SOUTHSIDE
BOOMERS
A DAILY JOURNAL PUBLICATION
WINTER 2023
Among the
DAYLILIES Franklin woman cultivates award-winning flowers
Learn about the benefits of a massage
INSIDE Explore the vortexes of Sedona
Expert tips to stay healthy during the holidays
BOOMERS | winter 2023 1
SOUTHSIDE
BOOMERS
WINTER 2023
PAGE 11
ON THE COVER
Travel
Explore the mysterious wonders of Sedona’s vortexes. PAGE 14
Health
4
Learn how to stay healthy during the holiday season. PAGE 16
Food
floral passion
Bring sunshine to holiday celebrations with citrus.
Woman grows garden with hundreds of daylilies.
PHOTO BY MARK FREELAND
PAGE 18
Column
Phyllis Bex discusses forgetfulness in old age.
Southside Boomers is published by the DAILY JOURNAL
30 S. Water St. Second Floor, Suite A Franklin, IN 46131 For editorial content, contact Amy May in the Daily Journal special publications department at 317-736-2726 or by email at amay@dailyjournal.net For advertising content, contact the Daily Journal advertising department at 317-736-2730
2 BOOMERS | winter 2023
PAGE 19
Column
time to rejuvenate Relax while improving mental and physical health with a massage PAGE 8
Why no one will get rid of daylight savings time.
Anthem offers affordable Individual and Family plans for different needs and budgets, including: premiums in select areas.1 virtual care visits.2 preventive care visits.3 commonly prescribed drugs.4
Learn more today. For more information, contact: Danna Green 317-430-7094
dgreen@HealthMarkets.com
www.HealthMarkets.com/dgreen
We can help you find a health plan that’s right for you.
IN-35129920
BOOMERS | winter 2023 3
c u l t i vA t o r
extraordinaire Shirley Toney’s garden is a colorful labor of love
Shirley Toney’s passion for flowers led her to grow a garden of daylillies.
4 BOOMERS | winter 2023
Paul St. Pierre President & Funeral Director
M
Kristin St. Pierre Advanced Planning Manager
Story By Joyce lonG PHotoS By mArk freelAnd
Your Care is
Our Calling
Six generations of our family have supported and assisted this community during difficult times. Today, we continue to help those who need our services. As a local, family-owned funeral home, we are deeply committed to every family who walks through our doors. You can trust our expertise when the time comes. When you need us, we’re nearby.
St. Pierre Family
Funeral & Cremation Services
©2022 MKJ Marketing
Caring Since 1897
Live well. Leave well.™
stpierrefamilyfuneral.com · (317) 881-2514 IN-35152974
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson When Emerson wrote this quote almost 200 years ago, he was considered a visionary who focused on nature. Johnson County resident Shirley Toney, whose garden features hundreds of daylily varieties, follows in his steps. Toney’s passion for flowers began during the 1940s while growing up in Hessville, Illinois, a small burg east of Chicago. She spent her summers in nearby woods and learned to identify wildflowers like fringed gentian, columbines and mayapples. Soon Toney became her father’s shadow, a tomboy who mowed every week with a wooden push mower. She also helped her mother maintain the backyard flower bed of irises. Toney never minded getting her hands dirty. When she was 16, friends convinced her to go on a blind date with James Toney, newly home from serving in the Korean War. Her parents John and Irene Spudic, weren’t exactly ecstatic about their youngest daughter dating a man 10 years her senior. But he soon won them over, even admitting that “the first time he saw her, he knew he was going to marry her.” They wed two years later, Sept. 21, 1957, and bought a home in Hammond, Indiana, where James’ family owned Toney Blueprint, a business which specialized in offset printing. The entire staff was Toney’s in-laws, her husband and herself. She managed the layout process. They moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, in the early 1970s when South Haven Water Works employed Toney’s husband as general manager and later vice president. Toney worked for Suburban Homes Corp., the parent company, as secretary to L. Paul Saylor, owner and president, and to their engineer and lawyer, Donald E. Cochran. Suburban Homes built closed wall panel, mechanical core home packages in South Haven’s factory for their subdivisions in the area and for numerous offsite builders.
Wilson St. Pierre Greenwood Chapel
Wilson St. Pierre Franklin Township
Singleton & St. Pierre
BOOMERS | winter 2023 5
Shirley Toney’s daylillies.
“
“I’d go out into the nearby woods and know every wildflower by name.” — Shirley Toney
6 BOOMERS | winter 2023
“I enjoyed the variety of renting out properties, leasing spaces and monitoring the water utility rate increases that went through our office.” Toney’s eyes lit up as she remembered those productive, innovative years. “And these core home packages changed the industry. For the first time homes were erected on-site by our crews on prepared foundations and under roof in one day, to be finished in four or five days.” In 1976, the Toneys built their suburban home in Jackson Farm subdivision on a large lot. She planted flowers along the long driveway and in backyard planters. Toney became interested in daylilies when she discovered Coburg Planting Fields and became friends with Philipp and Howard, well-known daylily hybridizers. “I’d go out into the nearby woods and know every wildflower by name.”
