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The Savvy Senior: How to Make a Living Will
The Savvy Senior
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
What’s the best way to go about making a living will? I recently retired and would like to start getting my affairs in order, just in case.
Approaching 70
Dear Approaching,
Preparing a living will now is a smart decision that gives you say in how you want to be treated at the end of your life. Here’s what you should know, along with some resources to help you create one.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Remember Summer?
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: Remember Summer?I mean serious summer. When the season was all fireflies and sandcastles, ice cream trucks and taking the train to visit relatives for two whole weeks. It was hours of reading, amusement parks, and hitting tennis balls against the apartment building next door for hours. It was the public swimming pool and cool sheets for sunburns and the ice cream truck. It was freedom.
I’m not exactly sure what happened, or at what age summertime was stolen away, but it sure ain’t what it used to be.
I am not a social person and I don’t have the energy I had when I played vigorous games of handball (with myself) at the P.S. 20 playground once school let out in June. These days, an interview fries me. My summer started with 3 of them in two weeks. The interviewers were terrific and the subjects dear to my heart. In one of them, I talked with Natasha Frost about what pulp novels meant to us: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lesbian-pulp-fiction-ann-bannon.
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Grace Anne Stevens: My Transgender Life – Perhaps Parallel Lines Do Meet
Grace Anne Stevens Editor’s Note: I’m excited to welcome Grace Anne Stevens as a new contributor. Grace’s voice is unique, necessary, and a fabulous addition to LGBTSr. – Mark/Editor
By Grace Anne Stevens
My Transgender Life: Perhaps Parallel Lines Do MeetLife is full of change and transitions. This is just one of those universal constants, that even if we forget to apply it to understand our life’s journeys, still takes effect. It applies to each of us, and there is nothing at all we can do about it.
As a transgender woman, there has been that moment of transition, or perhaps I should use a capital T…. and call it… Transition, that to most people like me, makes that moment, let’s say, momentous.
The entire concept of changing or transitioning genders comes with a pretty large suitcase of emotions for those doing it and is so often shared with everyone in connection with them. For many, that suitcase may never empty out, and is carried with them year after year.
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The Savvy Senior: How to Find Retiree Travel Perks
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
What types of travel discounts are available to older travelers? I just retired and am interested in learning about travel deals for people over 60.
Ready To Go
Dear Ready,
There are literally thousands of different travel-related discounts available to retirees that usually start anywhere between the ages 50 and 65. These discounts – typically ranging between 5 and 25 percent off – can add up to save you hundreds of dollars on your next trip. Here’s how you can find them.
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Travel Time: Vienna Travelogue, by Sue Katz
Reprinted with permission from Sue Katz’s Consenting Adult Blog
By Sue Katz
All photos courtesy of Sue Katz
May 15, 2018Because in the last election, the neo-Nazis became part of the ruling coalition, I decided that I wanted to see gorgeous Vienna one last time before it tilted any further towards fascism. I have been in Vienna two or three times before, but not since the 90s. I find a three-bedroom Airbnb with a rather parsimonious landlady (“Look it up on the internet” was her answer to any question – whether about the phone number of a taxi company or the location of recommended local restaurants). Two friends join me: Jaya, the sculptor from Italy and Sandy, the paper artist from the California redwoods.
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The Savvy Senior: How to Choose a Good Estate Sale Company
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Can you provide some tips on how to choose a good estate sale company who can sell all the leftover items in my mother’s house?
Inquiring Daughter
Dear Inquiring,
The estate sale business has become a huge industry over the past decade. There are roughly 22,000 estate sale companies that currently operate in the U.S., up nearly 60 percent from just 10 years ago. But not all estate sale companies are alike.
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The Savvy Senior: ‘Extra Help’ Program Helps Seniors With Their Medication Costs
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Are there any special Medicare programs that help seniors with their medication costs? My 74-year-old mother, who lives primarily on her Social Security, takes several high-priced drugs that sap her income even with her Medicare drug plan.
