It has a large hole in the elbow, no longer has any elastic around the wrists and sags loosely around my neck.
It also sports several additional tears and small holes. It’s faded and has been washed more times than I could ever count.
It also will remain in my current tshirt rotation. I can’t throw it away, it’s one of my favorite shirts and no matter how it looks, it will continue to be one of my most cherished.
I only wish I had bought five of them at the time. Who knew it was destined to become one of my favorite shirts.
That’s the problem. I never thought that buying five of the same shirt would be a good idea. Who does that?
If I did that now, I’m sure my reaction in six months would be, “why did I buy five of these shirts? The sleeves are too long, the collar is stretched out and it’s incredibly scratchy.”
I have a plethora of shirts hanging in my closet that will never see the light of day again. None of them have holes, but that doesn’t matter. They’ve fallen out of the rotation, destined to become part of the Goodwill inventory.
From the Desk of the Publisher
By K e v in F erri s
Although this particular t-shirt doesn’t hold any sentimental value it has become softer and more comfortable over time. Many people nowadays embrace the “distressed” or vintage look as part of their personal fashion style and pay mightily for it.
I don’t feel like I have a fashion style, but maybe my clothing serves as a form of self-expression and this tshirt reflects my personality, interests, and experiences, making it more valuable to me that its actual physical condition suggests.
My prized UA t-shirt dries on my office door because it can no longer risk a trip to the dryer.
All I remember is that I bought this t-shirt at an Under Armour outlet store. Not only did I score a pretty good deal, but I’m wearing something that’s seen as trendy and unique.
As I was writing this column, I pulled the shirt from my closet. It has definitely been through the wars. I have newer white t-shirts all relegated
Publisher Kevin Ferris P.O. Box 1031 Moline, IL 61266-1031 (309) 277-2000 email: kevin@maturefocus92.com Facebook.com/MatureFocusQC
to the rag pile (who wears white anymore? I think my Dad does) that are in better shape than this long-sleeve blue, 100% charged cotton, heat gear, made in Peru, Under Armour t-shirt. Don’t worry, it’s never going into the rag pile. I will not let that happen. We have been through too much together. If that day comes when I have to retire my baby blue, I will be certain to give it a proper burial. Unfortunately, however, that day is coming. Who knows how many more washes it has left. It’s impossible to know when that final spin cycle will render it unwearable.
The Dry Cleaning and Laundry institute says that industry experience indicates that a shirt should have a wear life of 35 to 50 washings. I have no doubt that my t-shirt is living on borrowed time.
Even though my t-shirt is on its last legs, that only means it’s entering its “legendary” phase! Each frayed thread and and faded graphic tells a story of adventures lived and moments cherished. Instead of mourning its slow demise, I will look for ways to celebrate its legacy. Maybe I can repurpose it into a trendy tote bag or possibly a cozy pillow cover - because every great t-shirt deserves a second life. Just not in the rag pile.
Even as it slowly fades away, my tshirt will always hold a special place in my heart (any maybe my closet for just a little while longer).
My friend, Ricki, begins each new year with a word. Her chosen word reminds her to use the term in everything she faces in the coming year. Focus, trust, and thankfulness are a few she has selected over time. Focus and pay attention to things that really matter in life. Trust God even when your mind doubts and be grateful for all the blessings He bestows. I have never been one to select only one word and try to incorporate it daily into my life. But this year, during the holidays, a single word popped into my mind, and it seems to be stuck in my brain like a song occasionally does.
The word “cherish” holds a profound significance in my life. Watching my grandchildren open their presents on Christmas morning, I was struck by the joy I find in
children's innocence. The way they tear open presents with wild abandon or shout, “I love this!” before even knowing what's inside. It’s the type of joy only a child can create.
When our hands joined in prayer as we gathered at the table, I became acutely aware of how deeply I adore God, who grants me such tremendous delight.
To treasure the people in our lives, the land we live upon, and the Lord who blessed us is vital to finding personal joy. And when we are joyful, we provide others with the gift of hope. We spread all good things if we cherish those who walk with us.
glorious. I wish I had possessed it when I was younger, but I cherish what little I have today. I now notice all the small but essential things in life.
My innocence may be long gone, and the wrinkles and occasional aches age brings are not so great, but the wisdom gained over the years is
I am grateful for the age-disrupted body I dwell in because it still moves me around. I revive my youth when I attempt to keep up with the children in my world.
New Year? New Plan!
The new year is a time filled with excitement, reminiscing, and planning for what lies ahead. In this time, it's also a good idea to make or review your life and estate plan. Does it still reflect your life and goals? Is it current with changes in the law? Do you simply need a new plan altogether?
Contact us today for a no-cost discussion of what you want your life and estate plan to look like in the new year, and how we can help make your goals a reality.
(309) 764-2577
info@qclifeplanning.com
I do not fear telling those I love that I do because my voice will one day be silenced. Putting aside past grievances is the only way to move forward in peace. I realize now that each day matters to someone other than me and that, for sure, God is present with us all.
According to Webster, to cherish means to hold dear, to keep or cultivate with care and affection. A synonym for the word is also “appreciate.”
More now than ever, the world needs loving cultivation. Honoring, cherishing, aiding, praying for, and supporting each other will comfort us and reap enormous benefits. God wants and demands that we unify our people, regardless of our political stance.
A friend's son was stricken with a severe illness before Christmas. A GoFundMe account was established, and within a short time, the funds surpassed the goal and continued to grow. Those who unselfishly give cherish life.
Another friend is witnessing her precious husband losing his battle with cancer. Yet, she is joyful because she appreciates the time and abundant
love the Lord gave them. Those who are thankful to God for love cherish life.
Hearts are often broken by others’ misdeeds. But I've come to realize that forgiveness is the key to mending these broken hearts and healing our anger. When we choose to forgive, we not only heal ourselves but also cherish the life we’ve been given.
These stories are just a few among the millions that illustrate the profound impact of God’s hands in our daily lives. His presence and guidance bring comfort and reassurance, reminding us to cherish each moment.
Goodness abounds, and if we unite around kindness and outreach, we will change the course of tomorrow. We will do so for all the little ones who love the gift of life even before they know what it will bring.
Beginning the new year by focusing on words like trust, thankfulness, and cherish will cultivate more abundant love.
And, if we speak of love and angels, we will not become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.*
Cherish and respect, give and forgive, and grow.
*Ref: Corinthians 1:13:1
Lynn Walker Gendusa is a newspaper columnist in Georgia. She is the
author of “It’s all WRITE with Me: Essay’s from My Heart” and her newest, “Southern Comfort.” She can be reached at lynngendusa.com.