Toney’s husband needed a career change in the early 1990s so, they decided, upon friends’ recommendations, to move to Cordry Lake in Brown County. Landscaping a steep lake lot required building concrete block walls to guard against erosion. Because of the shade, Toney planted hostas, two of which were featured in the back cover of American Hosta Society Hosta Journal. During this time, both Toneys worked for the Indiana State Department of Natural Resources in Edinburgh. Indiana. Her husband worked in the Fish and Wildlife Division while she worked as secretary for the Department of Forestry. Moving south not only provided new work experiences, but new friends. “I became acquainted with Doris Winton of Winton’s Iris Hill, and we became fast friends. She invited me to join the Indiana Daylily-Iris Society in Indianapolis.
“I later served eight years on their board, and we’ve traveled to many regional and national daylily conventions. To this day we remain close friends.” Winton also invited her to join the Johnson County Garden Club. At 84, Toney is still active in both organizations. She attributed her longevity to working in her garden and chuckled when admitting to spreading 80 bags of mulch this year. Toney’s passion for daylilies resulted in many awards, including “Best of Show” for a large flower daylily specimen. Her AHS (American Hemerocallis Daylily Society) Display Garden was featured in the AHS Region 2, Great Lakes Fall 2012 Newsletter. She has also hybridized four daylilies which are registered with the AHS, her favorite being 2019’s “Lollipop’s Love You, Kim,” named after her deceased brother. When considering retirement, the Toneys decided it was time to move again. “In 2008, we were looking to move closer to hospitals and shopping. When we lived
on the lake, it was an hour to go anywhere, so Franklin was a good option.” Another perk is she is still close to her older sister, Dorothy Babcock, a Nashville, Indiana, resident. At one point, their current home featured 350 different daylily varieties. “I need to cut back on what I have because it gets to be too much to take care of. I’m now replacing them with perennials so that there is always something blooming.” Each year she gives some of her daylilies to the Daylily Society. The Toneys have collected more than daylilies. An exquisite cabinet features mostly polished and colorful Lake Superior agates and Binghamite and Silkstone from Minnesota. Friends also piqued their interest in purchasing Oriental rugs, which they still have. Also, they’ve nurtured an array of cats and one dog throughout their 66 years together. Their Ragdolls, Teddy Bear and Boots, turned six in October. Like Emerson, Toney is the rare one who has not only seen the flowers, but shared them throughout her life.
Gorgeous Independent Living
in one place!
Cottage Homes for Seniors! Everything you need
in one place!
Shirley Toney shows books she was featured in.
CALL FOR A VIRTUAL TOUR! Single and Duplex Homes 1, 2 or 3 Bedrooms ■ Enjoy a maintenance-free lifestyle ■ Quiet, park-like neighborhood ■ Conveniently located to downtown shops & restaurants in Franklin ■
Cottage Homes for Seniors! Everything you need
Gorgeous Independent Living
■
Access to clubhouse, indoor pool, Pickle ball courts and wellness center ■ Sidewalks, Walking paths, and 2 stocked ponds ■ Woodworking Shop, Greenhouse, Art Studio and more ■
Sin ■ 1, ■ En ■ Qu ■ Co sh ■
CALL A VIRTUAL Call us today at FOR 317-736-1156 to TOUR! schedule a tour! Single and Duplex Homes 1, 2 or 3 Bedrooms ■ Enjoy a maintenance-free lifestyle ■ Quiet, park-like neighborhood ■ Conveniently located to downtown shops & restaurants in Franklin ■ ■
Access to clubhouse, indoor pool, Pickle ball courts and wellness center ■ Sidewalks, Walking paths, and 2 stocked ponds ■ Woodworking Shop, Greenhouse, Art Studio and more ■
Look What’s New Look What’s New at Otterbein Franklin! at Otterbein Call for Details!Franklin!
317-736-1156 Call for Details!
317.736.1156
1070 W. Jefferson Street • Franklin, Indiana 46131
IN-35153282
www.otterbein.org/franklin
Look What’s New at Otterbein Franklin! Call for Details!
317-736-1156
1070 W. Jefferson Street • Franklin, Indiana 46131
www.otterbein.org/franklin
1070 W. Jefferson Street • Franklin, IN 46131 otterbein.org/franklin
Frnklin I.L. CottageHomes AIMS April Ad.indd 1
3/31/20 1:49 PM
BOOMERS | winter 2023 7
Frnklin I.L. Cot
time to
RELAX
D
Massage therapy offers seniors multiple benefits Story By Amanda Stevenson-Holmes Photos by Adobe Stock
8 BOOMERS | Winter 2023
Dave Hommel, 76, swears by his twice-a-month massages for good mental and physical health. “In this crazy, mixed-up world, it’s just soothing,” said Hommel, who has included massage therapy in his life and budget for 25 years. “It’s a wonderful hour in my day.” Hommel credits massage therapy with a positive transition in his body by alleviating joint pain and minimizing illnesses.
