Vol. 14, Issue 184
Templeton bowled at Grandview Lanes...
Templeton Volunteers
“Dedicated to Excellence�
Januray 2016
Vol. 14, Issue 184
Caregiver’s LIFE…
It makes no sense some of things we do for whatever nonsensical reason. In the name of practicality and efficiency there is someone in our kitchen that insists everyone fill the electric kettle each and every time it is emptied of its boiled water. It’s as if it takes more time to fill it when you need to boil more water. And, each time it is found empty the announcement that it would be appreciated if the culprit who empties it be responsible and considerate enough to re-fill it. The advice is not necessarily delivered to the guilty person because it happens week after week. The guilty person has no name. No e-mail address so to speak. He or she is also deaf? I, too, am guilty of such innate practices. I, who is responsible for another human being care totally. Every time we have dinner guests I insist on moving my stacks of paper myself so nothing gets mixed up and out of order. I don’t know why because t’s been there so long I don’t remember what I put in those piles anymore. —Kiyoko Akeroyd Templeton Stroke Recovery (Treasurer) In Just a Little While
For each valley there’s a hilltop For each raindrop there is sun For each twilight there’s a dawning When dark hours of night are done For each thistle there’s a flower For each teardrop there’s a smile. And sorrow will give way to joy In just a little while! - Jon Gilbert
January 2016
The SENIORS ADVOCATE (www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca)
The Office of the Seniors Advocate (OSA) was created in 2013 with the proclamation of the Seniors A dvocate Act and the first Advocate was appointed in 2014. The Act defines seniors as those 65 years of age and over, or those in receipt of seniors’ services. The OSA is an independent office of the provincial government and has several key functions, including analyzing, reporting and monitoring systemic issues that affect seniors, making recommendations to government for change, and providing information and referral to seniors and their families. The Seniors Advocate has jurisdiction over the following areas: Health care Transportation Housing Personal care Income support Isobel Mackenzie was appointed as B.C.’s first Seniors Advocate on March 17, 2014. She brings over 20 years of experience working with seniors in home care and community and volunteer services. The Advocate is supported by a 30member volunteer Council of Advisers, a group of diverse seniors who provide feedback and guidance in the Advocate’s work. They represent 26 communities in every region of the province, and are proportionally representative of each health authority. Advisers bring varied experience to the council. They have backgrounds in education, health care, business, the arts, social work and local government, to name a few. They range in age from 65 to 85 years old. Toll-free: 1.877.952.3181 Mon-Fri 8:30—4:30 Except statutory holidays
Templeton Newsletter Mailing Address: 204– 2929 Nootka Street, Vancouver, BC V5M 4K4 Canada Published every month, if possible. Contributions are always welcome. The articles should be in, not later than day 25th day of every month. Disclaimer: The views expressed in Stroke Recoverer’s Review newsletter: articles, submissions and spotlights are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Templeton Stroke Recovery or the editor of Stroke Recoverer’s Review. Editor reserves the right at any time to make changes as it deems necessary. It is the purpose of this periodical to share a variety of viewpoints mostly from stroke survivors and volunteers. January 2016 Contributors: Loy Lai Ollie Stogrin Kiyoko Akeroyd Deb Chow Jim Walmsley Werner Stephan Jose Suganob
Production of SRR: Jose Suganob
Inside this issue:
Caregiver’s Life Seniors Advocate
2
Templeton Happenings Encouragements
3
BLAST
4
Jokes page
5
Unfulfilled Longings
6 Page 2
Vol. 14, Issue 184
January 2016
Last Month’s Happening
This is 2016? Yes, it is 2016, and I’m no better this year than I was in 2015. I’m still late with the news items for Templeton. Only I am going to try to do better ‘next’ month which it is already. Seems, we at Templeton are all so busy. Everyone, including our members, are doing double duty! It’s great that our members are so helpful. They are wonderful! They all have duties with helping one another. I’m sure that most of SRABC groups are not aware that we haven’t had a coordinator since last year. And , I’m not sure when we ill get ’anyone’ suitable soon. Maybe we try to do many things at Templeton that other groups don’t. When it comes to coordinators, we don’t expect them to change ALL that has worked for us for the last 20 years. We expect them to change for better items on our program but not to ‘scrap’ Encouragements…
Make things happen in your life instead of waiting for them to happen to you
Engage in positive selftalk , especially when you are feeling blue or downtrodden.