Cozy casseroles to beat the COLD
If blustery conditions are giving you the blues, come inside from the cold for a winter warmup in the comfort of your own kitchen. Coldweather favorites that are baked, roasted or slow cooked are usually equal parts easy, delicious and filling, making them perfect solutions for chilly, snowy days.
Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
Culinary.net
Servings: 5
1 pound lean ground turkey
5 bacon strips, diced
1/2 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, plus additional for topping (optional), divided
1 bag (6-8 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
2 tablespoons sour cream nonstick cooking spray
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen tater tots
salt, to taste pepper, to taste
In large skillet over medium heat, brown ground turkey, bacon, onion and garlic until turkey is no longer pink. Sprinkle flour over turkey and stir well to combine. Stir in milk, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese, frozen vegetables and sour cream.
Spray slow cooker with nonstick spray. Place some tater tots in bottom of slow cooker. Pour meat gravy
over tater tots. Arrange remaining tater tots on top.
Cover and cook on low 3-3 1/2 hours. During last 10 minutes of cooking, sprinkle with extra cheddar cheese, if desired. Cover and finish cooking.
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped, plus additional for garnish (optional)
nonstick cooking spray
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 F and cook egg noodles according to package instructions.
In large bowl, mix egg noodles, peas, tuna, soup, milk, 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese, celery salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons parsley.
Spray 9-by-13-inch casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray and add tuna mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake 20 minutes until hot and bubbly.
While casserole is baking, mix breadcrumbs and melted butter. Remove casserole from oven and top with breadcrumb mixture and remaining cheddar cheese.
Bake, uncovered, 5-10 minutes, until breadcrumbs are golden brown and cheese on top is melted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and additional parsley, if desired, before serving.
Loaded Chicken Bake
Recipe courtesy of Hungry In LA Servings: 8
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cans (15 ounces each) German Potato Salad
4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken or other cooked chicken
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
3/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 cups crumbled, cooked bacon
French fried onions (optional), plus additional for serving (optional), divided
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Lightly coat 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Spread German potato salad evenly in dish. Top evenly with chicken. In small bowl, stir heavy cream, salt and pepper. Pour mixture over chicken.
Sprinkle with cheese, bacon and onions, if desired.
Bake 15 minutes, or until casserole is bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes. Top with additional onions, if desired. For more recipes visit culinary.net.
By Greg Schwem BARRE BOOTCAMP!
The phrase screamed at me as I entered my health club shortly after 5 a.m. last week. Written in blue
Words and phrases to avoid as you age
marker on a whiteboard, “barre,” for those not familiar with ballet, is the horizontal bar dancers grip while performing certain exercises.
As I trudged into the locker room, wiping sleep from my eyes, I wondered: “Why ruin something so graceful by adding ‘bootcamp’ to it?” It’s a word one normally associates with military drill sergeants, sweltering practices for aspiring football players and, in my case, pain.
Ten years ago I participated in my first and only bootcamp. Four weekly sessions, the first being complimentary. I discovered the camp while scrolling Groupon, the online coupon marketplace.
Ominous warning sign number one…a DISCOUNTED bootcamp.
The class did not occur in a health club or any type of exercise facility. Instead, as Google Maps revealed, it took place in a strip mall.
Ominous warning number two.
Entering the unit, I encountered a wooden gym floor and six other bootcamp participants, all female.
My male ego told me that, perhaps, I had signed up for the wrong class. That thought was short lived for, moments later, a male Hungarian bodybuilder with an unpronounceable first name appeared, greeting everyone with: “Are you ready to have your asses kicked?”
Before anyone could answer, he launched into a series of jumps, his knees nearly succeeding in colliding with his chin. The ladies followed suit. I did the same, trying to keep
up.
This went on for nearly an hour. When we weren’t jumping we were squatting, thrusting and running out of the room into the hallway and back. I left class feeling lighter, stronger, and anxious to return.
The next day I couldn’t get out of bed.
Lesson learned; avoid the word “bootcamp” at all costs.
As I age, my vocabulary of words and phrases to stay away from has grown considerably. Take, for example, “bottomless.” It’s a word I often see written on chalkboards inside or, in warm weather, outside drinking establishments near my Chicago condo. An alcoholic beverage typically follows.
What’s Sunday brunch without BOTTOMLESS mimosas or bloody marys? Have a taste for Mexican food? Wash it down with bottomless margaritas. I’ve even seen the word applied to foods ranging from crab legs to chicken wings. Indulging in bottomless quantities of either would, at my age, only lead to a more ample bottom. The chicken wings might be cheap, but a trip to a menswear store to purchase larger pants would not be.
Finally, I no longer get excited when I see establishments advertising “Trivia Night!” What’s wrong with being surrounded by friends and exercising your competitive nature by answering questions from bygone times? Plenty, depending on your definition of “early.”
Granted we are a quarter through the 21st century, but don’t remind me by tossing out questions in categories with names ranging from “Game of Thrones” to “Famous early 2000s bands” If I’m playing
music trivia, the answers should range from Rod Stewart to The Rolling Stones to Journey.
Want to depress me? Invite me to trivia night and make me suffer in silence, while a team of early 30somethings high-five each other after one member correctly answers “Nine Inch Nails” in the music category.
“Dude, how did you remember THAT band?” I’d hear another team member say as I crumble up my
scorecard and head to the bar. Bottomless margaritas suddenly seem more appealing.
Classic Travels
February 16, 2025, “Alone Together”at the Barn in Goodfield, IL. Mom and Dad have spent the last thirty years raising three active sons. How they looked forward to the peace, the quiet, the privacy of an empty nest. The nest is finally emptied. Peace now? Quiet? Not for long. Leave at 9:30 a.m., back at 6:00 p.m. Includes show, bus and meal. Price is $120. Payment due Thursday, January 16, 2025.
March 20, 2025, “West Side Story” at The Fireside Dinner Theatre, Ft. Atkinson, WI. Two young lovers find themselves caught between warring street gangs. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence, and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching, and relevant musical dramas of our time. Menu is sliced pork tenderloin. Dessert is a cherry crisp. Leave at 7:00 a.m., back at 8:00 p.m. Price is $156. Payment due Wednesday. February 19, 2025.
April 9, 2025, Hard Rock Casino, Rockford, IL. Join us at Classic Rockers where you can save up to 50% on your meal at the Hard Rock Café. You have to have your valid ID and be older than 55. Leave at 8:30 a.m., back at 5:00 p.m. Price is $62. Payment due Wednesday. March 26, 2025.
