017 gradu-
ate of Astoria Hennessee
High School,
completed an intensive eight-
week program that included
training in military discipline
and studies, Air Force core
values, physical fitness, and
basic warfare principles and
skills.
Airmen who complete basic
training also earn four cred-
its toward an associate in ap-
plied science degree through
the Community College of the
Air Force.
Remember the adage, “The
only person you will live your
entire life with is yourself”?
All the blame can’t be heaped
on our adult children or any-
one else.
However, I wonder how
long it’s been since any of
them have called their mom,
a favorite aunt or an aging
friend and asked for a recipe?
Or advice? Something that
simple could make us feel
needed.
“Between 1900 and 2000,
the average life expectancy
increased by nearly 30 years
in the United States and most
other developed countries of
the world,” according to an
item featured in the Atlantic
Monthly.
Now we can expect to live
seven, eight, nine or more
decades. Remember when
Willard Scott used to hon-
or 90-year-olds? And after
age 80 you could write to
the White House and have a
birthday card sent to you?
A new word for those 100
or older is centenarian. When
we turn 70, we become a sep-
tuagenarian and a person age
80 is an octogenarian. At age
90, we’re referred to as a no-
nagenarian.
And not to leave out those
of you in your 60s, you’re re-
ferred to as a sexagenarian!
It’s impolite to refer to any-
one in these stages as an “old
person.”
After spending time “surf-
ing the internet,” I learned
that when one attains age 90,
they feel as if they’re living
on borrowed time. (Aren’t we
all?)
Ida Fisher Davidoff, a no-
nagenarian, said, “I live as if
I’m going to live a long time.
I’m planting bulbs, putting in
shrubs that will take years to
grow.”
She added, “Why should
you deprive yourself of even
an hour of beauty because
you don’t know how long
you’ll be around to enjoy it?”
Martin Luther once re-
marked that if he knew he
were going to die tomorrow,
he’d “plant an apple tree to-
day.”
I like that philosophy, don’t
you?
So what’s your plan? My
friend, Diane, recently shared
one of her Mom’s favorite
sayings, “Hey, things are
tough all over, even the win-
dows have panes (pains?).”
Be thankful we are not
alone in this journey called
life.
Last but not least, I encour-
age you to go to church Sun-
day and hear “the rest of the
story.” And do have fun!
Senior lunch menu
Monday, Aug. 27: Jambalaya with chicken, ham and shrimp,
rice, broccoli, romaine lettuce salad, bread pudding.
Thursday, Aug. 30: Parmesan chicken, pasta salad, roasted
tomatoes, coleslaw, ice cream.
The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors
open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton
Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is
$5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more
information, call 503-861-3502.
7
This Week in Aboriginal History
by Carl A. Ellis
First reservation is established
Aug. 24, 1721: The Pe-
quot Indians, after decades
of land disputes, give up
planting rights at Noank in
present-day
Connecticut,
but retain their fishing rights
in exchange for clear title to
land at Mashantucket. They
remain a federally recognized
tribe there to this day.
Aug. 25, 1607: Some 200
Indian warriors storm an un-
finished stockade colonists
are building at Jamestown,
Va. Two settlers are killed and
10 seriously wounded before
the Indians are pushed back
by cannon fire from the colo-
nists’ three moored ships.
Aug. 26, 1842: Caddo
Indians sign a treaty with
the Republic of Texas. They
agree to visit other tribes to
convince them to sign trea-
ties as well. Today they are
known as the Caddo Nation,
a confederation of southeast-
ern Indian tribes.
Aug. 27, 1878: Capt.
James Egan and a troop from
the Second Cavalry follow a
group of Bannocks who’ve
been stealing livestock along
the Madison River. Near
Henry’s Lake, Egan’s forc-
es skirmish with the Indians
and recover 56 head of live-
stock. The escaping Bannocks
follow a trail taken by the Nez
Perce a year earlier.
Aug. 28, 1607: North
America colonists complete
James Fort in Jamestown.
Powhatan, emperor of the
local Indians, puts an end to
hostilities after commanding
local chiefs to live in peace
with the English.
Aug. 29, 1758: The na-
tion’s first Indian reservation
is established in Brotherton,
N.J. It was created for the lo-
cal Lenape community, some-
times called the Delaware.
Aug. 30, 1645: A peace
treaty between Dutch im-
migrants and local tribes is
signed at Fort Orange, in
modern-day Albany, N.Y.
The treaty ends a long con-
flict in the area.
Ellis is an author and his-
torian working on a book
about American Indians.