Dannette Morgan, 73, has also been a firm believer in the benefits of massage therapy for almost 25 years. “It’s nice to take time for yourself, relax and clear your mind,” Morgan said. “You can go on to work and not feel uncomfortable.” Morgan, who has back issues, attributes massage therapy with increasing blood flow to her muscles, eliminating inflammation and feeling less stiff.
“There are many physical and emotional benefits of massage therapy for seniors, said licensed massage therapist Stephanie Rhodes, who works at Transformations Salon and Spa in Indianapolis. “Massage has also been shown to help seniors suffering from chronic pain such as arthritis. Overall, massage can help improve the quality of life in senior clients.” For most of their 25 years in massage therapy, Hommel and Morgan have relied on licensed massage therapist Amy M. Gray, BA, BCTMB, for those sessions. Gray is board certified in therapeutic massage and body work and has managed her own practice since 2003 in Greenwood. “There’s a huge connection between the mind and body,” Gray said. “The world would be a better place if everyone got a massage once a month. This world is such a crazy place, and taking just an hour out for yourself provides huge benefits for your mind and body.” Gray added that seniors’ connective tissue often becomes more restricted as it ages, almost like concrete. Massage therapy helps minimize these restrictions, which in turn, improves flexibility and movement.
Hommel recommends, “If you have the means, the benefits and rewards are fantastic and it’s definitely worth it.”
Massage benefits for seniors
Tips for finding a massage therapist
Licensed Massage Therapist Stephanie Rhodes with Transformations Salon and Spa in Indianapolis helped outline these
When looking for a massage therapist, consider the following: n Ask your primary care physician if he/she has any concerns about massage therapy as it relates to your health history n Ask family and friends for therapist recommendations n Ask the therapist for his/her license information n To make an appointment at Transformations Salon and Spa, visit www.transformationssalonandspa.com or call 317-882-1773 n You can also find therapists through the American Massage Therapy Association at www. amtamassage.org n Communicate with the therapist before, during and after the session n Try multiple therapists until you find the one right for you n Tipping depends on the therapist
benefits of massage specific to seniors:
n Improved circulation or blood flow and immunity
n Increased range of motion and flexibility
n Improved balance and gait n Improved sleep habits and quality of sleep
n Increased muscle tone n Reduced feelings of stress and anxiety n Increased feelings of relaxation and mental clarity
n Increased opportunity for community and conversation
ASSISTED LIVING & MEMORY SUPPORT
IN-35130706
You love to encourage a friend, tell a good story and dig for deeper meaning in life. At Demaree Crossing, we’ll empower your purpose.
We fulfill ours when you pursue yours.
1255 Demaree Rd. | Greenwood, IN 46143 317-204-2668 | demareecrossingliving.com BOOMERS | winter 2023 9
Rhodes added, “Look for a therapist who will take into account different factors, such as age, physical needs and ability to receive a safe and beneficial massage.”
What to expect in the first session
During a first massage therapy session, expect to be asked lots of questions about your: n Health — physical abilities and limitations, and health conditions such as arthritis, heart conditions, blood clots, cancer treatments or injuries n Medications and medical devices — blood thinners, pain medications, pacemakers, stents, etc. n Pain threshold — know what’s comfortable and if there are any areas of injury or tenderness to avoid causing further discomfort, pain or possible injury
10 BOOMERS | Winter 2023
n Temperature comforts — table warmer off or on, extra blankets, if cold, or turning on a fan, if too hot These questions and answers will be documented by the therapist to help ensure a truly beneficial massage for each individual’s unique needs. Sessions also vary in time allotted from 30 to 90 minutes. “Time allotted is dependent and adjustable based on what the client finds comfortable and needs,” Rhodes said. “Some may need 60 minutes, others 90 minutes and many others need shorter sessions lasting only 30-45 minutes.” In addition to a lot of questions, expect a lot of communication to gain the optimal experience. “We will always explain what will happen prior to and during the massage, like pressure, what areas to work or if we need you to repo-
sition,” said Rhodes. “If anything is ever too much or not enough, we just ask that you let us know. We are more than happy to adjust to you and your needs.”
Making time for yourself
For most clients, both Rhodes and Gray recommend at least one massage per month for ongoing maintenance of the body to avoid suffering with pain and muscle tightness all the time. In addition to the ongoing physical benefits, Gray sees the mental and emotional importance of massage therapy only growing in seniors. “I’m seeing it more and more where seniors, who are retired, are busier and more stressed than when they were working,” Gray said. “I’ve found that they need massage now more than ever before.”