April 13, 2025, “Nunsense A-Men!” at the Barn in Goodfield, IL. Five misfit nuns are trying to put on a variety show to raise money to bury sisters accidentally poisoned by the convent cook. Filled with zany characters, outrageous costumes, and plenty of laughs. Leave at 9:30 a.m., back at 6:00 p.m. Includes show, bus and meal. Price is $120. Payment due Wednesday. March 12, 2025.
April 24, 2025, “Murder on The Orient Express” at The Fireside Dinner Theatre, Ft. Atkinson, WI. Just after midnight a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by morning it is one passenger fewer. An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times, his door locked from the inside. Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on a detective to identify the murderer. Join us for this theatrical thriller from the Queen of Crime with both intellectual and comedic twists and turns, masterfully adapted for the stage by Ken Ludwig. Menu is a mixture of fresh fruit over fresh garden greens, pork back ribs, accompanied by our southern fried chicken breast. Dessert is French silk pie. Leave at 7:00 a.m., back at 8:30 p.m. Price is $156. Payment due Friday. March 21, 2025.
Check out our website or call (563) 332-0014
Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books:”Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Jill Kirkpatrick • 3371 Eastridge Drive • Bettendorf, IA 52722 email: jill@classictravelsllc.com • www.classictravelsllc.com
By Jim Miller
Q: How can I get my doctors to listen better? I just turned 78, and over the past few years I feel more and more dismissed by my doctors. I know I can’t be the only one who feels this way. Any suggestions?
A: Communication difficulties between patients and their doctors is nothing new. Many older patients feel like their doctors are dismissing their concerns, which can be frustrating and lead to missed diagnoses and delayed care. If you believe your doctor isn’t listening to you, here are some tips offered by the National Institute on Aging that may help.
Prepare for your appointment: Before your exam, make a written prioritized list of any questions and concerns you want to discuss with your doctor, or print any online
health research you’ve gathered, and bring it to your appointment so you won’t forget anything. If you’re in for a diagnostic visit, you should prepare a detailed description of your symptoms, when they began and what makes them worse.
Be honest and upfront: Even if the topic seems sensitive or embarrassing, it’s important to be honest and upfront with your doctor. You may feel uncomfortable talking about memory loss or bowel issues, but these are all important to your health. It’s better to be thorough and share detailed information than to be quiet or shy about what you’re thinking or feeling. Remember, your doctor is used to talking about all kinds of personal matters.
Ask specific questions: If you and your doctor aren’t communicating well, ask specific questions that require a response.
For example: What might have caused the problem I’m dealing with? What’s the specific name of my diagnosis? Is the problem serious? Will it heal completely or require ongoing management? What future symptoms might suggest you need emergency care or a follow-up visit? When and how will you receive your test results? If you don’t understand something, don’t hesitate to ask: Can you explain that in simpler terms? Or: Can you give me more details about that?
Take someone with you: Bring along a family member or friend to your appointment. Your companion can help you ask questions or raise concerns that you hadn’t considered and listen to what the doctor is telling you and give you support. Be persistent: If your doctor isn’t addressing your questions, repeat
them or rephrase them. If you still don’t get anywhere, follow up with one of these statements: “I’m worried that we aren’t communicating well. Here’s why I feel that way.” Or: “I need to talk with you about X. I feel like I can’t. Can we talk about this?”
After your appointment, if you’re uncertain about any instructions or have other questions, call or email your health care provider. Don’t wait until your next visit to make sure you understand your diagnosis, treatment plan, or anything else that might affect your health.
For more tips, the National Institute on Aging offers a free booklet called “Talking with Your Doctor: A Guide for Older Adults” that can help you prepare for an appointment and become a better and more informed patient. To order a free copy or see it online, visit order.nia.nih.gov/publication/talkingwith-your-doctor-a-guide-for-olderadults.
Consider moving on: If you’re not making any progress with your doctor and the problem persists, it’s probably time to start looking for a new provider. Depending how unsatisfied you are with your care, you could also notify your doctor’s medical group and your insurance company or leave feedback on their online profile. If you’re dealing with a serious issue – like a doctor who prescribes the wrong medication or fails to provide test results in a timely manner – it might be appropriate to file a complaint with the state medical board.
Jim Miller is the author of “The Savvy Senior” book.
Our Cover ‘Skier’s Prayer’
by Gary Patterson
Gary Patterson is one of America’s most recognized and loved artists. For over 40 years he has used his unique talent to create smiles throughout the world. Today millions of people own or recognize the distinctive characters and the many fanciful details that are a hallmark of Gary’s work. For more information about the artist, visit garypatterson.com.
Protect Your Loved Ones from RSV
Talk to your family’s healthcare providers about RSV prevention.
Retirement accounts and trusts Elder Law
By Ben Bekel, Quad City Life Planning
Not long ago, I had a chance to meet with a client to review their life and estate planning documents. This particular client likes to review their plan once a year, and often brings some newspaper clippings related to life and estate planning that have raised questions for her.
This year, she brought an article from her local paper which talked about IRAs and trusts – right in my wheelhouse! This article, though, surprised me in its recommendation, which I’d paraphrase as “never, ever, ever put your IRA into a trust!!!” I found the read interesting, both in terms of what it got right and what it didn’t.
I would certainly never recommend that a client transfer the ownership of an IRA, 401(k), or other taxqualified retirement account from their name into the name of a trust. If you do that, the IRS treats that transfer as a “taxable event,” meaning you’d have to declare the entire balance of your retirement account as income in the year in which the transfer is made and pay income taxes on that balance. Obviously, no life and estate planning attorney will make you pay a third of your retirement to the IRS just to title an
account into a trust.
The obvious alternative is to ensure that the retirement account passes to your trust through beneficiary designations. However, this article recommended against doing that, because routing money to the trust would create a greater tax liability for beneficiaries!
There’s nothing saying a trust can’t contain language which segregates retirement funds from other funds and directs that retirement funds cannot be used for distributions to nonliving entities – which is exactly what we do for all of our clients who have retirement accounts!
The lesson, as always when we’re dealing with legal issues, is this: answers to legal questions are almost never black-and-white or yes or no answers. There are virtually always “yes, but” exceptions to every rule, and the question of transferring retirement funds to your trust is just one of those questions.
That can be true under certain circumstances. For children or other beneficiaries to receive the full tax benefits of an inherited retirement account through a trust, the trust cannot leave money to an entity. Put another way, all the trust’s beneficiaries have to be living – something called the “heartbeat rule” – in order for the trust to pass the tax benefits to beneficiaries. A charity, church, or other non-living entity can’t be a part of your estate plan if you want to guarantee that the tax benefits of your retirement are realized by your family members unless you draft your trust carefully.
