Deborah Dare: Choosing how we age

This person is 87 years young, and I mean young. She walks at a brisk pace. She is very socially engaged. She is at the center Monday through Friday and she participates in every single activity – every exercise class – all the games – music! She is a widow, but she has found a way to embrace these years without her beloved spouse and she is succeeding. She dances regularly. She jokes around with everyone. She embraces newcomers. She is determined and inspiring.

I’m watching and learning from her as well as others who are living life in their later years to the fullest – especially those who need a little boost from a wheelchair, walker or cane. They use these implements to keep them moving forward, not stagnating physically or mentally. Wow, they amaze me in their drive to not just live, but to thrive and enjoy – to engage with their peers, our staff and their community.

I have always told my kids that if I start losing my hearing, I absolutely will get a hearing aid. If my balance suffers, I will use a cane or walker or wheelchair. My point – I want to hear everything so I can interject my two cents or laugh, or challenge. I want to maintain my ability to get from point A to point B by myself as long as possible. It is all about one thing – independence.

The socialization we offer in our senior centers is vital and perhaps the foundation of keeping the will to actively age going in each of us. I say this because if we do not have a willing spirit to talk, laugh, move, participate, etc., then it’s just not gonna happen!

When we wake up that drive within ourselves, the other things fall into place. I have seen this happen in our centers. It is amazing and such a blessing to see a quiet, standoffish client (who really didn’t want to show up in the first place) blossom and laugh, sing or win Bingo or do exercises or play Drums Alive to the oldies!

I have had many conversations with many seniors over the last year or so about aging. I remind them of what I say to myself every single day: “I have choices about how I age and I choose to keep moving and keep my brain engaged.” It is part of the motivation to work past my full retirement age.

I cannot express how grateful I am for the influence of these wise and experienced older seniors. Their witness for aging well is extremely powerful. As I have always said to my kids – ”you must surround yourself with people you want to emulate, because like it or not, you absolutely will be influenced by the ones you hang with”.

I’ve got to say that I am hanging with the best each day that I am at one of our centers and I am so thankful to have landed at White County Aging Program.

Thursday morning, I got a call from Elizabeth, whose husband is a newcomer to our Searcy center. He has Parkinson’s and, in her words, was sleeping too much and just sinking into the cushions when he was awake. She still works and needed to get him re-engaged in life.

On May 1, they came to check us out. We talked and got him registered and he now comes every day. He participates in everything, but especially in Bean Bag Baseball and Corn hole. Believe me, he is a ringer in both games and, in fact, Thursday was with our Bean Bag Baseball team at the state tournament. We are blessed to have him. Elizabeth said he is a different person now. All of this happened within less than a month!

This is what we can offer. If you want to step up your game in life as a senior citizen, please, please join us. We will support you and love on you, and I can guarantee you will laugh. Come see us in Bradford, Pangburn, Griffithville or Searcy.

We are always privileged to “serve those who have served us.”

Deborah Dare is program director of the White County Aging Program Inc. She can be reached by calling (501) 268-2587.