TRAVEL
metaphysical myStery
Why so many flock to Sedona’s vortexes — and what to expect when you get there Story By deBorAH netBurn, loS AnGeleS timeS PHotoS By triBune neWS Service
S
SEDONA, Ariz. — The rock formation known as Kachina Woman rises like an obelisk out of a cool green canyon. At its base, more than three dozen women are tucked into crevices in the rust-colored stone, their faces turned toward the warm, Arizona sun. Some sit with their legs crossed. Others are curled into a fetal position. They did not all come together, but they all came for the same purpose: to soak up the energy of one of the most popular vortexes in Sedona. Surrounded by towering mesas and spectacular vistas, and located on the ancestral home of the Yavapai people, the small town of Sedona has long been a destination for New Age seekers and the astrologers, psychics, tarot readers, shamans and healers who cater to them. For the last 40 years,
these spiritual pilgrims have been drawn to the region by tales of its mysterious and amorphous energy vortexes. Definitions vary, but Sedona’s vortexes are generally understood to be geographical sites of invisible and potent spiritual energy, usually associated with specific rock formations. Books on the vortexes — what they are, where to find them and the unique energies you might experience at each one — line the shelves of the town’s many crystal shops and metaphysical bookstores. Visitors can also choose from an array of vortex tours that might include a jeep ride, sound healing, guided meditation, yoga or all of the above. But as spiritual tourism in Sedona continues to grow, the region’s most famous vortexes have become increasingly popular and
Attorneys At Law
IN-35152975
• Business Services • Medicaid Planning & Elder Law • Estate Planning, Administration & Litigation • Civil Litigation & Appeals
• Commercial Law • Trusts • Advance Directives • Real Estate, Land Use & Zoning
WILLIAMS BARRETT & WILKOWSKI, LLP 600 North Emerson • Greenwood, IN (Near I-65 & County Line Road)
(317) 888-1121 • wbwlawyers.com BOOMERS | winter 2023 11
to what they call “the Great Exodus,” when the band was forced to trek 240 miles southwest across rugged terrain to another reservation. Many elders and babies died on the journey. Before the ceremony, members of the community go up to the site to clear the land of the medicine wheels, crystals and other talismans that are inevitably left by New Age seekers. “I know for them that’s their belief, that they want to believe in something,” Smith said. “But these are our sacred sites and it makes our medicine man upset.” Yavapai religious practices have little to do with the four, seven or nine vortex locations (depending on what map you consult) that spiritual tourists seek today. These sites, crowded. Now, as traffic clogs the town’s thruways which are all conveniently accessible via short trails and trailside parking becomes nearly impossible to near parking lots, were named in 1980 by the psyfind, some longtime vortex guides say a new underchic channeler Page Bryant and popularized by the standing of Sedona’s vortex energy — and how to California psychic and self-help guru Dick Sutphen. tap into it — is needed. The most famous are. Airport Mesa (great for sun“It feels good when someone can point to a sets), Bell Rock (shaped like a bell), Cathedral Rock spot and say, ‘This is it,’” said Dennis Andres, (which glows when the sun hits it) and Boynton a.k.a. Mr. Sedona, and the author of “What is a Canyon (home to caves and ancient dwellings). Vortex?” and the soon to be released “Experience When Bryant identified the vortex locations, she the Vortex.” “But it’s not a spot. The energy is everyalso labeled each one as electric, magnetic or elecwhere in Sedona.” tromagnetic. The names were meant to be symbolic. Electric vortexes are believed to give off a stimulating and uplifting energy, while magnetic vortexes are Big vortex energy said to offer a more receptive, focused and groundHistorians trace Sedona’s New Age roots to the late 1950s when a handful of local women interested ing energy. Electromagnetic vortexes are a combination of both. However, individuals’ experiences of in metaphysics began hosting meditations in their the vortexes are often more varied than that. homes, but the spiritual history of the land extends Gail Brown, a grandmother from Long Island much further back in time. This red-rock country, where massive rock formations rise like monuments who was among the women meditating at Kachina Woman in Boynton Canyon (electromagnetic vorfrom the landscape, is also sacred to the Yavapai tex), said she felt peaceful and grounded during her people who were forced to leave in 1875 and who time there, as if a calming energy was emanating don’t believe in vortexes. from the Earth. Her sister Lynn Debaw, a retired “I call it a tourist trap because it’s really overgym teacher who was celebrating her 80th birthday, crowded,” said Gertrude Smith, Yavapai, culture described it as a more spiritual feeling of opening director for the Yavapai-Apache Nation. “But for and awakening in her heart. us, it’s a very important part of our people and LeeAnn Rigau, a retired teacher from Virginia, our history. A lot of our creation stories come said that for her, the ground around the Bell Rock out of that area.” vortex (electric) felt spiked with a powerful curEach February, members of the nation hold an rent. “I was lying on bare rock, but when I put my annual gathering in the Sedona area to pay tribute 12 BOOMERS | Winter 2023
arms down it felt like I was lying on six inches of grass because of the energy shooting up around my arms,” she said. At the Courthouse vortex (magnetic), Anjuli Mahendra, who teaches yoga and massage in the Bay Area, said the energy felt earthy, downward and slow. “I felt like I was in a womb,” she said. And then there are people who don’t feel anything at all. There are people who will tell you that the energy of Sedona’s vortexes is measurable, that it is amplified by a bed of quartz that rests beneath the ground, that it can affect your brain waves and lower your blood pressure, that it is connected to the intersection of ley lines, which are lines of energy that some believe crisscross the Earth. But an openminded skeptic might find a different take on the vortex easier to swallow. “The word ‘vortex’ is a simplified one-word label for a place that makes it easier to do prayer, mind-body healing, meditation, tapping higher consciousness, or oneness with the infinite,” said Pete A. Sanders Jr., a founding board member of the Sedona Metaphysical Spiritual Assn. and author of “Scientific Vortex Information.” “But it’s easier to say ‘Go to the vortex,’” he said.
