Offbeat things I'm thankful for

November 7, 2003
Spectrum
Offbeat things I'm thankful for
Terri Andersen
Senior Moments
Most people are thankful for their health, their homes, their jobs (if they're lucky enough to have one these days), and especially their families. I'm thankful for all of those things, too (with the substitution of Social Security/retirement in place of a job), but I find myself being thankful for a few things that I imagine most people would consider a little odd. For instance, taking a shower in a nice heated bathroom, with privacy and plumbing that brings hot water right into the tub. When I was growing up, we didn't have a heated bathroom, and we didn't have hot water. We lived in a cold water flat with a tub in the kitchen (covered with a hinged board to make it look like something to sit on when no one was in the tub). In order to get hot water in the tub, one had to heat enough pots of cold water on the stove to have some to sit in while taking a quick bath before the water got cold again. Showers weren't even thought about. As for that other necessary bathroom facility that we sit on rather than in, that, too, is something I'm thankful for today, 'specially the flushing system. When we were with my parents “in the country,” we used either an outhouse (very cold in winter) or a chamber pot that was kept in the bedroom so one wouldn't have to go outside on cold winter nights. The outhouse was hard to keep from smelling terrible, and the pot was embarrassingly noisy, plus first thing in the morning it had to be emptied by whoever used it. Not very pleasant, so you see why today's flushing seems so wonderful to me. ~ Then there's the refrigerator instead of an icebox that produced a lot of water to mop up when the ice melted, and there's today's freezer to store food so you don't have to go grocery shopping every day. Frozen dinners to tide you over when you don't have time to cook or just don't feel like it are another wonderful thing to be thankful for. I'm trying to think what we did about ice cream in those days, but all I remember is going to the ice cream parlor for it. I don't think we ever kept any on hand in the house, like we do today. (It's so nice to have ice cream in the freezer anytime you want it!) How about computers as something to be thankful for? For those who remember how tedious it was to retype everything if a mistake was made on a typewriter, the computer with its ease in making corrections is a godsend, Also, if one needed copies of what was being typewritten, carbon paper had to be inserted between the pages, which made making corrections even more troublesome. When I got my first word processor, I thought I had died and went to heaven. But the computer even surpassed the word processor, in that one could change the fonts typeface. Computer users today probably have no idea how font changes were done on the 1970s typesetting machines, so allow me to let them know how lucky they are today. The typesetting equipment consisted of a keyboard and a big metal enclosure on the side which contained a large drum that accommodated two or three-foot filmstrips of a certain letter typeface. Every time one wanted to change a typeface the machine had to be shut off so the drum could come to a standstill and a new font film strip could be attached to it. If corrections had to be made after a piece was proofread, the process had to be repeated for every kind of different typeface that needed correction — very time-consuming and nerve wracking, especially on deadline day. Also, if one wanted to change the size of the lettering, it was necessary to make sure enough leading space was accounted for before the line was typed, otherwise the larger size letters would come out on top of the smaller ones. Each time a change was made, different instructions had to be given to the machine. Today, all one has to do is hit a few keys or mouse up and down and –voila! Even today's automobiles make me feel grateful that they're different from the earlier models, which didn't have heat or air conditioning. To keep warm in winter, one had to make sure there were some blankets in the car, and to cool off in summer one depended on a breeze from the open windows (as long as it wasn't raining). I remember the first time I dated a guy with a car that had heat in it. I couldn't get over not having to bundle up to keep warm. We even took off our coats, which was such a new sensation to me, I can still feel the thrill of not being cold in the car. (I almost got carried away enough to marry the guy, but I did come to my senses before doing anything so rash.) OK, so maybe I'm a little crazy, but for each memory I have of how things once were and how they are today, I can't help feeling thankful that I lived long enough to experience the differences.
 Terri Andersen is a New Milford resident.