Heed the advice of Lao Tzu, who said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.” —Loy Lai, Stroke Survivor Templeton stroke Recovery
everything that has been working for so long. Hopefully, we will find someone that appreciates what Templeton has accomplished in 20 years. Many of you that are new to ‘Stroke Recovery’ have no idea what I’m referring to? How many groups have a yearly picnic and invite other groups? Or a Xmas party at their stroke group, gone on bus trips? We have been Harrison Hot Spring, White Rock, Whistler, Horseshoe Bay, Vancouver Island? Casino trips, plus Did anyone know that Templeton did a ’Van Raffle’ (we raised the money to pay for the van that was raffled off for SRABC. That’ just to name a few items doing all that I have mentioned takes a lot of work and cooperation from a coordinator that we would like to have to keep up all that has happened with Templeton. There’s also BLAST Easter Camp which was discontinued because it was
Too often we underestimate...
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear and honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.—Buscaglia
too much work. Which was revived by a stroke survivor, Debbie Chow. That’s her life after stroke. Another chance at living. All these wonderful items have taken by people who care and want to help each other have a life after stroke. This month, I just thought that I must point out that SRABC didn’t just happen. Many people have put many hours in to help SRABC survive. Without all our members there would be no head office to guide us. That’s why we need to have ‘executive board’ that is working om our behalf. We are known all across Canada and the USA. We’re are ‘not’ Heart and Stroke. We are ‘Survivors in Recovery’ remember. Next month my news will be normal again. —Ollie Stogrin Templeton Stroke Recovery, President Office of the Seniors Advocate…
Toll-free 1.877.952.3181 Monday to Friday, 8:30—4:30 (Except statutory holidays) Translation services available in more than 180 languages.
1st floor, 1515 Blanshard St. PO Box 9651 STN PROV GOVT Victoria, B.C. V8W 9P4 Email: info@seniorsadvocatebc.ca
Anyone can become angry. That’s easy...But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in te right way. That’s not easy— Aristotle
Website: seniorsadvocatebc.ca Facebook: facebook.com/SeniorsAdvocateBC Twitter: @SrsAdvocateBC
Page 3
Vol. 14, Issue 184
January 2016
BLAST 2016
Easter Weekend at Camp Squamish 2016
Stroke Survivors, Caregivers, and Friends!
Come, join us for dinner! Monday, Feb 15th, 2016 Dinner starts at 5:30 pm Moulin Rouge Restaurant
(before Tom & Jerry Restaurant)
2828 E. Hastings St, Vancouver, BC (Near PNE) Entrees are $10 and beverages are bottomless It is an opportunity to meet our BLAST Ambassadors, have a few laughs, and a BLAST (Building Life After Stroke Together) Drops ins welcome, RSVP preferred (Please let me know if you are coming so I can give the restaurant a heads up) Phone: Deb 604-253-2390 There’s lots of room for wheelchairs and scooters Black Hoodie (Front zipper)...
Must be pre-ordered by Feb. 15th Please pay $35 by cheque or bring exact amount. They will be washed and ready to wear when you get to Camp Squamish.
BLAST 2016 Easter Weekend at Camp Squamish Features:
50% cotton/ 50% polyester, preshrunk, Air jet Spun Yarn for softer and no pill. Doubleneedle stitching, Pouch pockets. Set-in sleeves
Available sizes: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL
Saturday Night Dance to the “Retro 2” who join us at campfire (Rock & Roll to 50’s and 60’s music)
Jennifer Gilchrist “The Benefit of therapeutic recreation of the mind, body and soul”
Sue Grant from Comox “Advance Care Planning”
Heritage Park, Colleen massage team, SureFeet, Sync or swim, Aqua rehab (30 degree pool) Page 4
Vol. 14, Issue 184
JIMY’S INTERNET JOKE
January 2016
JOKES
the troops outbound in those ships, however, he was a complete mystery; all they knew for sure was that someone named Kilroy had ‘been there first.’ As a joke US servicemen began placing the graffiti wherever they landed, claiming it was already set about all the wages being paid to there when they arrived. riveters, and asked him to investigate It was then he realized what had To help prove his authenticity in been going on. The tight spaces he 1946, James Kilroy brought along had to crawl in to check the rivets officials from the shipyard and some didn’t lend themselves to lugging of the riveters. He won the trolley around a paint can and brush, so car, which he gave to his nine Kilroy decided to stick with the children as a Christmas gift and set it waxy chalk. He continued to put his up s a playhouse in the Kilroy yard check mark on each job he inspected, in Halifax, Massachusetts, USA. but added ‘KILROY WAS HERE’in —shared by Jim Walmsley king-sized letters next to the check, Stroke Survivor and eventually added the sketch of the chap with the long nose peering over the fence and that became part Wall Flowers... the Kilroy message. Once he did A funeral service is being held for a that, the riveters stopped trying to woman who has just passed away. wipe away his marks. Ordinarily the At the end of the service, the pall rivets and chalk marks would have bearers are carrying the casket out been covered up with paint. when they accidently bump into a
Later on, off-shift inspector would He is engraved in stone in come through and count the rivets a the National War Memori- second time, resulting in double pay al in Washington, DC, for the riveters. back in a small alcove One day Kilroy’s boss called him were very few people have seen it. into his office. The foreman was up“Kilroy was here”….