Hollywood Hills are a vortex too?
Sanders, who has a trim, white beard and a math teacher vibe (he keeps his phone in a case clipped to his belt), has been teaching people to work with vortex energy — what he calls “the vortex effect” — since 1980. But in recent years his perspective on these sites has evolved. He still believes that the conditions in Sedona are among the best in the world for creating the energy that supercharges prayer, meditation and mind-body healing — he attributes it to the inspiring greens and reds of the landscape — but he argues that Sedona does not have a monopoly on the phenomenon. At the weekly vortex talks he gives at hotels around town, he teaches visitors not only how to tap into the energy of Sedona’s vortex sites, but also how they can seek that energy closer to their own homes. “Being inspired by a hillside you see or a nature picture can do it,” he said. “Pyramidal topography is an upflow vortex. The visual pulls you up.” The Hollywood Hills are a vortex, said Sanders, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. So is Griffith Observatory. So are the San Gabriel Mountains and the Santa Monica Mountains. “We love having people’s tourist money here,” he said. “But if people never come to Sedona, they can still have a vortex experience.” While this perspective is not universally accepted among Sedona’s vortex tour guides, many agree that a focus on just a handful of sites misses the point.
Banah Winn, a musician, sound healer and vortex guide who moved to Sedona from Los Angeles in May, said there are 60 different vortex sites in Boynton Canyon alone. He’s been to 10. And while he doesn’t think there are any Sedona-level vortexes in L.A., he said the Self-Realization Fellowship’s Lake Shrine in the Pacific Palisades comes close. Andres said that after 18 years of leading vortex tours in the area, he has concluded that seeking out a handful of specific and overly crowded locations will only lead visitors to disappointment. “They are not going to levitate when they get there,” he said.
Tune in, relax and surrender
I felt reverberating in my chest. Then she began to gently strike the Tibetan bowls she’d placed around our heads and on our bellies. As she led us in a meditation, I felt myself relax further and further, maybe more than I ever had. She told us to imagine that the Earth was rising up to meet our bodies just as our bodies were reaching down toward the Earth. That there was iron in the red rock all around us just as there is iron in our blood. That water was moving in pathways beneath the ground where we were lying, just as it moves in pathways through us. I felt a terrific sense of surrender and merging into the Earth, and a very strong impulse not to move from this spot ever again. Later, I would describe it as “sticky.” I felt this same stickiness that evening, watching the sunset at Airport Mesa, and again when I tucked myself into a crevice at the bottom of Kachina Woman after the other meditators had left. I felt it again when I woke up early on my last day in Sedona and watched the sun light up Cathedral Rock. Some might say it was the scenery. Some might say I was just tired. Some might say it was the vortexes. I say, who knows?
IN-35130081
Kim Sieb, a former national park ranger turned vortex tour guide and spiritual healer, became the owner of Sedona Mystical Tours in 2020 after the former owner approached her at a trailside parking lot. He had been told by an astrologer and psychic that she would be his successor. On a recent Wednesday, she met three people who signed up for a two-hour vortex tour ($200 for the first person, $75 for each additional person) at the trailhead of Courthouse Vista. It was 8 a.m., and the parking lot was already full.