Looking for Assistance
Dear Looking,
Yes, there’s a low-income subsidy program called Extra Help that can assist seniors on a tight budget with paying for their premiums, deductible and co-payments in their Medicare (Part D) prescription drug plan.
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Book Review: Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs, by Jason Porath
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs” by Jason Porath
c.2018, Dey Street $24.99 / $31.00 Canada
244 pagesYour mom is tough as nails.
The minute you were placed in her arms, she became your personal warrior, cheerleader, and banker. She remembers the good things you did and (sigh) the dumb things you tried. She pretends to forget why she ever gave you That Look. And in the new book “Tough Mothers” by Jason Porath, you’ll meet other women just like her.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: A Poem and a Plant
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: A Poem and a PlantThe day was typical for the Pacific Northwest. The brightening sky had stopped sputtering its fine dewdrops for the moment, the wind had blown itself out, and the development where I live came to life. People took advantage of the disappearing dreariness to walk their dogs, scurry to our centrally located mailboxes, or meet their step goals.
I dropped off a copy of New York Magazine in the common room. The cover quoted Melissa Shusterman, who’s running for the Pennsylvania state legislature. “My 16-year-old turned to me after the election and he said, ‘America doesn’t want a smart, qualified woman in office.’ By Friday, I was running.”
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LGBT Assisted Living Communities – Finding a Gay-Friendly Facility
This article is reprinted with permission from SeniorAdvice.com.By Lori Thomas, Associate Editor, SeniorAdvice
When it is time for seniors to transition to the next phase of their lives, many older adults find this means it is also time to transition to a new living situation, or to consider an assisted living facility. While some seniors may hear the words “assisted living” and panic, an assisted living facility is much different than a nursing home. It doesn’t mean they lose their independence and it doesn’t mean that they are going to a hospital-like setting. In fact, many seniors describe it like living in college dorms, only the residents are just a little older.
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One Thing or Another: Not Worth the Weight
It’s always One Thing or Another … a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.By Mark McNease
The food magically showed up at our front door, delivered by someone who, like Santa Claus, made their rounds unseen, past apathetic doormen and suspicious neighbors with insomnia.
My Amazing Weight Loss Journey began five years ago. With great effort and dedication, I’ve managed to shed four pounds since that first fateful calorie count. How did I achieve this feat of negligible weight loss? I never thought you’d ask.
It all started with a now-defunct company called Lean Chefs. For a reasonable fee, they delivered a day’s worth of prepared food while we slept: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two yummy snacks. The food magically showed up at our front door, delivered by someone who, like Santa Claus, made their rounds unseen, past apathetic doormen and suspicious neighbors with insomnia. I would peer into the corridor first thing in the morning and there it was, a small black package at my feet, looking like something that might require a call to the bomb squad under normal circumstances. Inside it was the coming day’s food with an ice pack and an unspoken promise: eat these healthy provisions, and only these, and miracle weight loss will occur.
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The Savvy Senior: What You Need to Know About Reverse Mortgages
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
What can you tell me about reverse mortgages for retirees? My wife and I are contemplating getting one but want to make sure we know what we’re getting into.
Running Short
Dear Running,
For retirees who own their home and want to stay living there, but could use some extra cash, a reverse mortgage is a viable financial tool, but there’s a lot to know and consider to be sure it’s a good option for you.
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Celebrated Activist Bashed in Gay Bar During ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Era Dies Virtually Unnoticed by Media
Crae Pridgen Jr. Reprinted with permission from David Webb’s Rare Reporter blog
By David Webb
A quarter-century ago, the nation fixated on President Bill Clinton’s proposal to enact a “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for the U.S. military. The bitter controversy erupted in the national media on Jan. 30, 1993, when three Marines from Camp Lejeune and the patrons of a gay bar named Mickey Ratz in Wilmington, N.C., went to battle.
The bar fight and the injuries sustained by one of the patrons, Crae Pridgen Jr. — who lived in Dallas for a brief time and has recently died — dominated the headlines.