Gray Thursday, Black Friday, and Blue Monday

November 25, 2012 Leave a comment

Gray Thursday, Black Friday, and Blue Monday

All the advertising thrown around lately about catching sales on Grey Thursday or Black Friday makes one pause to think about Blue Monday. That is the day after the weekend when many of our aging seniors are getting up after a long and lonely weekend. Sure most may have had Thanksgiving lunch or dinner where they live, or with friends or loved ones on Thursday, but what about the ones that didn’t? Let us take a moment and ponder about the older people we may know and give them a call just to say “Hello” or stop by for a visit and brighten their day.

Bring the kids with you when you visit an older person. It is important to share wisdom of all ages throughout generations. If you are an older person, welcome the younger ones that come into your home because there is much you can share with them. I still remember going into my Italian grandmother’s house and smelling the fennel she was preparing to cook with. It is a fond memory. Make some of your own sense memories with your relatives. You will be glad you did when one day much later and they are no longer here, you walk by some fennel in the store or the Farmer’s Market, quite caught by surprise, as you think of them fondly, and just for a moment, you remember.

During this holiday season it would be good if our older friends and family members don’t have any Blue Mondays. Take time out from shopping. If we have the time to spend the night in line for some fantastic sale or get up at the crack of dawn to beat the crowds to the store, certainly we can make a phone call. Maybe even while in line.

Thanks for reading 😉

Filed under Aging, Black Friday, Blue Monday, Children, Communication, Family, Gerontology, Gray Thursday, Intergenerational, Parents, Senior Citizens, Seniors, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Being An Old Dog Pays Off

November 10, 2012 Leave a comment

Inspiration From My Old Dog
Inspiration From My Old Dog

 As an aging person, sometimes it is hard to make ends meet. Having persistance and perserverance is important to budget survival. Many businesses and services available to seniors offer discounts and special offers for people 55 and older. All you have to do is ask. There may even be different levels depending on how old you are. One Senior Center that I am aware of even has a list for Senior Discounts available to their participants from over 40 local businesses.

The Village to Village Network that had their first village start up in Boston, has new Villages popping up all over the country. They offer vetted vendors low-cost and discounted services to seniors through their local Village project. These are grass-roots networks with already over 110,000 members nationwide. The Village to Village Network itself offers national discounts through their Village BetterBuys program online to all the members. Sure, you have to be able to have access to a computer and many seniors aren’t yet online. The Village Volunteers in your Village can help you with that. Even with so many seniors not online yet, there are 1 in 3 Seniors who are Facebook users already. There are easy to use computer devices like FamilyLink.net, that work with a simple touchscreen, and many other computer systems available today. Don’t be afraid to be the old dog learning new tricks. It just might pay off.

Living within a budget is already hard. Make it easier on yourself and embrace some new technologies today. Once you get past the stigma that it might be hard, you may be happily surprised to find how really easy it is…and save a little money.

Thanks for reading 😉

Filed under Aging, Business, Children, Gerontology, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , ,