Spring Palouse Seniors 2010

Seniors

Palouse

Farewell, Father The Rev. Joseph Schmidt says goodbye to St. Mary’s Church - page 2

spring

2010

All their own

Colfax care facility goes employee-owned - page 4

A special publication of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News

2 | Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 |

Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

A lifetime of service

The Rev. Joe Schmidt hopes to spend more time golfing and fishing after he retires in June.

Schmidt has been pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Moscow for 18 years.

Retiring pastor at St. Mary’s looks back on 70 good years

By Vera White Daily News staff writer

The Rev. Joseph Schmidt started thinking about becoming a priest when he was in junior high school — not unusual for a boy growing up in Greencreek, a tiny town that for years was known as a “hotbed of Roman Catholicism” on the Camas Prairie.

“It was indeed once that way and probably 90 percent of the people were Catholic,” Schmidt remembered. “There were 45 in my high school and just a few kids were non-Catholic.”

When the school in Greencreek closed, it consolidated with several other small communities to become Prairie High School.

“The small towns were pretty much the same, and the families were large,” he said. “Now, that would not be true.”

A lot of young men from Greencreek went into the priesthood. When Schmidt was ordained there May 15, 1966, at St. Anthony’s Church, he was the thirteenth priest who had been ordained from that community.

Geoff Crimmins Daily News

“And since then, there have been three or four more,” Schmidt added.

Although St. Anthony’s burned down in the early 1960s, it was rebuilt and continues to function at its original location.

Schmidt is now the pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Moscow.

The youngest of nine children, he was born Jan. 14, 1940, to Joseph and Teresa Schmidt. In addition to brother Fred Schmidt of Lewiston, he has seven sisters.

“They are all married and have families,” he said. “My sisters say I was a spoiled brat, so I guess I have to accept that.”

All the siblings are still living and remain close, getting together for a reunion at least once a year. When they are together, there are many remembrances of their childhood on the family farm.

“It was very small and we barely made a living,” Schmidt recalled. “We had chickens, pigs, cattle and a big garden so we always had enough food and See SERVICE, Page 14

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 3

Schmidt has seen history at St. Mary’s

St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Moscow is seen on the corner of First and Polk streets.

Catholic church has been in Moscow since 1800s, elementary school recently celebrated 100th birthday

By Vera White Daily News staff writer

When the Rev. Joseph Schmidt arrived in 1992 to become pastor at St. Mary’s Church, he stepped into a setting rich in history. Ten years prior, on May 16, 1982, folks had celebrated the centennial of the Catholic community in Moscow.

In a book titled “The First Hundred Years: A Centennial History of St. Mary’s Church,” former pastor the Rev. Kenneth J. Arnzen wrote a detailed history of the church where he served from 1974 to 1992.

In the 152-page self-printed book, Arnzen traces the church from the beginning. In June 1882, Archbishop Charles Seghers, a pioneer missionary born in Belgium, came to Moscow for an official visitation. To get there, he traveled upriver from Oregon City to Lewiston. After arriving in Moscow, he celebrated Mass for the faithful in a combination dance hall and roller rink owned by M. James Shields, a prominent Catholic businessman. The loca-

tion was at Fourth and Main streets.

Arnzen writes about the impact made when the Rev. Pierre DeSmet arrived in north Idaho and started his missionary work, the arrival of the Ursuline nuns who founded the first Catholic school on the Palouse, many of the colorful Catholics who were instrumental in keeping the church alive and much more. In addition, there are a number of old photographs and illustrations sprinkled throughout.

Schmidt, who plans to retire in June, said there haven’t been many major changes at St. Mary’s during his 18 years there.

“Physically, the church hasn’t changed that much,” he said. “We did refinish all of the wooden pews, repainted the interior and installed new carpet, and built a new altar as well as a new lectern where the Word of God is proclaimed.”

The biggest project since he’s been there was the expansion of the school three years ago.

“We added a new gym and addi-

Geoff Crimmins Daily News

tional classrooms,” he said. “The gym is not only used by the kids, but the entire parish and community.”

Currently, the number of households in St. Mary’s parish is 475, which consist mostly of families. St. Mary’s School enrollment in first through sixth grade totals almost 100 students.

The school, started more than 100 years ago, is still going strong, offering an academic education and, in addition, music and athletic programs.

Sister Margaret Johnson is the current principal.

Preschool and kindergarten at St.

Rose’s across the street is run by the Ursuline Sisters and probably numbers close to 56 children.

“And there is still space for others in the classrooms,” Schmidt added.

St. Mary’s Church is located at the corner of First and Polk streets. Other properties owned by the church include St. Mary’s Family Center at 618 E. First St. and the rectory at 621 E. A St. Vera White can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 251, vnwhite@dnews.com or vnwhite@cableone.net.

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Colfax care facility goes employee-owned Whitman Health and Rehabilitation Center director touts progress

By Vera White Daily News staff writer

Whitman Health and Rehabilitation Center in Colfax has a long history of serving people in the region.

Roy McDonald established the facility at its current location at 1150 W. Fairview in 1985, and Evergreen Healthcare took over “around 1998,” according to Executive Director Ken S. Alexander.

Evergreen provides management and consulting services to 53 licensed nursing and five assisted living facilities in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The company made even greater strides last March when it announced it had become 100-percent employee owned, the first long-term care company in the United States to do so.

In the prepared release upon the completion of the transition from private ownership to being totally owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan Trust,

CEO Anne Nipp wrote that the Community College there. company felt this was the high“Being young, I changed est benefit it could provide to its my mind and pursued other devoted employees. interests, graduating from Alexander agrees.

Washington State University “I love workin 1994 with ing at a facility a bachelor’s that is 100-perdegree,” he cent employee said.

“In owned, and hindsight, I am lookI wished I ing forward to would have receiving this stayed with year’s stock it, but I am allotment,” very happy Ken S. Alexander Alexander said to now be in a recent Whitman Health and Rehabilitation a licensed Center executive director interview. “All nursing of us here can home adminsay, ‘This is our istrator.” facility.’ We have the best resiAlexander came back to dents and the best employees.” long-term care via the theraAlexander, who came to py department with plans to WHRC in June 2008, is a become a physical therapist. native of Clarkston, but cur- But when he had an opporturently calls Spokane his home, nity to do an administratorwhere he lives with his wife in-training program, he went and children. Nineteen years for it because he felt he could ago he was a nursing assistant make a “bigger difference” for at a nursing home in Clarkston the residents. He completed and was enrolled in the nurs- that program in Spokane.

