Hilltowns Senior News for Thursday, November 17, 2016
How rich are you? I am incredibly wealthy, but wait, did you think I was talking about money? No way! Money is nice, certainly, and I wish we all had more of it, but I’m talking about some of the real basics.
Can you read this article? Then your eyes, even with glasses, must be pretty good, and you have the glasses you need.
How’s your breathing? Can you take a deep breath? Another one for the wealth list. I saw my father in an iron lung, lying in a giant metal tube just to be able to breathe. Sure, I get short of breath sometimes, but I don’t have to stop every three feet just to get enough air.
Speaking of feet, can you walk? Is the pain in your feet so bad that each step is agony? No? Another one for the gratitude list.
Yes, I have a mental gratitude list. I go over it when I’m starting to feel sorry for myself.
I’ve always wanted a 1961 Jaguar XKE; I think they’re going for about half a million these days. Will I die tomorrow if I don’t have one? Probably not (and I’m grateful for that, too).
People around the world are dying every day for lack of the things we take for granted. Did you sleep in a bed last night, or over a storm grate on a piece of cardboard? Is your house still standing, and on its foundation? You mean it doesn’t have six feet of water in the dining room, and you have a dining room instead of a pile of broken lumber? How lucky you are!
Is there any food in your fridge? Do you have a fridge? Do your kids have cereal, and gummy vitamins? If times get tough, is there a food pantry where you can get supplies to last until the next check? Wow! You say you could also go to a free Thanksgiving dinner at Equinox, or the American Legion? What a blessing!
How many of your friends and loved ones died last week? How many of them were shot, or blown up by IEDs? Losing a loved one hurts like hell, and I’m not diminishing that pain, but let’s put it in perspective.
If I’m really, really sick, is there a doctor, or a hospital that I could go to? Is there an ambulance to take me there? We have volunteer EMTs and firefighters who will gladly drop their Thanksgiving forks, abandon their pie, and rush to their cars to give you aid.
Yeah, sometimes parts of our bodies don’t work perfectly; I have arthritis that’s a real pain (literally!) on occasion, but I still have arms and legs. How many of our veterans, young men and women with a lot more of their lives ahead of them than we have, are trying to learn all over again how to walk with a prosthesis, or hug their kids with mechanical arms?
Can you hear the snow crunch in winter, or smell the earth after a rain? Can you hear the wind in the trees, or the cicadas on a hot summer night? If someone you know is in trouble, or desperately needs help, are you able to give them a call to let them know someone cares, or go over, or send a card, or bring them a casserole? How fortunate we all are.
When the person at the head of the table asks us what we’re thankful for next Thursday, can you think of anything to say?
Coming up
In addition to Thanksgiving, November is Adopt A Turkey Month, National Diabetes Month and Sweet Potato Awareness Month (only one helping of those candied yams, please), Pet Diabetes Month (so don’t give all the leftovers to Fido), and National Native American Heritage Month (so we remember who gave all of us immigrants our first start in this new country).
This coming week, Nov. 20 to 26, is National Farm-City Week, National Game and Puzzle Week, Better Conversation Week, International Restorative Justice Week, National Bible Week, and National Family Week.
National Peanut Butter Fudge Day is the 20th, as is the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and Universal Children's Day. The 21st is World Hello Day. National Espresso Day is the 23rd, and Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day, Flossing Day, and Maize Day are the 24th. The 25th is International Hat Day and Small Business Day.
The senior shopping bus’ next two trips are scheduled for Nov. 30 and Dec. 14. Call CDTA at 437-5161 two days in advance to arrange for pickup.
On Dec. 6, the crafts after lunch will be making snowmen out of (who would have guessed?) canning jar rings.
The bus trip to Cooperstown on Saturday, Dec. 17 is rapidly approaching. We will see a production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Farmers Museum. The bus leaves at 10:30 a.m. We will stop for lunch at “Mel’s 22" restaurant (buy your own), and then on to the performance at 2 p.m. Cost is $12.50 per person. Call Karen Schimmer at 872-2544 to reserve a seat.
Menu
We can be thankful for Monday and Tuesday lunch at the senior center, but remember to take Friday off, so all those folks who prepare our food can have a day off, too. Doors open at 11 a.m., and lunch is served promptly at noon. We will also have games, dominoes, and cards on Monday and Tuesday.
— Monday, Nov. 21, chicken with peach sauce, broccoli, roasted red potatoes, wheat bread, Tapioca pudding, and milk; and
— Tuesday, Nov. 22, chili con carne, spinach, corn bread, apple crisp, and milk.
Please call Linda Hodges 24 hours in advance to 872-0940 to reserve lunch, or email her at: , or sign up when you come in. Tell us how many are coming, your name, and your telephone number. If you’d just like to come and help out, give Mary Moller a call at 861-6253, or email her at , and put “volunteer” in the subject line.
Lunches are provided by Helderberg Senior Services, the Albany County Department of Aging, and Senior Services of Albany. The Town of Berne Community and Senior Services Center is located at 1360 Helderberg Trail (Route 443) in Berne.