Navigating the Health Care System

Surprises in our Elder Years

Surprise! We are now in our 70’s and calling ourselves seniors. What are the surprises? What isn’t a surprise? While exploring these questions we discover that we are most surprised about how busy we are with less time than anticipated to pursue our own interests. We are also surprised that out of all the places we have once lived, we find ourselves in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We are surprised by grandchildren. We are surprised by the nature of the health problems we have but not surprised that we have them. We are surprised by the increase in anxiety and worry; where once we would jump at solving problems, we now would like them to just go away Our conversation about surprises covers the gamut from daily experiences to the political and economic landscape of our lives with some hilarious stops in between. What are your surprises?

Where is Music in Our Lives?

Music can do many things; evoke memories, make us feel younger, connect us to others and help us express grief or joy. As we talk, we discover that music also connects us to our culture, to our parents and to our own story of a life lived. It can give us a shared experience with our children and grandchildren and serve as a vehicle to express political unrest. Music has always been there in the background and as we move through our senior years, we seek out the music that gives us what we need at this time in our lives. Whether it’s for comfort, beauty, resonance or self-expression, music has an important part to play.

Navigating Life with a Significant Other (Who's behind the wheel?)

Is it a minefield or a walk in the park? Today we talk about navigating life’s ups and downs in the context of a long-term relationship. Starting with the dynamics that occur in the car as one person drives and the other is a passenger, we acknowledge the communication patterns that can linger as we navigate new challenges and continue to wrestle with old ones. What are we really saying when asking if the other wants to drive? How does knowing someone so well help or hinder working through problems and making decisions? What underlies the tension that can suddenly be present when trying to talk about an issue? Can simply stating, “I’m getting worried and I wonder if we can think this through together” begin a conversation that avoids a misunderstanding? And if we did this, would we still be in the garage deciding who is going to drive today? Join us as we both laugh and talk honestly about living in long term relationships.

Grief and Hope with Colette Howery

“I believe that everyone’s grief is very unique & personal. But as seniors, we may mourn differently because our life experiences have taught us a variety of coping skills that are transferable now to help us mourn our losses.” That is from today’s guest Colette Howery, answering the question, “Do seniors grieve differently?” Colette is a retired registered nurse and companion to those who grieve. She has recently written a book called Running with the Angels: A bereaved mother’s journey from hopelessness to hope” and talks to us about that journey in today’s podcast. We learn about layered or pancaked grief, how bereavement, grief and mourning are different from each other and we talk about the difficulty in being present to someone who is grieving. Most importantly we hear Colette’s story of loss and how she found hope. Please listen with us. (Running with the Angels is available from Friesen Press, Amazon, Chapters, Indigo, Coles, Barnes &Noble, E-Bay and local libraries)

May Bravery Be Your Baseline

What are the brave things that we do every day? We often think of bravery as huge acts of courage in times of war or national disasters instead of something we use every day. Gloria Steinem referred to bravery as outrageous acts and everyday rebellions in her book of the same name. Every time we set a boundary with someone or speak out about something we are acting bravely. When we continue to live with dignity, tenderness, curiosity and hope we are acting bravely. When courage fails, we bravely find it again. As we talk about what it might mean to have bravery as a baseline, we discover those ways that bravery has made it into our lives; getting up in the morning even when it’s difficult, going for a walk instead of knapping, asking for what we need, facing crisis, even facing death. We discover that we choose bravery in our daily lives more often than we think.