“I have been very pleased ing program at Walla Walla

“

All of us here can say, ‘This is our facility.’ ”

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Lewiston, is director of nursing and oversees about 10 licensed nurses and some 18 nursing assistants. She will soon celebrate her 16th anniversary at the facility.

“We have staff licensed nurses on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Alexander said.

WHRC has more than 50 full- and part-time employees. Founder McDonald’s son, Dennis McDonald, is still employed there as admissions coordinator.

Also of interest to patients are a variety of activities seven days a week, provided under the direction of Activity Director Cindy Dvorak. There also are two dining rooms for residents as well as a private dining room that can be reserved by families for special occasions.

WHRC is Medicare/ Medicaid certified and offers private Medicare suites for short-term rehab patients.

“We also accept most HMOs and long-term care insurance as well,” Alexander said.

Vera White can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 251, vnwhite@dnews. com or vnwhite@cableone.net.

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during my tenure here,” he said. “We have added new landscaping, a new roof, new exterior paint and refurbished the interior with new hardwood floors and carpet. ... We also have new beds and furniture for the residents.”

WHRC is a 69-bed skilled nursing facility, and the census varies because of the shortterm rehab patients.

“We have been consistently running about 40 to 45 percent with those in short-term rehab, and 55 to 60 percent with long-term patients,” he explained.

In addition to specialized rehabilitation services involving physical, occupational and speech therapy, WHRC also offers 24-hour skilled nursing care, hospice and respite care, medical social services and long-term care.

Dr. Bryan Johnson is medical director at the facility. “(Johnson) is part of the Whitman Medical Group and makes rounds at the facility as well as we will take our residents to his office at the clinic,” he said.

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 5

COMMENTARY

Meet the Friendly Neighbors

Vision support group meets in Moscow

Friendly Neighbors is a group of active volunteers probably best known for operating the weekly meal sites at the 1912 Center in Moscow where seniors older than 60 can eat for free twice a week. Friendly Neighbors Senior Citizens Inc., a nonprofit service group, also operates the Moscow Senior Center at the 1912 Center, located at 412 E. Third Street.

Last year as seniors editor for the Daily News, I allowed the Friends of Hospice and Family Home Care & Hospice to write a series of articles for our quarterly senior tab to help raise awareness for the good works done by those groups

By Leonard C. Johnson The Friendly Neighbors

T

he Friendly Neighbors Senior Citizens group of Moscow offers several services for area seniors.

Probably the best known service is the low-cost, nutritious noon meal served Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Great Room of the 1912 Center at 412 E. Third St. Also located in the 1912 Center is the Moscow Senior Center, a room for seniors to use for various social and educational purposes.

A group that uses the Senior Center is a support group for people coping with diabetes and impaired vision.

This group meets at 10:30 a.m. Wednesdays to socialize, discuss what’s going on in their lives and, most importantly, to hear informational presentations on topics dealing with a variety of problems encountered in living with diabetes and impaired vision.

The local Blind and Diabetic Support Group was started in 1998 by Clara Dockter when her husband, Ted (now deceased), had been told that he could no longer drive because of his impaired eyesight. He then enrolled in a school in Boise provided by the Idaho Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

Realizing she needed help, Clara searched for a local support group, but there was none in Moscow. So Clara decided to organize a group that would serve not only the blind but also people afflicted with diabetes, since diabetics often experience some vision impairment. On a visit to Moscow, a representative from the ICBVI offered that the commission would provide assistance to the group, which became an official “Peer Group” of the ICBVI. Clara, as the group’s facilitator, schedules guest speakers from the local community who share useful information.

One speaker is Shane Hyde, a rehabilitation teacher from the regional office of the ICBVI in Lewiston. The meet-

and their host of volunteers.

When I found out a couple of months ago that Friendly Neighbors had yet another worthy project going, I asked Kay Keskinen, co-secretary/ co-treasurer, if her group would be interested in contributing a series of articles for 2010. She agreed.

The first article is below and details the Friendly Neighbors’ recently formed Blind and Diabetic Support Group, or as Keskinen lovingly calls it, “The Eyes Have It.” I’m sure readers will pick up a lot of useful information as they follow the series throughout the year.

— Vera White

Moscow optometrist George Paris (center) speaks at a recent Blind and Diabetic Support group meeting in Moscow. The woman sitting to his right wearing the blue cap is Clara Dockter, who started the group. ings give Hyde good opportunities for interacting with the blind and visually impaired, helping them learn to cope with loss of vision clarity. He provides updates about the work of the ICBVI, discusses vision disorders and demonstrates adaptive aids that can facilitate personal indepen-

dence for blind and visually impaired people. These aids include magnifiers, large print items, protective eyewear and talking watches and calculators.

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

COMMENTARY

Flex consumer power: Fight drug costs with generics

By David L. Clark

P

eople feel helpless over rising medical costs, but there is one arena where they can flex their power — prescription medications. Many credible sites help people evaluate how medications stack up against each other for benefits, risks and price. The results can be striking.

The most commonly prescribed medications, like anti-depressants, blood pressure regulators or sleep aids, show a big difference in price between brand-name and generics, even though the effectiveness is about the same. An $18 generic can work just as well as a $128 branded medication.

Many branded medication ads urge, “Ask your doctor,” after rapidly listing extensive side effects and warnings.

Here’s a side effect people can appreciate: Generics bend the cost curve of medical spending.

RegenceRx has averted $1 billion in costs for members and employer groups since 2000, by emphasizing safety,

effectiveness and cost.

While generics account for 70 percent of medication used nationally, they account for only 20 percent of prescription costs.

RegenceRx is nationally recognized for our extensive review and comparison of medications for safety and effectiveness, available to the public at RegenceRx.com. Our evaluation goes far beyond the FDA’s review to examine all available studies, even those unpublished.

As our studies show, price is just one reason for trying generics first. The proven safety of generics is another important factor. Part of the FDA medication approval process is ongoing report of patient experience, long after a drug comes on the market.