Keep in mind the senior theory of relativity

Spectrum
Maturity
Friday, August 8, 2003
Keep in mind the senior theory of relativity: Age is only a number
Terri Andersen Senior Moments
Recently someone wanted to know how come the sun darkens the skin but lightens the hair. [I'm sure there's some logical scientific explanation.] What I'd like to know is how come, as we get older, our waist gets thicker and our hair gets thinner. Why can't it be the other way around — thinner waist and thicker hair? I mentioned to one of my peers that my hair is getting patchy lately, and she knew exactly what I was talking about. She said she had the same problem. The first time I noticed a little bare spot on the crown of my head was when I was caught on video by someone shooting from behind where I was sitting. [Now I have to check the back of my hair in a mirror in addition to having to check to see if all my teeth are in my mouth and my eyeglasses are on my face before I leave the house.] I guess no matter how old we get we're still somewhat of a slave to vanity. - A woman who said she could relate to the thinning hair problem told me how she handles it. She said she back-combs the top section of her hair (what they called “teasing” in the old days?) and then sprays it in place. That way the hair doesn't lie flat on the head so it de-stresses the thinness of the tresses. I find that works, as long as a strong wind doesn't come along or I don't get caught in the rain. Another discomfort in aging is when the memory goes into temporary arrest and the person whose name you're trying to remember teases you with, "Having a senior moment?” Actually, anyone of any age can be caught off guard and be unable to immediately come up with the name of someone he or she hasn't seen in a while. I find the solution to that problem is to give myself a moment or two, and the information will usually surface. If it doesn't, I go through the A-Z file in my head and it always amazes me that my brain stops at the right letter and the name I want pops up. A friend of mine, who after a few “senior moments” convinced herself that her memory was terrible, automatically says, “You'll have to excuse me, but my memory is awful these days.” Yet, when we get into a conversation and she doesn't dwell on that fact, she does just fine in the memory department. I hate to see anyone give in to the notion that age automatically messes up the memory (especially if they're younger than I am). Regarding age in general, it's surprising how someone can be considered young and old at the same chronological stage of life. I remember when I first retired and decided to see what the Senior Center had to offer. People there ranged from the 60s to the 90s in age, and it was nice to be considered one of the young ones again. At my last job, I was one of the oldest employees around because people were eligible for retirement at 55 and I started working there when I was 56. For my 60th birthday they had a big celebration (balloons, streamers, banners, big cake and even hired a minstrel to serenade me). They celebrated my 65th, too, but by then I was often asked how come I wasn't retiring like everybody else and I had to explain that even though I was old enough I didn't have enough years of service yet. I have to admit, even though my supervisors were always younger than I was (I went through two who retired and the last one was still in his 30s), they treated me like an equal and took me to lunch for all my birthdays. Another little perk I enjoyed was when the younger secretaries came to me for crossword puzzle answers I knew because of my age — like Dunne or Castle for an “Irene” clue, Ida for a “Lupino" clue, or Bela for a “Lugosi" clue. Those were movie stars in my time, and most younger people never heard of them. All of which brings me to the theory of relativity regarding aging. If at a certain age one can be considered old in one situation and young in another, it just goes to show that age is relative. It's only a number. How one thinks and what kind of attitude prevails is what really matters. I've met people in their 80s who had more vitality than people half their age, and young people who looked at everything as a bore and had no enthusiasm for anything. So what does all of this prove? Absolutely nothing! Have a great day no matter what your age. Terri Andersen is a New Milford resident.

No Resolutions, but I'm determined...