For the WWII generation, this will bring back memories. For you, younger folks, it’s a bit of trivia that is a part of our American history. Anyone born in 1913 to about 1950, is familiar with Kilroy. No one knew why he was so well known, but everybody seemed to get into it. So who was Kilroy?
In 1946, the American Transit Association, through its radio program, “Speak to America,” sponsored a nationwide contest to find the real Kilroy, offering a prize of a real trolley car to the person who could prove himself to be the genuine article. Almost 40 men stepped forward to make that claim, but only James Kilroy from Halifax, Massachusetts, had evidence of his identiWith the war on, however, ships ty. were leaving the Quincy Yard so fast Kilroy was a 46-year-old shipyard that there wasn’t time to paint them. worker during the war who worked As a result, Kilroy’s inspection as a checker at the ForeRiver Ship- ‘trademark’ was seen by thousands yard in Quincy. His job was to go of servicemen who boarded the around and check on the number of troopships the yard produced. His rivets completed. Riveters were on message apparently rang a bell with piecework and got paid by the rivet. the servicemen, because they picked He would count a block of rivets and it up and spread it all over Europe put a check mark in semi-waxed and the South Pacific. lumber chalk, so the rivets wouldn’t Before war’s end, “Kilroy” had been be counted twice. When Kilroy went here, there and everywhere on the off duty, the riveters would erase the long hauls to Berlin and Tokyo. To mark.
wall, jarring the casket. They hear a faint moan! They opened the casket and find that the woman is actually alive! She lived for ten more years, and then dies. Once again, a ceremony is held, and at the end of it, the pall bearers are again carrying out the casket. As they carry the casket towards the door, the husband cries out, “BE CAREFUL!!! WATCH THAT DAMN WALL!!! Page 5
Vol. 14, Issue 184
January 2016
UNFULFILLED LONGINGS Werner Stephan, Stroke Survivor: North Shore Stroke Recovery Center - West Vancouver Group
Catchy title, isn’t it? No, it isn’t about lust or love or religion but about the basis of creativity, hunger, body weight and the needs of society. There is no need of being creative if we don’t need a thing, like a better car or a better can opener or a more convincing lie, for example. When we get older, we might dream about who we should have become like an entertainer, or a famous actor, or a marine biologist, or whatever, if….Or we dream of having a ‘bucket list’ like —swim with the dolphins, go back to college, back-pack through Europe or learn to surf. The (female) writer Nancy DeMoss identified some of the lies women believe about unfulfilled longings: 99 ways to look and feel better and enjoy life more—delete snacks to lose weight fast—look gorgeous when it is more than 100 degrees— 25 secrets to look young—the easy life: fun jobs, wild fantasies, smart solutions. First, we have to recognize that we will always have unfulfilled longings this side of heaven, otherwise we won’t even try to to better our, rather ordinary, lives. We will Good Posture for Good Health... Sleeping…
Avoid overly soft mattresses. A firm mattress best support the natural “S-curve” of the spine.
Sleep on your back with a pillow under your knees.
Bend your knees when sleeping on your side, and perhaps place a firm
not even try and be creative. Some of female issue but men also long a job us have simple dreams, like more promotion, more money and often chocolate or more fun: better friends. It seems to be true that females more often long for issies connected with family life and men are more concerned with social status, but that is often not strictly true. One begins to wonder if logic provides always the best solution. Maybe one can get through each day, or even weeks, without pretending to believe obvious lies and until deep longings are fulfilled.
Chocolate Cake
For us as ‘stroker,’ unfulfilled longings are obvious: our health. But none of us, men or women, have everything that we want. We all have longings that are unfulfilled and it becomes harder to find contentment and—why should we? Remember, every situation sparks creativity to better it. I believe that there are only these true and valid unfulfilled longings: lots of chocolate and lots of good, clean fun. Everything else is an illusion!
Fun If one reads the writings on the internet, one might get the impression that unfulfilled longings are strictly a
—Werner Stephan, Stroke Survivor North Vancouver Stroke Recovery Center (West Vancouver group)
pillow between your knees to mainlower back. tain proper alignment of your spine The bathtub… and hips. The bathtub was invented in 1850. Try to use only one pillow under The telephone was invented in 1875. your head. This might not seem like much but Avoid sleeping on your stomach. if you had lived back then, you If you must, avoid using a pillow could have sit in the bathtub for 25 under your head, and prop a small, years without being bothered by the flat pillow under your hips to phone. reduce excessive arching of your Page 6