These can result in further study and increased caution.

Since brand-name medications have not been available for as many years as generics, safety issues mostly concern the branded products.

Examples include the blockbuster painkiller Vioxx, which was removed from the market because of the increased risk

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of heart attacks. More recently, concerns over the safety of diabetes medication Avandia were raised, and cautions strengthened.

Safety and cost aside, some people may be convinced that generics do not work as well for them. In rare instances, this may be true, for reasons that affect both branded and generic medications: Personal biochemistry, such as DNA, can make one medication work better than another. That is why doctors often try different medications and dosages before hitting on the one that treats symptoms effectively with the fewest side effects.

Fillers and other inactive ingredients in a medication may result in the active ingredient being released in a different amount or at a different rate.

A condition may have progressed to the point where a given medication doesn’t work like it did, and it becomes necessary to find another treatment option.

When considering generic or brand medication, remember the FDA requires that generics meet the same strict standards of safety and effectiveness as the equivalent

brand-name drug. Generics can almost always be substituted successfully; the few exceptions are medications with a documented “narrow therapeutic index” — in other words, a fine line between safe and toxic.

Study after study shows that generics perform on par with brand-name medications when treating the same condition. Generically equivalent medications have already passed many research and clinical hurdles to earn a respected position as safe, effective and affordable treatment. Public interest and public safety are both served by embracing such evidencebased treatment options.

As one of two countries to allow direct-to-consumer marketing for medications, our nation’s experience with generics shows that science can win over marketing.

This is crucial to creating a health-care system that is affordable and sustainable for the future.

David Clark is president at RegenceRx, which supports more than 5 million individuals nationally, and vice president at Regence BlueCross BlueShield, which covers over 2.5 million people in Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah.

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 7

LOCAL Brief MOSCOW AARP program offers free tax assistance Volunteers with Tax-Aide, a program of the AARP Foundation offered in conjunction with the IRS, are offering free assistance in preparing and e-filing federal and state income taxes for middle- to low-income taxpayers, with emphasis on those older than 60.

The volunteers will be at the 1912 Center in Moscow from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays through April 14. No appointments are necessary.

The center is located at 412 E.

Third Street. Parking, including handicapped parking, is available in the lot near the corner of Third and Van Buren streets.

People are asked to enter through the upstairs doors near the Senior Center. Stairs and elevators are available to the ground floor. Preparers will be in the Great Room unless otherwise noted.

AARP Tax-Aide can prepare the following: Forms 1040EZ, 1040A and 1040, as well as Schedules 1, 2, 3 EIC, A, B, R, V, ES, Form 2441 (Child and Dependent Care Credit), Form 8863 (Education Credits), Form 8812 (Additional Child Tax Credit) and Schedule C-EZ (Profit and Loss from Business with no inventory, depre-

ciation, or employees, and less than $5,000 in expenses).

Participants are to bring: n A copy of last year’s tax return. n W-2 forms from each employer. n Unemployment compensation statements. n All 1099 forms showing income from any source — such as Social Security, pension, interest, dividends, capital gain distributions, broker transactions or any miscellaneous income received. n Documentation showing purchase dates and original price paid for any assets such as stocks, bonds, or real property sold in 2009 n All forms that show any federal income tax withheld or paid.

n Dependent care provider information if you paid for care while you worked. n Receipts or cancelled checks if itemizing deductions. n Social Security cards or other official documentation for yourself and dependents.

People should note that new items in 2009 include sales tax deduction for new vehicles purchased after Feb. 16, 2009; Hope Credit increased to $2,500, for four years of college — part is refundable; residential energy credit reinstated; and senior stimulus payment for federal or state employees who do not receive Social Security.

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Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Premiums jump on Medicare private plans

LOCAL Brief MOSCOW

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

Duo to offer free financial help for seniors Dave Bosch and Kris Lightfield of Moscow are offering free financial help for seniors. They are in the Moscow office of Financial Security, a division of Northwest Farmers Stockmen Inc. The duo, with more than 50 years combined insurance experience, speak on topics and give updates regarding IRA/ 401(k)/403(b) rollovers; Roth conversions and roll overs; long-term care; Medicare; Medicaid; Wall Street; and probate and taxes.

Thus far, there have been five such seminars in Moscow. According to Lightfield, “they are very well attended.” The next seminar, “Senior Tax and Estate Planning Workshop,” is scheduled for 11 a.m.

March 4 at the University Inn Best Western.

The workshop is free, but

reservations are requested by calling the toll-free reservation line at (800) 858-6448.

Lightfield said she and Bosch hope to continue the seminars on a monthly basis.

The Moscow office for Financial Security is located in the Shook-Leavitt Insurance Agency at 217 S. Main St. The regional office is in Spokane. Financial Security is the urban division of Northwest Farmer Stockman, which has been in the business of writing insurance, helping with retirement plans and needs and selling to farmers since 1939.

Bosch is director of financial services for Financial Security’s offices located in 14 states. Lightfield was a former partner/owner of Northwest Insurance Services in Moscow for 18 years.

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WASHINGTON — Millions of seniors who signed up for popular private health plans through Medicare are facing sharp premium increases this year — another sign that spiraling costs are a problem even for those with solid insurance.

A study released earlier this month by a major consulting firm found that premiums for Medicare Advantage plans offering medical and prescription drug coverage jumped 14.2 percent on average in 2010, after an increase of only 5.2 percent the previous year. Some 8.5 million elderly and disabled Americans are in the plans, which provide more comprehensive coverage than traditional Medicare, often at lower cost.

Lee Durrwachter, a retired chemical engineer from Grand Marais, Mich., said his premiums more than doubled this year — even though he switched plans to try to save money. “It doesn’t bode well,” Durrwachter said. “It’s unaffordable.”

The Medicare findings are bad news for President Barack Obama and his health care overhaul that is bogged down in Congress. That’s because the higher Medicare Advantage premiums for 2010 followed a

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Lee Durrwachter retired engineer cut in government payments to the private plans last year.

And the Democratic bills pending in Congress call for even more cuts, which are expected to force many seniors to drop out of what has been a rapidly growing alternative to traditional Medicare.