Dressed in tan pants and tan, lace-up moccasins with a pale, blue shawl wrapped around her shoulders, she walked for a quarter of a mile before stepping off the path. Standing beneath a twisted juniper tree, she spritzed the attendees, including me, with a fragrance she made from native plants. She encouraged us to breathe deeply and imagine ourselves rooting into the ground. Then she held a tuning fork over our heads. The day was beautiful, crisp and bright, but I found it hard to focus. Whether that’s because of the energy coming from nearby Bell Rock (an electric vortex), the steady stream of other hikers walking by, or the sudden and uncontrollable coughing fit that seized me just then, I leave it to you to decide. I felt much better after we made our way to another clearing near Courthouse Rock, which is said to be a magnetic vortex. After warning us to be careful not to step on the biodynamic crust that is essential to Sedona’s ecosystem, Sieb spread out blankets on a sandy wash and invited us to lie down for a sound healing. The sun was warm, but not yet hot, and the ground was more yielding than I expected. Sieb began by hitting a wide flat drum above us that
BOOMERS | winter 2023 13
HEALTH
’ tiS tHe SeASon to
stay HEALTHY
Doctors’ tips to protect yourself during the holidays
T
Story By StAtePoint | PHotoS By AdoBe Stock
c
The holiday season is a joyous time to reconnect with family and loved ones, but it also brings unique health and safety risks, according to doctors, who recommend a bit of extra vigilance to protect yourself and those close to you. “During the hectic holiday season, it can be hard to carve out time to focus on your wellness. Awareness, along with the adoption of a few healthy habits, can help you and your family enjoy this special time of year in the best of health,” says American Medical Association (AMA) president, Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., M.P.H. For a healthy, happy season, follow these tips and recommendations from the AMA:
One-on-one help with your Medicare questions.
Flinn and Maguire Funeral Home has been serving the surrounding area for over 100 years.
All of the services we offer are designed to help families through one of the most difficult times of their lives. With the variety of options we offer, you are guaranteed to find what's best for your loved one.
IN-35153281
317-736-5528 2898 N Morton St. Franklin, IN 46131 14 BOOMERS | winter 2023
www.flinnmaguire.com
Candace McWilliams Licensed Sales Agent
317-840-3680, TTY 711 IN-35147760
Here at Flinn and Maguire, we treat you like you are a part of our own family.
Y0066_23SPRJ55188_C
3. If you’re consuming alcohol, drink only in moderation. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans defines that as up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men, and only by adults of legal drinking age. 4. Make time to exercise during this busy time of year. A good rule of thumb for adults is at least 150 minutes a week of moderateintensity activity, or 75 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity. Brisk walks, or even a family trip to the gym, can provide easy and fun ways to get off the couch and elevate your heart rate over the holiday season. If you’re traveling, don’t forget to pack your sneakers!
2. Watch what you eat this holiday season. Pay particular attention to labels and avoid processed foods as much as you can, especially those 5. Factors like holiday spending and with added sodium and sugar. Drink water instead navigating time with extended family can bring of sugar-sweetened beverages, and eat nutritious, on extra seasonal stress. Invest in your mental whole foods like fresh fruits and vegetables alonghealth and manage stress by getting sufficient side richer holiday fare.
sleep, exercising and seeking help from a mental health professional when you need it.
6. Make smart choices and plan ahead if you’re driving. In December 2021 alone, 1,013 Americans died in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes. Do not under any circumstances drive if you intend to drink. And if you are the designated driver, make a 100% commitment to sobriety. 7. Get your New Year’s resolutions started early. Speak with your doctor or health care professional about quitting tobacco and nicotine use, and declare your home and car smoke-free to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure. “Amid the holiday cheer, don’t neglect your health and safety. By eating well, exercising, and taking necessary steps to stop the spread of respiratory viruses, you can help protect yourself against common seasonal health risks,” Dr. Ehrenfeld said.
317-788-4261 AltenheimSeniorLiving.com
317-535-3344 AspenTrace.us
IN-35152558
Every moment matters enjoy your day - your way!
#holidayjoy #makingmemories #cardoncares #independentliving #assistedliving
IN-35129348
1. Vaccination is the best protection against a number of serious respiratory viruses circulating this fall and winter. To protect yourself and your family, get up to date on your vaccines, including the annual flu shot, as well as the updated COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 6 months and older. Vaccines are also available to protect older adults from severe RSV. New tools to protect infants during RSV season include maternal vaccination as well as the monoclonal antibody immunization. If you have questions, speak with your physician and review trusted resources, including getvaccineanswers.org.