It might not be a good idea to do it a certain way, but other ways will get you to exactly where you want to be without penalties.
Ben Bekel is the attorney at Quad City Life Planning in Moline, Illinois. He handles elder law and life planning including probate/trust administration, guardianships and disability/ Medicaid planning. Learn more at quadcitylifeplanning.com.
We are thrilled to introduce our wall calendar for 2025, showcasing 12 stunning works of art that have graced the covers of Mature Focus over the years. Each month brings a beautiful piece of art, perfect for your home or office. Measures 8.5x22 inches (open) and is spiral bound.
By Doris Montag
The cowboy hat with its wide brim and high crown topper was developed for the westerner by John Batterson Stetson (1830 –1906). He was an American hat maker who founded the John B. Stetson Company in Philadelphia in 1865.
John Stetson was the son of a hatter at a time when a hat maker was not a respected profession. He learned the trade from his father. As an adult, Stetson planned to open his own business. When he was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he quit the hat business to live large on the western frontier.
On the open plains, Stetson experienced first-hand the need for a hat for protection from rain, sun and wind. He used waterproof felt to create a durable, wide brim hat to protect the wearer who worked out-
The Stetson: The cowboy’s hat
doors. He believed this style would be well received by ranchers, bull whackers, miners and other frontiersmen. He called it “The Boss of the
The Dodge City Peace Commission in 1883, some wearing a Boss of the Plains hat.
Plains.” His first sale was to a bull whacker who paid him a five-dollar gold piece ($97 in 2024).
Stetson's lightweight hat was made of a very fine fur, natural in color, with a four-inch crown and a wide brim. A plain strap was used for the band. He promoted his hat to store owners. On one such visit, a customer bought the hat on the spot. The owner took note and ordered a dozen hats from Stetson. He quickly bought fine fur from beaver, rabbit and other small animal traders, returned to Philadelphia, and began to make his hats for the men of the West. He created a modified sombrero and sent samples of “The Boss of the Plains” to dealers in the West. The cowboy hat legacy had
begun.
The U.S. Army Cavalry military adopted the Stetson hat in the 1870s and it is still worn by cavalry troopers for ceremonial purposes. The British, Canadian, and South African military have also used the iconic hat which is synonymous with pride, honor and integrity.
The Texas Rangers became the first law enforcement agency to incorporate the cowboy hat into their uniform. The National Park Service and U.S. Presidents, including Lyndon B. Johnson, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush embraced the Stetson hat.
In the days of black and white TV, the good guy wore a white Stetson while the bad guy wore a black Stetson. Actor and singer Gene Autry was a hero in the 1950s Westerns, always wearing a Stetson. The hat's legacy is also tied to figures like Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill, and the Virginian. In the 1950s, the Marlboro Man was introduced in a cigarette advertising campaign appealing to men. The cowboy in a black Stetson had a rugged bad-boy connotation.
Stetson Company closed in 1970. They resumed manufacturing in the 1980s but declared bankruptcy in 1986. Today, Stetson hats are made by Hatco, Inc. in Garland, Texas.
“The Boss of the Plains” can be purchased in the range of $200-$600. Yeehaw!
Follow Doris Montag on Facebook at HistoryofOrdinaryThings.
I asked my phone, “Alexa, why am I so bad with women?”
She replied, “I’m Siri, you moron.”
As we step into the blank canvas of a new year, many of us are eager to embrace healthier habits without breaking the bank. For this month, we're diving into the realm of revitalization with a nutrient-packed recipe filled with detoxifying and immune boosting ingredients that won't drain your wallet.
In the realm of soul-soothing concoctions, nothing quite rivals the nutritional prowess of a steaming bowl of chicken soup. It's not just about comfort; it's about embracing a holistic approach to health. So, let's dive into the science behind this detoxifying, inflammation-fighting powerhouse.
Broth Brilliance: In an ideal world, we'd start with homemade bone broth
- loaded with gelatin, chondroitin and immune-boosting nutrients. It's a remedy for gut health and hydration, thanks to minerals like zinc, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. Opt for low-sodium store-bought broth if time is of the essence.
Antioxidant Allies: Onion and garlic bring not just flavor, but also antioxidants and antibacterial properties to the table. Carrots, celery, peas and kale join the fray, delivering a vitamin-packed punch that supports a robust immune system.
Mushroom Magic: Mushrooms provide B vitamins and selenium, an antioxidant that plays a vital role in supporting the immune system.
Spice It Up: Elevate your soup's anti-inflammatory game with ginger, turmeric, black pepper and a dash of red pepper flakes. These ingredients bring potent antioxidants and antiinflammatory properties to the mix.
Poultry Power: Poultry is rich in vitamin B-6, essential to produce healthy red blood cells. I used chicken leg quarters in this recipe because they're very affordable and the dark meat stays succulently tender. But you could use any cut of chicken you have on hand, even a whole chicken. As a bonus, it cooks right in the soup, making your life easier.
This recipe is very forgiving. Feel free to customize the recipe based on what's in your pantry. Don't have turmeric? No problem. This soup allows you to work with what you have, and it'll turn out great.
8 cups (64 ounces) chicken bone broth or low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 pounds chicken leg quarters, skin removed
Freshly ground black pepper
Big pinch red pepper flakes
1 cup frozen peas
1 small bunch kale, stems removed, chopped
Heat the oil in a large soup pot, set on medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery, and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the mushrooms, garlic and ginger, and stir to combine. Ahhhh, the aroma! Add the chicken broth, turmeric and salt and give it another stir. Place the chicken pieces in the soup and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to LOW and let simmer for 40 minutes. Now, fish out the chicken pieces and set aside to cool. Add the peas and kale. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and add it back to the soup. Reserve the bones to make bone broth!
Why is this chicken soup so effective? Because its ingredients create an ideal combination of anti-inflammatory and detoxifying ingredients with great immunity support. Here's to a healthy and flavorful New Year!
Lifestyle expert Patti Diamond is the penny-pinching, party-planning, recipe developer and content creator of the website Divas On A DimeWhere Frugal, Meets Fabulous! Visit Patti at divasonadime.com. Email Patti at divapatti@divasonadime.com.
By Suzy Cohen, R.Ph.
Have you ever experienced waking up after just a couple of hours of sleep, feeling as refreshed as if you'd had a full night's rest? I have, pretty frequently actually. This phenomenon, often referred to as “sleep compression,” involves achieving deep, restorative sleep in a shorter time frame. Unlike insomnia, where sleep is fragmented and leaves you feeling fatigued, sleep compression results in waking up energized and ready to tackle the day.