Republicans have seized on the Medicare Advantage cuts in their campaign to derail the health care bills, and seniors are listening. Polls show seniors are more skeptical of the legislation than the public as a whole, even though Democrats also would reinforce original Medicare by improving preventive benefits and narrowing the prescription coverage gap.

At a town hall meeting earlier this month outside Las Vegas, Obama said the Medicare Advantage plans are getting a “sweet deal” from the government — overpayments averaging 13 percent. “All we’ve been saying is ’Let’s make sure that there’s a competitive bidding process, and that we are getting the absolute best bargain,”’ the president said.

The Avalere study found that, for consumers, Medicare Advantage is becoming less of a bargain. The premium for 2010 is $39.61, representing an increase of nearly $5 a month from the previous year.

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much out-of-pocket expenses beneficiaries are expected to pay, such as copayments.”

Seniors who did not shop around for lower-priced coverage during open enrollment in the fall got hit with some of the biggest increases, averaging 22 percent.

Many Medicare recipients who remain in the traditional program — about three-fourths of all seniors — also are struggling with high premiums for supplemental insurance to cover their copayments and deductibles.

The report on Medicare comes after a series of double-digit premium increases around the country for privately insured working households who buy their own coverage. Obama has cited those increases as an argument for reviving his stalled health care overhaul plan.

Administration officials didn’t dispute the Avalere study but sought to pin responsibility on the private insurers that participate in the program, a list that includes such industry giants as UnitedHealthcare and Aetna. Nonpartisan technical advisers to Congress say Medicare Advantage plans are being overpaid because of a flawed formula.

“The plans need to explain why these increases are necessary,” said Medicare spokesman Peter Ashkenaz.

Eric Hammelman, a senior Avalere data analyst, said that after the government cut payments to the plans last year, the insurers faced a choice.

“They could raise premiums or lower benefits, and what most of them decided to do was raise premiums,” he said.

An insurance industry spokesman said Medicare Advantage cuts in the Democratic health care bills will lead to higher premiums and reduced benefits. “That will put at risk the health security of seniors in the program, breaking the promise that those who like their coverage can keep it,” said Robert Zirkelbach of America’s Health Insurance Plans.

Avalere serves industry, government and private foundations, analyzing Medicare financial data.

Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Keep some common medicines on hand

By Melissa Bell The Washington Post

A few weeks ago, it seemed a 24-hour pharmacy would always be a quick car ride away, but the record snowfalls remind us of that old Boy Scout saw: Be prepared. As the snow melts, clean out expired medicine and stock up on supplies that cover common illnesses and injuries. “Anything more than that, go to the emergency room,� said Dave Toth, a pharmacist at Tschiffely Pharmacy in Washington. We asked Toth and other experts to tell us the basics we should all keep at home.

NEOSPORIN: It accelerates the healing of wounds, soothes burns and lessens the likelihood of scarring.

BANDAGES: Nonstick gauze pads and Band-Aids of various sizes. “If you’re an athlete and get into trouble with minor accidents and sprains, keep Ace bandages,� said Jehan “Gigi� El-Bayoumi, an internist at the George Washington University School of Medicine.

HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: Although rubbing alcohol can also be used to disinfect wounds, Alicia Arbaje, a geriatrician at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, prefers hydrogen peroxide, as it can be used to rinse your mouth to heal canker sores or to soothe a sore throat.

BENADRYL: “This is only if someone is stung by a bee, or they are allergic to seafood and break out in hives,� said Arbaje, but it should not be taken regularly as a solution for daily allergies, especially if you’re elderly.

(If you have a young child, make sure to also stock up on the children’s version of Benadryl, as well as other pain relievers and first-aid supplies.)

TYLENOL: For pain relief or fever, Arbaje recommends Tylenol, or the generic brand of acetaminophen. “Always buy generic and not brand name,�

El-Bayoumi said. “If you look at the label it’s the same thing,� but you pay a premium for the brand name.

ASPIRIN: Products with aspirin can cause ulcers or kidney failures and should never be given to children. “However,

if anyone has diabetes, stroke or heart disease, they should keep aspirin further back in the medicine cabinet. If they start to feel symptoms related to a heart attack, they should take the aspirin,� said Arbaje.

If you want to keep a medicine around for anti-inflammation, El-Bayoumi said products with aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen all generally work the same and it is really just a personal preference as to which one to take.

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 9

Local Brief MOSCOW Therapy pool closed for renovation The Gritman Community Wellness Center’s therapy pool closed for renovation work Feb. 13. According to a news release, this portion of the renovation is scheduled to last approximately 65 days.

The therapy pool is scheduled to reopen by the end of April. The improvements will make the area safer and bring it up to code. Upon the pool’s reopening in April, a full line

S

of aquatic therapy will again be offered.

While the therapy pool is closed, a full schedule of gym classes will be offered at the Wellness Center. There will also be open gym times for people who have been cleared for such exercise by their doctor.

In the release, Justin Minden, director of Therapy Solutions, stated the newly renovated pool would be a tremendous opportunity for the Wellness Center and thanked Ron and Jane Nirk and the Gritman Foundation for making it possible.

The Nirks have pledged to match dollar for dollar the first $50,000 raised for the Wellness Center.

The Gritman Foundation is doing the fundraising for the project. The pool improvements are the first project in the first phase of the center’s renovation. The entire renovation will be a three-phase, multi-year project.

Donations to the Gritman Community Wellness Center renovation project can be made to the Gritman Foundation, 700 S. Main St., Moscow, ID 83843.

erving the community since 1976.

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10 | Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 |

Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Experts on geriatrics describe what’s great about aging The Washington Post

If you think that getting older is the beginning of the end, think again. Sure, skin loses some elasticity and joints get creaky, and maybe you can’t keep your eyes open past 9:30 p.m. But even people well into their 80s are going to yoga and Pilates classes, volunteering, having sex and taking college courses. In short, getting older has its upside.

Don’t believe it? Then listen to these experts: John Murphy is a Brown University Medical School professor and expert on geriatrics; Cheryl Phillips is chief medical officer of On Lok, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco that advocates for the elderly and for long-term care. Here’s what they had to say about aging, in separate interviews: QUESTION: What gets better as you age?

