The Best of Our Lives Blog

I’m one of the lucky ones. As a senior myself, I still have my father. His health has severely declined lately and his care is an everyday concern. But as I said, I’m one of the lucky ones. As worrisome as the current situation can be, my dad still has the ability to make me smile and realize how lucky I’ve been to have a father who gave all he could give to his family. He is and has been what every father should be: a provider, a guidance couselor, and a role model of courage, character, and a loving life. It’s a bittersweet Father’s Day, but despite his current health problems, our entire family is blessed.

MEDIA ALERT:

On Wednesday, June 23, Trisha and I have been invited for a second appearance on the ABC television show, The View From The Bay. It’s a live show that airs at 3:00 p.m (PST). If you live within the viewing area, ABC is Channel 7. If you live outside the San Francisco viewing area, simply click on the link below to watch live.

The View From The Bay

Senior Health Tip:

A friend of ours recently complained of having a cold and sore throat. Trisha and I were talking later about our friend and then realized that neither of us had suffered from these common maladies for at least 10 or 12 years. Before then I used to get horrible sore throats that would last for days. What changed for us? Let me prefice my answer with the disclosure that I have no stock or financial interest that would benefit from this advice nor am I a medical doctor. For over a decade, every time one of us feels a cold or sore throat coming on, we simply pop in one or two GNC  Zinc Throat Logenzes. I have gone to bed with the glands in my throat  beginning to swell and in the morning I’m just fine. I know zinc has been shown to have this ability, but this particular product has been very effective for us. Let me know if it works for you.

Senior Travel Tip:

Before you leave on a trip, take all of your travel and identification documents such as driver’s license, passport, airline tickets, hotel confirmation numbers, health records, prescriptions, etc., and scan them. Send them to your own secure email address. In the event you should lose or have any or all of them stolen, simply find the nearest computer at a hotel, bank, etc., and print out your email for copies.

Have a Great Father’s Day!

John Parker  www.TheBestofOurLives.com  

Summertime and the living is easy. If you are like me, you enjoy the warm weather and sunshine much more than the cold and rainy days of winter. As I age with the normal aches and pains, the warmth is even more welcome. Now that summer is upon us, I’ve collected a few tips to help make your summer senior moments more enjoyable. (Please note: Check with your physician before making any changes that might affect your health.)

1. Sunshine is a wonderful gift. It contains the “Sunshine Vitamin,” vitamin D. Research is now revealing most of us, especially seniors, are deficient in vitamin D. So what? Well, people deficient in this vitamin are at higher risks of developing medical problems such as high blood pressure, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and osteoporosis. Fifteen or twenty minutes in the sunshine each day is recommended for a positive health benefit.

2. Stay cool and lower your bloodpressure by drinking these three juices: low or non-fat milk, hibiscus tea, or cranberry juice. Research studies conducted this year have revealed these are the three best drinks to help you reduce your bloodpressure. Cheers.

3. Get rid of those pesky summer mosquitoes with lemon eucalyptus oil. Most people use some form of Citronella oil, but the fact is, it has never really been shown to be effective. Lighting some lemon eucalyptus candles really works, especially if you are eating something with garlic in it. Turns out mosquitoes don’t like garlic either.

Hope you find these useful. I’ll continue to gather other information we can use to make our retirement years the best time of our lives.

John Parker

www.TheBestofOurLives.com

I remember the great first line of one of my favorite books by M. Scott Peck, M.D., The Road Less Traveled, “Life is difficult.”  If you haven’t had the good fortune to read Dr. Peck’s philisophical masterpiece, his basic premise is that in our culture we are taught life should always be perfect and wonderful, leaving us vulnerable and unprepared to deal with the harsh realities. While my wife Trisha and I  try our best to maintain positive attitudes, our recent struggles dealing with my father’s health crisis have brought us face-to-face with some very difficult issues and tested every aspect of our mental, emotional, and physical strength.

The good news is virtually every time over the last few weeks we began to feel completely overwhelmed, a family member or friend would stop by, offer encouragement over the phone, or send us a supportive email or card. While not every one of our family members or friends are seniors, they certainly have been providing us with our own personal “Senior Support System.” After each phone call or other message, we have taken a deep breath and smiled at the wonderful sense of not being alone during this difficult time. It has been very reassuring and reminded us of a very simple concept: we all have the capacity to provide support and encouragement for our fellow human beings. What better gift can we share with one another?

For some this may seem a bit cliche and melodramatic, but from this side of the support coin, nothing could be more true and valuable. Thank you to those who have been so supportive (you know who you are). Both Trisha and I aspire to be as thoughtful and play a part in providing others with their “Senior Support System” when those times present themselves.

Life can be difficult indeed, but each of us can help make those times bearable.

John Parker

www.TheBestofOurLives.com