Page 21 - Sept 2020 Citrus

Senior Voice of Citrus County - SEPTEMBER 2020 • 21
DYING
continued from page 17
positive, he suggested.
Gray agreed. But he also pointed
to the death-row inmates as a
counter-argument. “It’s not clear
that death-row inmates would
feel pressure to be positive before
they’re executed,” he said.
As in all of life, though, people
will vary in how they feel as death
approaches, Gray said.
ALZHEIMER’S
continued from page 12
were established, none of us
had any idea how long this
situation would continue,
and now we find ourselves
horrified that there appears
to be no end in sight.
Something happened in
Florida in July that brought went to sleep, just as she
this situation into the light
of day. A woman named
Mary Daniel, like other
loved ones, was cut off
from her husband who was
in a memory care facility,
and she could see how
badly the isolation was
affecting both of them,
CRUISING
continued from page 20
of mostly empty shelves
– offering a quite limited
choice of books among cast
off encyclopedias, donated
paper backs, and many novels
in foreign languages left by
former European passengers.
Once there was a librarian
to check out books for a $25
charge on your shipboard
credit – refunded when the
book was returned. Most
passengers now bring their
own choice of paper backs
or electronic readers. Only
Religious beliefs undoubtedly said, death may be less scary than “But if you know that death is not
matter, he noted, as does “social many people think. as scary for the dying person as it
connectedness.” That is, people That’s important in a world is for you, then maybe you’ll be
facing death alone will likely feel where doctors often take “heroic more willing to let them go when
differently from those surrounded it’s time.”
by family and friends. measures” to prolong severely ill
patients’ lives, Gray said. SOURCES: Kurt Gray, Ph.D., assistant
Basic personality matters, too, Maddux agreed. “This relates to professor, department of psychology
Maddux said. “Some people, our obsession with extending life and neuroscience, University of North
by nature, are more pessimistic at all costs,” he said. Carolina-Chapel Hill; James Maddux,
and prone to depression,” he Ph.D., senior scholar, Center for the
explained. “That will affect how “Those heroic measures are often Advancement of Well-Being, George
they face death, too.” taken not for the patient, but for Mason University, Fairfax, Va.;
their loved ones,” Maddux said. , Psychological Science, online
But in general, Maddux and Gray
individually and through create an organization
their relationship. called Caregivers Senior Voice
for Compromise, a
Mary noticed that the staff grassroots initiative to News Publications
could come and go, so ask governments and the
she applied for a part-time senior care industry to look To advertise, please contact:
job as a dishwasher. As a for new, compassionate, Shelley Ketchum
result, two days a week, and humane solutions. 813-334-9493
after her shift, she could Caregivers for Compromise
visit her husband and even seniorvoiceshelley@gmail.com
lie in bed with him as he put up a Facebook page that
attracted 6,000 followers
in 24 hours! Within two Jim Vavala
had done before COVID. weeks, chapters had formed
in every state! Clearly, 352-277-6309
Mary’s bittersweet story seniorvoice99@gmail.com
struck a chord! The Mary Daniel was not alone!
news media picked it up The message of Mary and Over 50,000 copies distributed
and soon even Florida’s her group is, if we cannot every month in Citrus
governor was talking about change COVID, then we and Hernando Counties!
her. She grasped on this must change how our senior
unexpected publicity to Continued on page 23
Your Pathway to
Cunard’s three Queen liners lines offer viewing on a the Senior Market!
retain a formal library on two computer with the option to
decks joined by a circular print and purchase any you
staircase, and a librarian to select. Prices have increased
assist if you need help. Ah, considerably over the years
for the good old days! from $5 for a small photo
Shipboard photographers to a multi-photo page that
have, for the most part, gone ranges in price from $25 and
the way of the midnight buffet up. Most passengers use
and library. They still offer their personal cell phones
formal portrait shots for the and inexpensive cameras
dressy evenings, as well as to take all of the scenic and
candid photos taken in the “selfie” pictures they desire.
dining room and on shore Everything keeps changing
when in port. Some ships and becoming “new and
print and post the pictures improved” in spite of the fact
for sale in large racks along that we were happy with the
one passageway, while other way things were. So it goes!