ANSWERS:

Murphy: Memories and stories get better. I think that

W

past recollections, which are so much richer than in my younger patients, can really flavor how (older people) respond to new occurrences in life. Seniors generally identify quality of life as good. As we age, we each start to develop a sense of perspective that makes us more valuable in contributing to society.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with two seniors who recalled the 1918 influenza outbreak; one was in New York, one was in Berlin. To hear them, what it was like then, certainly they put the panic ... and the H1N1 (flu) in perspective. I also think the wisdom that people bring to every encounter is significantly enhanced when you get older.

Phillips: Very often, as people age, they will describe a much broader network of family and friends. There is an opportunity to expand that network, adding new friends and family.

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If you look at aging as a series of losses — strength, hearing, eyesight, friends, time — people will get depressed and see it as a negative. If they see it as new opportunities — historian of family experiences and a new opportunity to travel — they will embrace it. Really, it starts with the framework and perspective. Many 80 year olds say, “There’s no way I’d want to go back to that way of life (in their younger years). Now I get to sit back and watch others work.”

Language skills continue to improve into our 40s and 50s.

Skills that depend on strategy and learning get better in our middle ages. Not only do we have experience to build from, but our brains store learned patterns. We know, for example, that people are better drivers in their 30s and 40s than in their teens and early 20s: Just ask the insurance companies.

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repetitive actions and thus learned muscle responses also get better. Peak athletic performance is in the late 20s and early 30s, but it is often later than that when we best learn how to discipline ourselves, use better thinking and strategy planning and be more observant.

not because they’re getting older, it’s the result of some underlying issue or illness. It’s the age-old story of the 95 year old who walks into the doctor’s office with an aching knee; the doctor tells the man he’s getting older. And the man says, “Yes, but the QUESTION: other knee What about is 95 years sex? old, too, and ANSWERS: it doesn’t Murphy: hurt.”

The fact that There is older individno certain uals are asexage where ual is a myth. things fall Older indiapart. Each viduals conand every tinue to have year, the sexual activity risk of develJohn Murphy with whatever oping cancer Brown University Medical School gender they’ve increases. been sexually But if, for active with in instance, their youth. And the benefits you smoke, don’t exercise, are the same: physical, psy- eat foods with high sodium, chological and sociological. etc., your risk of developing It’s an important part of life diabetes increases earlier regardless of age. It’s nothing than if you had better habnew for seniors to be sexu- its. Exercise is so important. ally active; it’s been going on Exercise increases strength, as long as people have been endurance, balance, and around. decreases risk of heart disPhillips: Seniors are still ease, stroke and falls for older sexually active. There’s a new individuals. image of seniors: What does The sooner you start and Grandpa do when Grandma maintain exercise, the better. dies, and you start to see him But there’s no age at which with a new woman? Sex is as it’s too late to start. important to maintenance of Phillips: Strength does the psyche as any other aspect decline with age, as well as of life. vision, hearing. You may have QUESTION: What gets more body fat and less muscle. worse as you age?

The skin changes, (despite) all ANSWERS: the money we spend on antiMurphy: The risk of wrinkle cream. developing a number of disWhat’s great about aging is eases increases. Risk of frac- really the ability to retain info tures for women in their 60s, across time and put things much later for men. Hearing together: our infinite relationdeclines with exposure to ships, our ability to remain noise. A person may have sexually active coupled with osteoporosis, so walking four senior dating. Seniors often blocks to the grocery store become the family storytellgets harder. Kidney function ers; they can look over a landgradually declines. Your risk scape of time and tell us what of having memory problems (defines) us. increases with age.

Yeah, sure, they can’t ride It’s much more common to a bike as fast as they used to, see dementia of people in their but they still describe their mid-80s than in their 50s. It’s lives as very rich.

“

Seniors generally identify quality of life as good. As we age, we each start to develop a sense of perspective that makes us more valuable in contributing to society.”

Palouse Seniors

Moscow-Pullman Daily News

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 11

Elderly World War II correspondent battles for savings in Hong Kong

By Le-Min Lim Bloomberg News

HONG KONG — In a her rented apartment in Hong Kong, Clare Hollingworth, 98 and almost blind, leans forward from the couch where she now spends many of her waking hours, to explain the thrills of being a war correspondent.

“It’s adventurous, going out and jumping off low-flying aircraft,” said Hollingworth, who, as a novice reporter with the Daily Telegraph of London spotted German tanks massing at the border facing Poland in August 1939, and filed a story warning of an invasion.

The twice-married widow recalls helping Jewish and antiGerman refugees obtain papers to flee Poland, her privileged days growing up as the daughter of a boot manufacturer in England, and “foolish mistakes” with her money.

She still can speak some French (“C’est mauvais!” It’s bad!) and Russian (“Khleb, vino, pivo.” Bread, wine, beer.) Her eyes lit up at the mention of Katowice, the Polish border town from where she broke the news on World War II. “How much does it cost to get into Poland? Roughly,” she asks, clutching the hand of her great nephew, Patrick Garrett, who runs an airline’s Russia business and flies in regularly from Moscow to visit.

Her scoop began a sixdecade career as a war correspondent, covering conflicts in Algeria, Vietnam, Aden and the Middle East. She chronicled the fall of the Balkan states to Communism, Cold War espionage, including the case of the British journalist and Soviet double-agent Kim Philby, and China’s Cultural Revolution. In 1981, she came to Hong Kong to cover Asia for the Sunday Telegraph.

“Clare is an icon. Hers was the time before the electronic media, when journalists were more important for being the eyewitnesses to historic events,” said Ernst Herb, an ex-president of Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents Club.

Today, Hollingworth has about 50 percent of hearing in her right ear; a possible stroke in March has damaged her short-term memory and dulled

her lucidity. Yet, with help from family, she’s fighting for the return of almost half her savings from Ted Thomas, an erstwhile friend and public-relations man.

Thomas, who’s also a retired Hong Kong government spokesman, was told by the city’s court on Oct. 27, 2009, to pay the rest of the $286,806 he removed from Hollingworth’s bank account in August 2003 after she fell and broke her hip. On Nov. 18, Thomas applied to the court to avoid paying the sum, alleging that most of it was legal fees incurred by Hollingworth’s side.

The court rejected his request in December; Thomas said he’s deciding what to do.