BOOMERS | winter 2023 15
FOOD
THE GIFT OF
H
By fAmily feAtureS
Holiday gifting is an exciting tradition for many families, but finding that perfect present for the person who seems to have it all can be tricky. This year, you can add a touch of sweetness to that special someone's stocking with the gift of fresh fruit. Look no further than the delicious taste contained in Florida citrus gift boxes with premium citrus hand-selected at the peak of ripeness and delivered fresh to your recipient's door. From varieties of fresh fruit to tasty delights, like orange blossom honey, jellies, candies and chocolate, it's an easy choice for crossing off holiday checklists. Well known for its vitamin C content, it provides a combination of nutrients to support overall health for a nutritious twist on seasonal gifting. "Fresh Florida citrus fruits provide an attainable solution for individuals falling short of
G r A P e f r u i t Av o c A d o B r u S c H e t tA
16 BOOMERS | winter 2023
fresh citrus
their daily nutrient goals," said Dr. Rosa Walsh, director of scientific research at the Florida Department of Citrus. "It offers a number of key vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, folate, fiber and thiamin, and can help support overall well-being when consumed as part of a healthy diet." Thanks to Florida's unique climate with subtropical temperatures, abundant sunshine, distinctive sandy soil and ample rainfall, the citrus fruits pack a juicy, naturally sweet taste from the Sunshine State. These gift boxes can bring a new spin to your holiday menu. Whether you're shipping a box to a family member, friend, neighbor or your own front door, holiday get-togethers can receive a spark of sweetness from a delicious appetizer like Grapefruit
Avocado Bruschetta. This fresh take on a party favorite calls for toasted baguette slices topped with chopped grapefruit, Roma tomatoes, avocado and red onion to take your hors d'oeuvres selection to the next level. For the adults in attendance, put a simple yet refreshing cocktail on the menu with this Grapefruit Paloma - just rim four glasses with margarita salt and mix a few easy ingredients to bring a little sunshine to the festivities. Find more information, check availability in your area and shop for gift boxes at gifts.floridacitrus.org
G r ap e f r u i t Pa l o m a Servings: 4 24 ounces Florida grapefruit juice 16 ounces silver tequila 16 ounces seltzer Ice Margarita salt (optional) 4 Florida grapefruit wedges (optional) In large pitcher, mix grapefruit juice, tequila and seltzer with ice. Rim four glasses with margarita salt, if desired. Divide paloma among glasses; garnish with grapefruit wedges, if desired. Source: Florida Department of Citrus
G r ap e f r u i t Av o c a d o B r u s c h e t t a Servings: 3
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 cup Florida grapefruit sections
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 baguette, sliced on bias
Salt and pepper, to taste
2-3 whole garlic cloves, peeled and halved
Florida grapefruit segments, for garnish (optional)
3-4 ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional) Preheat oven to 350 F. Chop grapefruit.
1 large avocado, chopped
Spoon grapefruit mixture over prepared bruschetta.
Place baguette slices on baking sheet and toast 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown.
Garnish with fresh grapefruit segments and cilantro, if desired.
1/2 small red onion, chopped
Rub toasted sides of bread with cut sides of garlic cloves; reserve. In medium bowl, combine tomatoes, grapefruit, avocado, red onion, cilantro and olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Toss gently to combine.
BOOMERS | winter 2023 17
OPINION
I By PHylliS BeX PHYLLIS BEX HAS BEEN A RESIDENT OF JOHNSON COUNTY SINCE 1973, MAKING HER HOME IN GREENWOOD. SHE CAN BE REACHED AT PBEX49@GMAIL.COM
BECOMING FORGETFUL AS WE AGE
18 BOOMERS | winter 2023
It can be frustrating when traveling and run out of our maintenance drugs. It happens. Or if we get stuck somewhere and have not taken enough prescriptions with us because we’ve been delayed. Rest assured; we are in good company. As we age, our bodies become more dependent on medications to maintain health. That is frustrating to many people. Not too long ago, my first prescription was for acid reflux. I knew early in the day if I forgot to take it. While visiting my doctor, the nurse asked me if I was taking my medication as directed. When I told her, “No,” she said, “Do you have a cell phone?” Yes. “Then set the alarm to take your meds every morning.” I did and it worked most of the time. In fact, I put a second alarm on it that read, “I mean it! Take your meds!” Now I have three other pills, so it is important to keep this well-oiled machine in tip-top shape. (Me.) One spring, my sister Carol, her husband, Jim, along with Georgiann and I drove across Florida, from Clearwater to Vero beach. Our niece Debbie drove over from Arcadia, as well. Sister, Lois and her husband, Dick, were staying at Vero Beach in an exceptionally large house. They invited us for an overnight stay and to visit the area. We toured the sites, shopped, saw the Atlantic, ate delicious food, watched college basketball and played cards. Of course, we had a wonderful time. Before bed we were all getting our ‘night pills’ together and Carol discovered she forgot her daysof-the-week pill holder. No fear, we don’t need to worry if we forget our medications while traveling with this bunch. We are relatives with similar DNA. I gave Carol a rosuvastatin, Lois gave her a Co-Q 10 and a calcium tablet, Jim gave her a metformin, and Georgiann gave her a Zyrtec. Whew, problem solved. Now, for the morning medicine rituals. I heard someone say, “Guard your youthfulness like someone was trying to break in and steal it.” I wondered what they meant by “youth.” Probably meant our looks, our shape, our buoyancy and mostly, our attitudes. A person with a youthful spirit remains young beyond their years. I believe it has a lot to do with smiling and eye contact. Plus, the fact that you can still move and be active is important.