Sleep compression is when your body gets all the benefits of a full night's sleep in a shorter amount of time. This can happen because your
Sleep compression: Maximizing rest in less time
brain skips quickly to the most important parts of sleep, like deep sleep or dreaming (REM sleep), where your body and mind recover. Sometimes, this happens naturally because of genetics, or it might be influenced by things like medicines or supplements that help deepen your sleep. It can feel like you've slept a long time, even if you were only resting for a few hours, because your brain packed all the good stuff into a smaller window. Medications and supplements can influence sleep architecture, but not necessarily in a good way. These drugs may create the illusion of restorative, or deep sleep, but may disrupt it altogether. Prescription sleep drugs like zolpidem (Ambien), temazepam (Restoril), and alprazolam (Xanax) act on GABA receptors, inducing deep sleep quickly but often causing rebound awakenings or lighter sleep later due to their short half-lives or withdrawal effects. These drugs interfere with REM sleep.
Over-the-counter antihistamines with diphenhydramine also promote drowsiness, but can leave you groggy and brain-foggy. These drugs often interfere with REM sleep too. None of the above induce sleep compression, however several natural compounds can. Let’s talk about those now:
Chinese Skullcap: Known for its calming properties, this herb can enhance deep sleep phases, leading to a compressed yet refreshing sleep experience.
Melatonin: This hormone regulates sleep-wake cycles and can promote early deep sleep, sometimes causing premature awakenings with a feeling of restfulness.
Magnesium: Supports deep sleep induction, sometimes creating the sensation of shorter yet restorative rest. It's important to note that while sleep compression can leave you feeling refreshed, true rest involves a complete progression through all sleep stages, including light sleep, deep sleep, and REM. Shortened sleep cycles might leave your body missing out on essential processes like memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and physical repair.
If you experience this phenomenon regularly or if it disrupts your overall sleep quality, consulting a sleep specialist is advisable.
If you’re interested in a deeper dive and more details about sleep compression, sign up for my free newsletter at my website, suzycohen.com.
Why America loves rockets
By Rich Lowry
At his Madison Square Garden event a week before the election, Donald Trump went on an extended riff about the famous “chopstick” maneuver of Elon Musk's Space X.
In describing his slack-jawed amazement at watching the feat - the first stage of a Starship rocket returning to the launch tower upon coming back to Earth - Trump spoke for all of us.
The various videos of the operation that witnesses have posted online never get old. It's not just the technical achievement - the joyous awe of spectators is itself wonderful to behold.
Recently, President-elect Trump took time off from forming his new administration to travel to South Texas with Musk to observe another test launch of Starship, and why not? Rockets are an enduring object of human fascination, and Space X is bringing an appropriate sense of brio to one of mankind's coolest ventures.
Modern rocketry is the product of a couple of centuries of human thought and ingenuity, from the 13th century when the Chinese used “arrows of flying fire” to fight the Mongols, to Newton's 16th century work on laws of motion, to the experiments of Robert Goddard early in the 20th century, to the advances driven by World War II and the Cold War, to, of
course, the Apollo missions to the moon.
A rocket launch is literally spectacular. It is a feast for the eyes and an assault on the ears, as a tall, thin projectile is, after a controlled explosion, propelled upward on a raging plume of fire.
The iconic 1969 launch of Apollo 11 on the sleek, instantly recognizable Saturn V rocket emblazoned with the words “United States” in red lettering remains a thing of beauty, and an unmatched symbol of 20th century technological achievement.
A rocket is otherworldly in more than one sense. A car can be analogized to a horse. A plane can be analogized to a bird. A rocket is like nothing in nature. And it promises to take us to worlds beyond our own, whether outer space, or the moon, or, if Musk can achieve his ambitions, Mars.
There is an inherent risk to the enterprise, making it even more compelling. The countdown of mission control always holds a certain drama, and the announcement of “liftoff!” always carries a justified tone of triumph.
Space X's chopstick operation had a little of all of this. The returning rocket stage looked like a Roman candle flying in reverse, and it created visible - and then audible - sonic booms as it descended. It represented
a new frontier in human achievement, since such a thing had never been done before. And, as it hovered above the tower, the success of the test remained in doubt, until it nestled in the metal arms of the tower.
In engineering terms, it was a virtuoso performance - like watching a skater land a quadruple axle.
It looked and felt like the future.
When Musk was with Trump in Texas and demonstrated how the latest Starship test would work with a model in his hand, he looked every bit a boy smitten with the adventure of rocketry and eager to share his enthusiasm.
That, in large part, is what Musk is, but no one should mistake the seriousness of his achievements. For all that rockets are supposed to be cutting edge, there was a decades-long period of stagnation in launch costs until Musk came along and revolutionized the business with his entrepreneurial mindset. Now, launch costs have radically diminished and Musk alone operates ten times more satellites than any other country or company, according to Ars Technica.
The tests of Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, are the latest iteration of Musk's approach of rapid innovation toward the goal of sending men to the moon again, and then Mars. It is an expression of a basic human instinct for exploration and adventure, with the rocket as its symbol and vehicle.
Rich Lowry is editor of the National Review.
Healthy Eyes: New technology for the treatment of glaucoma
By Nikhil Wagle, M.D.
More than three million people in the U.S. are estimated to be living with glaucoma. By 2030, that number is expected to increase by 58% to more than 4.2 million people. Glaucoma is an eye disease typically characterized by elevated pressure in the eye that causes damage to the optic nerve and defects in the field of vision. Visual loss caused by glaucoma is irreversible. The iStent® Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent is a treatment option to reduce eye pressure for patients with both cataracts and glaucoma.
The iStent is FDA-approved for use in conjunction with cataract surgery to reduce eye pressure in adult patients with mild-to-moderate openangle glaucoma currently being treated with glaucoma medicine. Over time the eye’s natural drainage system becomes clogged. iStent works like the stents used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The iStent creates a permanent opening through
the blockage to improve the eye’s natural outflow. Restoring this mechanism lowers and controls pressure within the eye. In clinical trials, iStent has been shown to safely reduce eye pressure, which is the primary cause of open-angle glaucoma.
If patients are on multiple drops, there is a 70% chance patients can go off one of them. If they are only on one drop, then it could result in no drops. Which is a real plus, since many find all of these drops can be inconvenient, potentially expensive and like any medication, the drops may have side effects.
iStent is the smallest medical device ever approved by the FDA. It is so small you are unable to see or feel it after the procedure is done. Implanting the iStent does not significantly extend the length of time the patient spends in surgery and has a similar safety profile to cataract surgery alone.