“I’m not paying,” said Thomas, 80,, in an interview at the FCC. He said he would rather file for bankruptcy than pay the full sum because the money is “paid to greedy lawyers who keep churning this case.”

Garrett, with power of attorney over Hollingworth’s affairs, has been suing for her, and said he had to take Thomas to court in 2006 because he wouldn’t give a satisfactory account of what he did with her money. A July 2006 court ruling backed Garrett, ordering Thomas to pay Hollingworth the cost of the lawsuit.

Thomas is still holding out.

Hollingworth isn’t destitute, said Garrett, 42, and uses her savings and a pension to pay for her rent and two live-in Filipina helpers. Her Hong Kong savings are less than the money Thomas owes and she might have to sell her apartment in Paris in an emergency.

These days, Hollingworth doesn’t mention Thomas, though she’s prone to fears of not having money that leave her sleepless. She watches the BBC news channel daily and insists on sleeping with her shoes by the bedside and having her passport within reach, as if she were in a war zone, said Garrett.

“She still considers herself a journalist, not someone retired,” he said.

Thomas said he took on a bigger role in handling Hollingworth’s finances around 2001 and 2002 when he saw her cry out offers of free drinks to FCC members and thought she might be “losing” her mind.

In January 2003, seven months

Clare Hollingworth poses with her first husband, the late Vandeleur Robinson, in an unidentified location in the 1930s. before the fall that broke her hip, Thomas said she gave him signing rights to her bank account so he could pay her bills.

On Aug. 18, 2003, Thomas got a call for help from Hollingworth’s live-in maid, went to the apartment to find the aged reporter on the floor

in agony and sent her to a hospital. For the next 10 days, he withdrew a total of $189,000 from her account by means of six checks. Thomas has denied stealing the money and said it was used to help Hollingworth invest, pay hospital bills and the salary of her live-in maid while

she recovered.

“It’s remarkable she survived,” he said.

Thomas said that he can’t repay Hollingworth even if he wanted to because he has no money. Thomas said he gets a monthly pension of $2,189, $1,545 of which is spent on renting his flat near the central business district and another part on the international-school fees of his 16-year-old son by his third wife, ex-reporter Nicola Parkinson; they separated 12 years ago.

Calling the lawsuit “an act of malice,” Thomas said he won’t bow to pressure to pay the sum.

Meanwhile, on her daily visit to the FCC, Hollingworth occupies the same corner table in the ground-floor dining room where she sat scribbling notes and reading the papers in healthier years.

These days, she receives the greetings of well-wishers and passers-by with dignified silence.

“She’s a tough old bird,” said Garrett. “She’ll be around for a while.”

12 | Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 |

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Marijuana use by seniors goes up

By Matt Sedensky Associated Press

MIAMI — In her 88 years, Florence Siegel has learned how to relax: A glass of red wine. A crisp copy of The New York Times, if she can wrest it from her husband. Some classical music, preferably Bach.

And every night like clockwork, she lifts a pipe to her lips and smokes marijuana.

Long a fixture among young people, use of the country’s most popular illicit drug is now growing among the AARP set, as the massive generation of baby boomers who came of age in the 1960s and ’70s grows older.

The number of people aged 50 and older reporting marijuana use in the prior year went up from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to surveys from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The rise was most dramatic among 55- to 59-year-olds, whose reported marijuana use more than tripled from 1.6 percent in 2002 to 5.1 percent.

Observers expect further increases as 78 million boomers born between 1945 and 1964 age. For many boomers, the drug never held the stigma it did for previous generations, and they tried it decades ago.

Some have used it ever since, while others are revisiting the habit in retirement, either for recreation or as a way to cope with the aches and pains of aging.

Siegel walks with a cane and has arthritis in her back and legs. She finds marijuana has helped her sleep better than pills ever did. And she can’t figure out why everyone her age isn’t sharing a joint, too.

“They’re missing a lot of fun and a lot of relief,” she said.

Politically, advocates for legalizing marijuana say the number of older users could represent an important shift in their decades-long push to change the laws.

“For the longest time, our political opponents were older Americans who were not familiar with marijuana and

had lived through the ’Reefer Madness’ mentality and they considered marijuana a very dangerous drug,” said Keith Stroup, the founder and lawyer of NORML, a marijuana advocacy group.

“Now, whether they resume the habit of smoking or whether they simply understand that it’s no big deal and that it shouldn’t be a crime, in large numbers they’re on our side of the issue.”

Each night, 66-year-old Stroup says he sits down to the evening news, pours himself a glass of wine and rolls a joint. He’s used the drug since he was a freshman at Georgetown, but many older adults are revisiting marijuana after years away.

“The kids are grown, they’re out of school, you’ve got time on your hands and frankly it’s a time when you can really enjoy marijuana,” Stroup said. “Food tastes better, music sounds better, sex is more enjoyable.”

The drug is credited with relieving many problems of aging: aches and pains, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and so on. Patients in 14 states enjoy medical marijuana laws, but those elsewhere buy or grow the drug illegally to ease their conditions.

Among them is Perry Parks, 67, of Rockingham, N.C., a retired Army pilot who suffered crippling pain from degenerative disc disease and arthritis. He had tried all sorts of drugs, from Vioxx to epidural steroids, but found little success. About two years ago he turned to marijuana, which he first had tried in college, and was amazed how well it worked for the pain.

“I realized I could get by without the narcotics,” Parks said, referring to prescription painkillers. “I am essentially pain free.”

But there’s also the risk that health problems already faced by older people can be exacerbated by regular marijuana use.

Older users could be at risk for falls if they become dizzy, smoking it increases the risk of heart disease and it can cause cognitive impairment, said Dr. William Dale, chief of geriat-

rics and palliative medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

He said he’d caution against using it even if a patient cites benefits.

“There are other better ways to achieve the same effects,” he said.

Pete Delany, director of applied studies at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said boomers’ drug use defied stereotypes, but is important to address.

“When you think about people who are 50 and older you don’t generally think of them as using illicit drugs — the occasional Hunter Thompson or the kind of hippie dippie guy that gets a lot of press maybe,” he said. “As a nation, it’s important to us to say, ’It’s not just young people using drugs it’s older people using drugs.”’