Spectrum
Friday, February 7, 2003
Maturity-Senior Moments
Terri Andersen
No resolutions, but I’m determined to put the kitchen cabinets in order
I was not going to make any New Year's resolutions because I know from past experience that I'm not very good at keeping them. I didn't lose 10 pounds last year (or any other year since reaching adulthood), I didn't get all the photographs from the past 10 years put into albums, and I didn't organize all my closets. This year, however, I am determined to put at least the kitchen cabinets in order. The first priority would be to do something with the cabinets that hold my pots and pans, all stacked in sixes or sevens. In order to reach whatever pot I need, the noise level has gotten completely out of hand. Ditto for trying to put a pot back where it belongs. It doesn't help that kitchen corner cabinets are constructed in such a way that there's a large area extended to the right or left of the door that can't be reached without removing everything that's in front of the door. “Why don't you just throw out some of the older pots?” my husband asks, feeling that's the logical solution. Actually, he's the reason we have so many pots in the first place. A little scratch here or there and he buys a set of new ones, while the old pots are just fine as far as I'm concerned. In fact, very often a new pot doesn't make the food taste the same as my old pot does. That big old red pot with one handle missing is the only one that makes my pot roast taste right. And the pan with a few scratches on it is just fine for cooking bacon or other things that I don't want to ruin the new pots with. I do like the new teflon pan for cooking eggs, but I didn't need a new set with three different sizes (for when we have company for breakfast, maybe, but how often does that happen?). Then there are the “once in a great while needed” pots, like the one with three little tin cups for cooking poached eggs, the pot with an insert full of holes for deep frying, the pizza pan, and the cookie tins. (I think I got those when we were newly married 48 years ago and I thought cooking was going to be such fun!) Those are in the part of the cabinet that can't be reached, so I haven't cooked any of those things in quite a while. There's also the big white enamel pot that I bought in some insane moment when I thought I'd be cooking soup or pasta for an army. It would also be good for cooking a dozen or more ears of fresh corn, but once I discovered little ears in the frozen section of the supermarket, I gave up all the mess of pulling threads off corn on the cob. All of the above is in the cabinet at a right angle to the left of the sink. I'm not sure what's in the back of the cabinet on the right side of the kitchen. I know there are some pots and tins and serving dishes, but all I see are the bags that I carefully fold and store in the front of that cabinet. Why I save all those bags, paper and plastic, I don't really know, but I have a few friends who said they do that, too (probably a trait of those born during the Depression, when everything was saved, “just in case" a need arose). Now and then I do get rid of some bags, but hardly ever the ones with handles — you never know when you'll need one of those. - Why, just last Christmas I used two big red Macy's shopping bags to cart all the presents to our daughter's house, where we were celebrating Christmas Eve. It so happens both bags ripped when the presents were being pulled out (the kids sure teased me about my 10-year-old matched luggage), so that's two less bags in my cabinet and a new resolve to go for it and get rid of the rest. I'll probably leave a few there though, because old habits die hard, and I'm sure the minute I throw one out, that will be just the kind of bag I'll need for something or other.
Terri Andersen is a New Milford resident.

How Old is Old?

By TERRI ANDERSEN Contributing Writer
is 50 old? (It's old enough to be enrolled in AARP.) Is 60 old? (It’s old enough to be able to take advantage  of the activities at the Senior Center. At 65 one is old enough to eligible for Social Security and - seems to represent a standard of measures when a person is too old to work and needs the government to step in and let the social security taxes do their job. (I'm not knocking Social Security, believe me  - I thank God for it every day and - so glad to be a senior citizen in this period of history. My parents and grandparents had to struggle on their own.) But what’s really old? 80? 90? I know people of that age - are more active and more fun than some 50 year olds.) So what I'm trying to figure out is what's the common denominator what’s the bottom line that qualifies someone to be considered “old” Obviously we start to age the minute we’re born. Even a new baby becomes two days old, then two weeks old and two years old. Notice the word “old” is used in all those instances, yet is a two-year-old toddler really "old"? Of course not. So I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s all relative. To a three year-old child, anyone over 15 year or as tall as daddy might seem old; to a 16-year-old, anyone over 40 could be considered a senior citizen (ever been asked if you want the senior discount by a young checkout person before you even reached 50?); to a 40-year old, anyone over 65 might fit the category and to a 65year-old, it’s usually someplace in the 80-plus range. Then there’s the other side of the coin. When I see 29-year-olds dreading their 30th birthday or 40year-olds being given black balloons marked “over the hill,” I want to shake them and convince them that they’re still so very young and tell them to enjoy those birthdays, not dread them. Even 50-year-olds these days are younger looking and more glamorous than in years past. -Whatever age my father was, “old” was always at least ten years older than he was. Even when he turned 85 he still didn’t feel he fit into the category. He used to ride his bicycle and then roll himself down a little hill on his property just to show us how young he still felt. And that was probably his secret of youth. He was always physically active, so his body did what he wanted it to. Also he read a lot and kept an active mind. Usually when you start getting “up there” in age, sooner or later you're bound to run into someone who'll tell you “you’re only as old as you feel.” So every now and then I ask myself, “How old do you feel today?” There are days I can honestly say I feel like 30 (like at the dance class I’m taking with my husband) and then there are days when I feel like 90. Since I can’t be both, obviously age is relative. Unfortunately, there comes a time when the years take their toll on our youth and an 80-year-old can't look like a 30-year-old no matter how hard she tries, and would only look foolish in the attempt. So I guess the only thing to do is to accept whatever nature hands us and do the best we can with it. As they say, it beats the alternative (at least we’re still around). Not long ago I wrote an article about wrinkles and told about all the information I came across in different magazine articles on how to get rid of them. I just want to add that after all the reading and all the so called remedies, I want to go on record as saying, “the best advice is to ignore the wrinkles and just smile a lot.” (One of the tidbits I ran across in my “research” is that a smile is the best face lift.)