The iStent is an important advancement in protecting against vision loss for glaucoma patients.
Nikhil Wagle, M.D. is a board certified glaucoma specialist and comprehensive ophthalmologist. He sees patients at Eye Surgeons Associates Rock Island and Bettendorf clinics. For more information visit esaeyecare.com.
The material contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider.
• 7 heirloom tomatoes, quartered
• 1 small sweet onion, quartered
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 1 cup milk, plus more to thin as needed
• 1/3 cup basil pesto
• Parmesan, for serving (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a large oven-safe pot, combine the tomatoes, onion, olive oil, thyme, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20-30 minutes or until the tomatoes just begin to char and release their juices. Let cool slightly.
3. Transfer the roasted tomatoes and their juices to a blender and add the milk. Puree until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Stir in the pesto and season the soup with salt and pepper. Thin with more milk if desired.
4. To serve, ladle the soup among bowls and top with Parmesan and basil. Tastes great served with a grilled cheese on the side!
Like giraffes 121 Emmy winner Remini
“Sometimes you feel like
124 African nation whose capital is Bamako 125 Coll. hotshot
“She said she was approaching 40. I couldn't help wondering from what direction.” - Comedian Bob Hope (1903-2003)
Bats, Bugs and Babies
Bats are a natural pesticide. A single bat can eat between 6,000 and 8,000 insects in a night, depending on species and feeding habits. Since 2006, many bat populations in the U.S. have collapsed due to an invasive fungus found in caves they use.
As a result, farmers in affected areas have increased their use of pesticides with one unforeseen effect: an increase in human infant mortalities.
Scientists found that in areas with fewer bats and more pesticide use,
the infant mortality rate rose almost 8%, the equivalent of 1,334 additional infant deaths. For every 1% increase in pesticides, there was a 0.25% increase in the rate.
“Bats have gained a bad reputation as being something to fear, especially after reports of a possible linkage with the origins of COVID-19,” said study author Eyal Frank at the University of Chicago.
“But bats do add value to society in their role as natural pesticides, and this study shows that their decline can be harmful to humans.”
Body of Knowledge
▲The average talker sprays about 300 microscopic saliva droplets a minute. That works out to 2.5 droplets per word.
Stories for the Waiting Room
There's a right way and a wrong way to measure blood pressure. The
latter can lead to overdiagnosis. If you're sitting on a paper-covered table when your blood pressure is taken, that's the wrong way. You should be seated in a chair with your arm supported on a desk or other surface, keeping the cuff aligned with your heart.
Measuring blood pressure with a patient's arms in their laps or hanging by their sides tends to overestimate blood pressure by as much as 4 mmHg for the top number (systolic, or when blood pumps) number and almost 7 mmHg for the bottom number (diastolic, or when the heart rests between beats), according to new research.
Study authors estimated that improper arm position could mean 16% of U.S. adults, or 40 million Americans, may be mistakenly diagnosed with hypertension using a cutoff of 140 mmHg and higher, and 22%, or 54 million people, would be misclassified using the lower cutoff of 130 mmHg. That could be the difference between a prescription for a hypertension-lowering medication or a recommendation to make lifestyleonly changes, reports STAT.
Food for Thought
Gypsum is a soft mineral widely mined and commonly used as a fertilizer and the main constituent in building materials like drywall and
It's also found in tofu, where it serves as a coagulant, and in bread doughs as a conditioner. In both cases, it simultaneously serves as a good source of dietary calcium.
Last Words
“Now, farewell, and remember all my words!” - Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), who opined that people should strive for simple, equitable lives. Ironically, of the estimated 300 works said to be written by him, only three letters and a few writing fragments survive.
❖ On Jan. 5, 1643, Anne Clarke, of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was granted a divorce from her husband, Denis Clarke, by Boston's Quarter Court. Denis confessed to abandoning Anne and their two children for another woman, by whom he also had two children, and refused to return to Anne. It was the first record of a legal divorce in the American colonies.
❖ On Jan. 26, 1500, Spanish
explorer Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who had commanded the Nina during Christopher Columbus' first expedition to the New World, sights the coast of Brazil during a voyage under his command, the first European explorer to do so.
❖ On Jan. 25, 1759, Scottish poet Robert Burns is born. The day is still celebrated by Burns fans with highspirited “Robert Burns Night” feasts, featuring haggis and other Scottish
delicacies, as well as enthusiastic drinking, toasting and speechmaking.
❖ On Jan. 29, 1936, in Cooperstown, New York, the Baseball Hall of Fame elects its first members: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Matthewson and Walter Johnson. Today it has elected 278 individuals, including 225 players, 17 managers, eight umpires and 28 executives and pioneers.
❖ On Jan. 30, 1948, Mohandas Gandhi, the world's chief advocate of non-violence, is assassinated in New Delhi, India. Assassin Nathuram Godse was hanged in 1949 against the wishes of Gandhi's sons, who argued that the execution stood against everything Gandhi believed in.
❖ On Jan. 31, 1950, President Harry Truman publicly announces his decision to support development of the hydrogen bomb. The discovery of a Soviet spy in the U.S. nuclear program forced Truman to approve massive funding to build the world's first “superbomb.”
❖ On Jan. 27, 1965, the Shelby Mustang GT 350 is launched. The Shelby, a Mustang modified for racing, featured a 306 horsepower V-8 engine and today is a valuable collector car.
❖ On Jan. 28, 1973, a cease-fire goes into effect in Saigon, Vietnam, but military operations quickly resumed after each side claimed the other had violated the truce. What resulted was an almost endless chain of retaliations, averaging 2,980 combat incidents per month.
By Susan Goldfein
Here we are, once again on the threshold of a new year. How many times in the next 24 hours will you say or think: Where did the time go? I won’t bother to repeat it here. (But where did it go?)
Do you still consider making New Year’s resolutions? If you don’t write them down, do you even think about them? I have long ago given up making promises to myself that I will never keep. If I want to feel bad about myself for being a weakling, I already have sufficient items from prior years to draw upon.
This year, instead of trying to reconfigure bad habits, I’ve decided to embrace them. Below is a partial list of personal reforms that will
NOT happen in 2025.
Unresolved
Spend more time at the gym.
Eat more vegetables.
Give up Cool Whip.
Lose weight.
Shop less.
Get more sleep.
Organize my drawers and keep them organized.
Stop wasting time watching “Law and Order” reruns.
Improve at golf.
Learn French.
Cook at home more often.
Always hang my clothes before I go to bed.