In conversations, older marijuana users often say they smoke in less social settings than when they were younger, frequently preferring to enjoy the drug privately. They say the quality (and price) of the drug has increased substantially since their youth and they aren’t as paranoid about using it.

| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 13

Vision from Page 5

include Sarah Rial, a medical social worker on the staff of the Gritman Adult Day Health Care Facility, and Moscow optometrist George Paris.

“During these visits, members of the group regularly comment on the wealth of helpful information and other resources that are provided to them at group meetings, information that helps them to cope more successfully with the tasks of daily life,” Rial said.

Paris spoke about causes of vision impairment, especially as related to diabetes, and shared his professional expertise regarding caring for and preserving the gift of eyesight. He highlighted the importance of annual, comprehensive vision exams to monitor eyes because as we age the eyes change.

Paris described common agerelated conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and dry or irritated eyes.

One of the group’s own members, Dianne Milhollin, is a valued source of useful information on ways to better cope with poor eyesight.

At a recent meeting Dianne, who became legally blind at age 23, demonstrated many of the assistive technology devices that she uses in her daily life to compensate, at least partly, for her diminished ability to see. Devices include magnifiers, Braille-printed labels to mark food containers, a coin sorter to identify a coin’s denomination, a “say when” device with probes to indicate with a “beep” that a container being filled with a liquid is full and a tape measure with staples at inch and foot intervals.

Anyone wanting to become a member of this support group is invited to call Clara Dockter at (208) 883-0911. n The Moscow Senior Center is operated by the Friendly Neighbors Senior Citizens, a nonprofit service group. The Senior Center is open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays and closed holidays. The Senior Center telephone number is (208) 882-1562, and its Web site is http:// users.moscow.com/srcenter.

This article was compiled and written by Leonard C. Johnson, vice-president, Friendly Neighbors Senior Citizens, aided by Secretary-Treasurer Kay Keskinen. Information contributed by Clara Dockter, George Paris, Shane Hyde of the ICBVI, and Sarah Rial has been incorporated into the text.

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at harvest time enough money to pay the bills. We never felt poor and, although we didn’t have a lot, we had what we needed.”

Even though times were tough, Schmidt knew he wanted to go to college, and when the time came, he had a couple of scholarships available to him.

“I had also thought I might want to be a coach or teacher,” he said.

One of Schmidt’s scholarship offers was to St. Martin’s College. He was trying to decide whether to go there or the seminary when the vocation director of his diocese, the Rev. Nicholas Walsh, stepped in.

“He encouraged me to give

the seminary a try, and then if I didn’t think it was for me, I could always go to another college,” Schmidt said. “So I chose to go to Mt. Angel Seminary in Oregon and continued on from there with my training and studies for priesthood.”

After two years at Mt. Angel, he went to the Seattle area for six years to attend St. Thomas Seminary, where he received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a master’s in theology.

“There were a few times during my eight years that I wondered if it was the right thing for me, but I got through and have never regretted the decision,” he said. “When I was ordained, all the relatives were there, and it was quite a great occasion.”

After his ordination, Schmidt worked at numerous locations throughout the state

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I’ve experienced personal growth, met wonderful people, and I think I learned a lot from each group I worked with. There have been times I missed having my own family, but when I do a baptism, I truly feel like a father bringing children to life in the church.”

The Rev. Joseph Schmidt St. Mary’s Church before becoming pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Moscow in 1992. His first assignment in 1966 was as an assistant at Sacred Heart in Boise, and in 1968 he was appointed chancellor for the diocese, working the next four years in the bishop’s office in Boise. In 1972, he was assigned as co-pastor with the Rev. Joseph Muha at St. Anthony’s Church in Pocatello and served there for almost eight years. After spending 10 years (1980 to 1990) as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Lewiston, he because pastor of St. Edward’s in Twin Falls until 1992.

Schmidt turned 70 last month and has targeted his retirement date for June 30. A retirement party to celebrate his 18 years at St. Mary’s is set for 5:30 p.m. June 27 at the school.

“Everybody made a big deal of my birthday, but I didn’t feel any different other than the significance that it was time to retire,” he said.

At St. Mary’s, Schmidt is lovingly called “Father Joe,” which is what most people call him now.

“I like that title better,” he said. “It seems good to me, and what I identify with.”

After 44 years in the priesthood, Schmidt didn’t hesitate to talk about what he considered his greatest accomplishments.

“My greatest satisfaction is that I’ve enjoyed being a priest, even though like most, I’ve gone through bouts of minor depression,” he said. “But you enjoy the people you have gotten to know and serve and have learned from them. They have supported and helped me in my priesthood, and doing what I think God wants me to

do, and I liked being a part of that.”

He also takes pleasure in having served in so many places in Idaho.

“Every assignment was a good fit for me,” Schmidt said. “I’ve experienced personal growth, met wonderful people, and I think I learned a lot from each group I worked with. There have been times I missed having my own family, but when I do a baptism, I truly feel like a father bringing children to life in the church.”

Reflecting on his life, Schmidt cites two trips to the Holy Land, once as a pilgrim and the other as a student, and the influence his travels had on his ministry as a priest. The first trip included a short trip to Rome.

“I spent three days there and enjoyed the experience, but the Holy Land was simple and closer to the Bible because it brought the Scriptures and the Old Testament alive for me” he said. “Going to the Sea of Galilee and visiting the different sites, like where Jesus was buried and the Church of the Resurrection, bring images to my mind, and I picture them when I’m reading or listening to the scriptures.”

During the pilgrimage trip, the group’s home base was in Jerusalem.

During the 1983 trip to Rome, Schmidt had a general audience with the pope and got close enough to the pontiff to get his photograph.

Schmidt has watched the Catholic church change in 44 years.

“Most of the changes were made early in my priesthood,” he said. “I was still in seminary while the second Vatican

Council was going on. My image of Pope John XXIII was of opening up the windows and letting some fresh air of the Holy Spirit into the church.

That was the reason he used for calling the council, and I was excited. When I was first ordained, the Mass was partly in Latin. It was at that time that we priests began offering the Mass facing the people instead of having our backs to them.”

He also is comfortable with the church under current Pope Benedict XVI. “I had some questions at first, but I think he is a very good pope,” he said.

Schmidt admits to having some reservations about retirement.