At times, just getting out of a chair or from your automobile is a challenge. After that, the first few steps might be a little tricky. At a restaurant, I have learned to stand up and then gather my things for a moment. I continue the conversation while standing there until my feet and legs get awake enough for me not to look like a cripple when I march towards the door. As we age, we lose our filter when we converse. Maybe it’s because we get tired of caring, or we can’t remember an intelligent reply, so we just speak our mind. During a gathering at my home, one gal spoke about getting up at 6 a.m. because she enjoys the mornings. My friend Daphna replied, “No one should have to get up at 6 a.m. unless you have a cow to milk.” While in Florida, I and some friends were waiting on someone who was late. When they arrived, one of them said: “I’ve whitened my teeth and put on shoes for you, now what?” See? No filter. Let’s talk about all the new road construction. What puzzles me are the roundabouts. Just when I think I’m one of the “cool kids,” and I can maneuver in my lane, I have taken the wrong road. Now, I must turn around to go back to find the correct road. I judged them to myself, “Why don’t they put up a road sign?” When I got back to this roundabout, there was a huge sign pointing to my road. I thought, “Wow, that was fast … that sign wasn’t there a minute ago.” The new interstate changes have the new tear drop systems instead of a perfect circle like a roundabout. It doesn’t allow you to go around; you either turn at one of the two or three opportunities or just keep going on the same road. How about those odd-ball interchanges that put you on the opposite side of the road, and then you have a stop light at either side of the bridge. Crazy, I tell you. Who thinks of this stuff? Being a forgetful, older person who may or may not be retired is not for the faint of heart. No, there are a lot of assumptions to which we must submit, like remember your meds while traveling, take care of yourself and stay alert — especially while driving.
OPINION
IT’S TOO LATE TO ARGUE ABOUT
daylight savings time
N
By JAmeS lilekS, StAr triBune
Nobody will ever do anything about daylight savings time. “Hold on,” you say, “that was last month. Why are you bringing this up now?” Because that’s exactly why nothing will be done — because it’s not an issue this month. Sure, last month there were the usual muted bleats and impotent mutters, but everyone set
their clocks back, and the entire conversation about DST died with the first cock’s crow because we have the attention spans of fruit flies. We will revisit this in the spring, have the same conversation and change nothing. Rinse, repeat. “Hold on again,” you say. “Did the shampoo companies really add ‘repeat’ to double consumption, or is that just an urban legend? And are there such things as rural legends, as long as we’re at it? If you had a legend that arose somewhere between Anoka and Big Lake, would it be urban, rural or exurban?” So you want to change the subject, I see. You’re ashamed that I pointed out how we all obey the clock-changing law with unquestioning obedience. That’s fine. There should be no shame about the subject, especially when it comes to an unpopular truth. Some of us ... like the early sunsets. Winter might be a time when you’re out schussing on cross-country skis and you prize that extra hour of light, twinkling through the ice-encrusted branches, but most of us are home making dinner, following some instinctive need to carb-load and hibernate. The dark is a fine setting for the lights we add to the trees and the home as well, an act of defiance, of decorating the cold blank nullity of a winter night.
We hunker and wait for Dec. 21, when the long declining day stops, gathers itself, takes a breath and starts the victory march to spring. “All well and good,” you say, “but if you have to repeat the shampooing, doesn’t that suggest that the product has been watered down? Why can’t it get it right the first time?” Would you stop with that already? We don’t even know if the bottles still say that. Let me check ... OK, the stuff I use does not say repeat. It says “Lather, Wash, Rinse.” I don’t know why they have to tell you that in the first place, but we should be grateful the label instructions don’t say “Apply to head with hands,” because that would suggest that some dolts daub it on the shower wall and rub their noggins against the tile. Anyway, there’s just no incentive for the authorities in charge of clock realignment to make the change. I know it sounds a bit cynical, but letters to the editor and Facebook posts are sometimes insufficient to bestir the Leviathan to act. The cynics will suspect that we are meant to argue over this issue to keep us from noticing the real questions of our time, such as how your combo shampoo-conditioner knows when to stop cleaning and start adding the conditioner elements. But the very fact that they combine the two, when they could sell you two different products for more money, argues against the whole “rinse-repeat” conspiracy mentality. I mean, my shampoo is also body wash. There’s no reason they had to do that. No one would have thought about that, but guys are like, “Hey, get it all in one bottle? Can you maybe add mouthwash and an anti-fungal?” I’m sure they can. This is America. All things are possible. Except getting rid of DST.
BOOMERS | winter 2023 19
LEADING THE WAY
Jeff and April Herrmann
IN SERVICE AND CARE Third generation family owned and operated funeral home and cemetery
IN-35129351
Let our family help you in planning the details to provide peace of mind for your loved ones. Call today 317-787-7211
G.H. Herrmann Funeral Homes S
I
N
C
E
1
9
2
6
at Olive Branch Cemetery
Family owned • Inspired by Tradition • Dedicated to Service 1605 S. S.R. 135, Greenwood • ghherrmann.com • 317.787.7211 5141 Madison Avenue, Indianapolis • 1505 South East Street, Indianapolis
20 BOOMERS | winter 2023