Read James Joyce.
Wear a bikini.
Complete a London Times crossword puzzle.
Solve even one clue of a London Times crossword puzzle.
Have a neat desk.
Never write another essay about my husband.
What did you do on New Year’s Eve? Stay at home? Perhaps watch a movie? Dinner with friends? A fancy party? Did you even try to stay awake until midnight? Whatever your preference, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy New Year.
Visit Susan’s blog, susansunfilteredwit.com.
Annual Subscription to Mature Focus Print Edition
✖ The cymothoa exigua, a parasite that severs the blood vessels of a fish's tongue and becomes a new functional tongue, is the only known parasite capable of replacing an entire organ.
✖ Are you a java junkie? Scientists found specific genes that are more caffeine-loving than others, so addiction to it might be genetic. In other words, you can go ahead and blame your parents for your coffee obsession.
✖ “Family Feud” host Richard Dawson met his second wife, Gretchen Johnson, when she was a contestant on the show in 1981. And yes, he did kiss her.
✖ After four years of planning and two months of working nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., a team of hackers at MIT turned their Earth and Planetary Sciences Department building into a giant, multicolored, playable Tetris game.
✖ It is considered unlucky to clean your house on the Chinese New Year. You risk sweeping away the good luck of the coming year.
✖ “Gigi” author SidonieGabrielle Colette could only write after she had plucked fleas off her dog.
✖ If you pour cold water into a person's ear, their eyes will move in the direction of the opposite ear. If you pour warm water into their ear, their eyes will move toward that ear. Used to test for brain damage, this process is called “caloric stimulation.”
✖ Some areas in Scotland and Japan switched to blue street lights at night and saw a decrease in crime and suicide rates.
✖ A theory suggests that the entire internet, based on the mass of moving electrons, weighs about as much as a strawberry.
Midnight Gardener
By Lori Rose
When we work in our gardens, a large part of what we do is pull weeds. What if I told you that you don’t have to pull them all? That, with what we call weeds, nature is providing us with free food? I admit that it goes against everything I have done and been taught, but over the past few years I have let some specific “volunteer plants” remain in my gardens and I love them. Here are my favorites.
Let’s start with the one everybody will recognize – the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). A member of the daisy family, they are among
Good weeds
the first flowers of early spring for bees, butterflies and moths to feed on.
Dandelion’s biggest fault is that it spreads so easily by seeds from the fluffy white heads. They can grow in the poorest, driest soils, and they are difficult to pull out. Even a small piece of root left in the ground will re-grow. The best way to control
dandelions in the garden is to pick the flowers before the seed heads form.
Found on six continents and gathered for food since pre-history, dandelions were brought to North America from Europe and Asia as a vegetable. The leaves are good in salads or sautéed like spinach. Harvest dandelion leaves in early spring before the flowers bloom; after that they become quite bitter.
Dandelion greens are an excellent source of vitamins A, C, E and K, folate, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and antioxidants, and are more nutritious than broccoli or spinach.
Lambsquarters (Chenopodium album) is a member of the amaranth family and tastes like a mild version of spinach. The leaves are diamond shaped, light green on the top and whitish underneath. It is high in vitamins A, B1, B2 and C, as well as in calcium, iron, and protein.
In many regions of the world people intentionally grow lambsquarters as an agricultural crop. Recent archaeological studies show that the seeds were stored and used by the American Blackfoot Indians during the sixteenth century. Lambsquarters can be found on six continents, and it can help to restore healthy nutrients to poor quality soil.
Lambsquarters can be eaten raw in salads or added to smoothies and juices, and the leaves don’t become bitter with age. It contains some oxalic acid, so small quantities are recommended when eating it raw. Cooking removes this acid.
Lambsquarters shrink with cooking, so pick twice as much as you need. It can also be dried, or blanched and frozen for year-round use.
Purple dead nettle
Purple dead nettle.
Photo: Wildlife Terry
(Lamium purpureum) is a member of the mint family and will form a groundcover in early spring. Like other mints, purple deadnettle spreads easily. It can be identified by its square stems, fuzzy spade-shaped leaves and umbrella of delicate purple-pink flowers.
An important early food source for pollinators, purple deadnettle also self-pollinates, ensuring their reproduction regardless of whether they have bee visitors. They are shallowrooted and easy to pull, but if you let them be, you can pick off the heads and sauté them in olive oil for an early spring treat. Or try them in salads, smoothies, stirfries or soups. When the weather heats up, they will yellow and wither, waiting for the cooler days of fall before reemerging, leaving room in the garden to plant summer blooming annuals.
Purple deadnettle is not only a wild edible green, but a highly nutritious superfood. The leaves are edible, and the purple tops are a little bit sweet. It is highly nutritious – like any other dark leafy green, it is high in vitamins A, C and K, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and fiber.
Before eating any wild plant, make a positive identification with a picture book, internet search, or an app such as Picture This. As with any plants you plan to eat, these volunteers should only be consumed if they are gathered from uncontaminated soil suitable for growing food plants. Maybe this season, leave the weeds and let them grow until they are easily identified.
Then you and the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds can enjoy some free food. And don’t worry, there will be plenty of other weeds to pull.
Lori Rose, the Midnight Gardener, is a Temple University Certified Master Home Gardener and member of the GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators. She has been writing about gardening for over twenty years. Email Lori at midnightgardener@hotmail.com.
New year. Fresh start. Before I begin skipping through the upcoming days and months in the crisp, newly purchased paper calendar (yes, I still buy a calendar), I want to make sure I take a good look at the things I learned from 2024. 1. It's okay to change my mind. Currently, I'm struggling with analysis paralysis about a decision I need to make, which would essentially undo a decision I made not too long ago. And that's where I'm getting hung up because I would be changing my mind. Can you relate? Sometimes when I make a decision, I'm prone to think that it's something I must hang on to forever, whether it's a piece of furniture, a job, house, or hairstyle. A friend recently said something that helped me to exhale: “You know, it doesn't mean you are a failure if you change your mind. People change their minds all the time.”
2. Nothing is permanent except the love we show each other. This is a perennial lesson. Hold a little closer those you love and those who love you. My stepmother died suddenly last year. She and my father were married for more than 50 years. His world has been toppled as you can imagine. She started out that spring morning enjoying time with her great grandchildren and by the afternoon she was gone. I had visited them a month earlier and didn't realize when we hugged each other goodbye that it would be the last time I would see her. I regret that it takes a loss to remind me again of this lesson, but it's prompted me to remember to tell people that I love them instead of assuming they know, to stop by even if it can't be for a long visit, or to call or text when someone's name comes to mind.