“I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it, and that is the scary part,” he said. “But I really think I will be fine.”

“Fr. Joe” plans to move to Lewiston next summer to be near brother, Fred, a deacon in the Catholic parishes there.

He has been a fisherman all his life and hopes to do some fly-fishing, which he especially enjoys.

In addition to finding some time to read, Schmidt also may get in a few rounds of golf. As for traveling, he has no long trips planned, and trips would depend on his health.

Although there is a shortage of priests in the Catholic Church, Schmidt doesn’t foresee any difficulty finding a replacement at St. Mary’s.

“It is a good parish, and priests will want to come,” he observed. “The bishop and personnel board are the ones who make that decision, and we should know by the end of March.”

Schmidt makes it clear that he doesn’t intend to retire from being a priest, but rather from being a pastor in charge of a parish.

“I hope to help out in parishes throughout Idaho on the weekends and would be happy to go wherever needed,” he said. “I will also do some volunteer work, perhaps at St. Stanislaus School in Lewiston.

I really have enjoyed being a priest.”

Vera White is seniors editor for the Daily News. She can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 251, vnwhite@dnews. com or vnwhite@cableone.net.

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| Weekend, February 27 & 28, 2010 | 15

COMMENTARY

In retrospect, it really is true: Mom knew best

By Tom Shales The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Why, on my mother’s birthday, am I thinking about “Father Knows Best”? At our house, mother knew best at least as often as father did, but then the title of the old sitcom, a homogenized portrait of American family life, was meant to be slightly sardonic.

The father on the show was often at a loss when confronting a new family problem — there tended to be one a week — though nothing remained unsolved when the show ended and it was time for “Wagon Train.”

My mom, who passed away four years ago, would have been 96 today, if I’ve done the math right; I always told her she had to live at least to 100 so that Willard Scott could wish her a happy birthday on the “Today” show. She would respond that she had no desire to be that old, partly because many of her friends had already died and she didn’t relish the idea of being alone, or of trying to make new friends in one of those assisted-living places.

I always thought I’d buy my mother a house if I ever became successful — a big, beautiful house on the nicest street in town. It didn’t exactly work out that way.

I was still borrowing money from her in my 40s.

But then she always much preferred giving assistance to getting it, which is true I’d guess of millions of baby boomers’ moms, and dads.

Mom spent her life assisting the rest of us with our attempts at living, and in her final years, she was completely uncomfortable being reliant on anyone else, be it the kindness of strangers or anyone in the health-care field.

“Father Knows Best” was one of the sitcoms we watched regularly at our house in the ’50s, one often

included in sweeping denunciations of the fakey family sitcoms of the period — father wearing a sport coat at home, never a bankruptcy or foreclosure in the neighborhood, bathrooms without toilets, few if any divorces or illegitimate births, and so on. It was a world of softened blows and rounded corners, largely and intentionally misrepresentative of American urban and suburban realities, shamefully uni-racial for the most part, homogenized and euphemistic.

Such criticisms are as old as the shows themselves, and they do nothing, really, to mute the shows’ seductive charms. People of a certain age look back on the Mayberry of “The Andy Griffith Show” and become almost as homesick for that simple fictional hamlet as they do for their own home towns. Somehow the Mayberrians romped through the ’60s without any protests against the Vietnam War or demonstrations against racial injustice and civil rights abuses; Mayberry was as removed from the real world as Shangri-La was in “Lost Horizon” back in the days that led to World War II. On the best of evenings, our family sat together watching the one TV set in the household (a 14- and later 21-inch set), peering through a looking glass into the distorted reflection of our lives — pleasingly distorted for the most part — that we saw on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” (Ozzie’s only job: wearing sweaters), “Life With Father,” “The Goldbergs” (about the Jewish family that lived down the block), and so on. “I Love Lucy,” the first classic, really belonged more to the Wacky Woman genre than the domestic sitcom; “My Little Margie” and “I Married Joan” were among the shrill, coarse imitations.

“Father Knows Best” had

a special place in my heart because I always thought Jane Wyatt, who played Margaret, wife to Robert Young as insurance man Jim Anderson, looked like my mom. They were similarly if not 100 percent equally beautiful, and they both projected great warmth and caring and a level-headedness that was one of the few reliables in life. When the sky dropped two feet of snow on our little Midwestern town, as it did nearly every winter — not one in 200 — mom backed the car out and drove me to the houses on my paper route, just as Margaret Anderson would have done on “Father Knows Best.”

The death knell was sounded for “Father Knows Best” by, as fate or something would have it, the arrival of the ’60s; the year 1960 marked the show’s last season. In the years since, the actors involved have gone from the idealized existence of the scripts into a considerably less rosy realm. Billy Gray, who played son Bud,

has repeatedly trashed the show in interviews for its phony portrayal of American life. Lauren Chapin, who irresistibly played Kathy, the younger of two daughters — her father’s nickname for her was “Kitten” — went through bad spells with drugs and such, a now-familiar pattern.

Robert Young, having grown much older and not often working as an actor, attempted suicide in 1991 and died of emphysema in 1998; Jane Wyatt lived to be 96 and died in 2006.

Young confessed to having been an alcoholic during the years of “Father Knows Best.” But the other-lives they lived on that show survive them, of course.

Shout Video is releasing the entire series, yearby-year on DVD; the first volume included an episode in which little Kathy adopts an injured sparrow and then must endure the heartbreak when she has to release it into “the wild” of the family’s back yard.

A shot of the family at the

window and the bird flying treeward from Kathy’s open hands is one of the sweetest iconic images of ’50s TV. I still, obviously, think of my own mom when I see an episode of “Father Knows Best.” I remember her telling me, among other things, not to watch so much television.

And I remember teasing her, for years afterward, because she tossed out dozens of old TV Guides I had saved as a little kid; they’d be worth 25 bucks apiece now, I’d tell her.

She still maintained they were junk taking up precious basement space.

Of all the things she said to me over the years, there is just one two-word sentence that I can still hear her speaking if I close my eyes and try to summon her voice in my head. They were words she spoke to me not in person but over the telephone; in this case, the medium was indeed part of the message.

And the two words were these: “Dad’s gone.”

Now, of course, Mom’s gone, too.

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