3. Have something to do that brings purpose to my life so I keep
Is Important.
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my nose in my own business (and not in my grown kids' business). I've recently read (and reread) the book with the best title: “Doing Life with Your Adult Children: Keep Your Mouth Shut and the Welcome Mat Out.” It's helped me to understand the importance of biting my tongue and giving my kids space. Although my kids have been grown and flown for a while now, it has only recently hit me that they really don't want, or need, my advice about things - and unsolicited advice is received as criticism. Nor do they want me to worry about their health, happiness or wellbeing; they have spouses to do that for them now. Here's what I notice about myself. If my days don't have structure — if I'm not involved in things that bring me purpose and satisfaction, if I'm bored, my nose is like a heat-seeking missile into their business. If they are having a problem, I'm wringing my hands and losing sleep over the problem long past the point that it's a problem in their life any longer. I don't want to be that kind of parent. It's prompted me to get intentional about what I want the next chapter of my own life to look like, to become curious about my interests and goals. I'm always going to be a mom who is concerned about my kids' well-being, but I'm working on being a mom who minds her own business.
4. Not all friends have to be best friends. Since my move a few years ago, I've missed my time with longterm friends back home — the kind of friends who can drop deep quickly about our feelings, problems, and joys. We've all heard the research on the benefits of those high-quality friendships — we do better socially and emotionally throughout our lifespan. But there is some good research these days about the benefits of weak ties, also known as acquaintances. Researchers Sandstrom and Dunn published an article in 2014, Social Interactions and Well-Being: The Surprising Power of Weak Ties, where they
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found that daily interactions with acquaintances also contributed to well-being. I'm paying more attention to and appreciation for these interactions. The neighbor I visit regularly with about her flowers, the person who has time for a quick cup of coffee or drink over happy hour every few months, or the people who sit down and visit with me where I volunteer.
These interactions are important as are the new friends who are not quite best friends. It's good to remember that all my old friends at one time were acquaintances at one point. Happy New Year. Happy fresh start. I hope it's a year full of new lessons.
Taprina Milburn is an essayist who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her golden retriever, Scout. Contact her at writeyourstoriesworkshop@ gmail.com.
Charleston
March 18-27, 2025
Experience the timeless charm of the South with a visit to Savannah and Charleston! Wander through cobblestone streets lined with historic homes, majestic oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and beautifully preserved architecture. Delight in Southern hospitality as you savor delectable cuisine, from classic shrimp and grits to freshly made pralines. Explore bustling markets, vibrant waterfronts, and captivating museums. Whether it’s the romantic ambiance of Savannah’s squares or the rich history of Charleston’s antebellum mansions, every corner offers a story waiting to be discovered. Join us for an enchanting journey through two of America’s most picturesque cities!
By Edward Jones
In life, you often get second chances - and the same is true with investing. To illustrate: You might not have been able to contribute to a Roth IRA during your working years due to your income level, but you may get that opportunity as you near retirement, or even when you are retired - through a Roth conversion.
Why is a Roth IRA desirable for some people? Here are the key benefits:
• Tax-free withdrawals - You put in after-tax dollars to a Roth IRA, so you can withdraw your contributions at any time, free of taxes and penalties. And if you’ve had your account for at least five years and you’re at least 59½, you can also withdraw your
earnings free of taxes.
• No RMDs - With a traditional IRA, you’ll have to start taking withdrawals - called required minimum distributions, or RMDs - when you turn 73, or 75 if you were born in 1960 or later. But there’s no RMD requirement with a Roth IRA - you can essentially leave the money intact as long as you like.
• Tax-free legacy for your heirsWhen your heirs inherit your Roth IRA, they can withdraw the contributions without paying taxes or penalties, and if the account has been open at least five years, they can also withdraw earnings tax free.
But even if you were aware of these advantages, you might not have been able to invest in a Roth IRA for much of your life. For one thing, you might have earned too much money - a Roth IRA, unlike a traditional IRA, has income limits. Also, a Roth IRA has only been around since 1998, so, in the previous years, you were limited to a traditional IRA.
As you approach retirement, though, you might start thinking of just how much you’d like to benefit from a Roth IRA. And you can do so by converting your traditional IRA to a Roth. While this sounds simple, there’s a major caveat: taxes. You’ll be taxed on the amount in pre-tax dollars you contributed to a traditional IRA and then converted to a Roth IRA. (If you have both pre- and after-tax dollars in your traditional IRA, the taxable amount is based on the percentage of pre-tax dollars.)
If you have large amounts in a traditional IRA, the tax bill on conversion can be significant. The key to potentially lowering this tax bill is timing. Generally speaking, the lower your income in a given year, the more favorable it is for you to convert to a Roth IRA. For example, if you have already retired, but have not started collecting RMDs, your income may be down.
Timing also comes into play with the financial markets. When the market is going through a decline, and the value of your traditional IRA drops, you could convert the same number of shares of the underlying investments and receive a lower tax bill or convert more shares of these investments for what would have been the same tax bill.
Finally, you could lower your tax bill in any given year by stretching out your Roth IRA conversions over several years, rather than doing it all at once.
You’ll want to consult with your tax advisor before embarking on this conversion - but if it’s appropriate for your situation, you could find that owning a Roth IRA can benefit you and your family for years to come.
This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor. Edward Jones, its employees and financial advisors cannot provide tax or legal advice. You should consult your attorney or qualified tax advisor regarding your situation.
Edward Jones, Member SIPC.
By Ken Ferris
Mature Focus Volunteer Spotlight
Featured this issue is Pat D’Alessandro. She is 67 and a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Pat received an internship with John Deere. This led to a full time position in Waterloo, Iowa, for the next 29 years. In 2004 she earned a Master’s in Engineering Management from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
In 2009 Pat was transferred to the Quad Cities and moved into her current home in Le Claire, Iowa. After 33 years with one company, she retired in 2010.
Team, the team that responds to local fires and emergencies,” Pat said.
In early 2011 Pat was one of the original members of an in-person knitting group knitting hats and mittens for local school children and veteran’s groups.
“I always heard you shouldn’t just retire from something but to something. For me, that something was the Red Cross,” Pat declared. “I wanted to be one of those who helped, and the mission of the Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies,” she stressed.
“I started my journey on the committee for Picnic on the River (now called Taste on the River) the major fundraiser for our chapter. I started taking Disaster Responder classes and became a member of our Disaster Action
Pat was deployed to her first disaster, a tornado in Greeneville TN, in the spring of 2011. Since that time she has been deployed over 50 times, most to help out in local communities in the Illinois Region, but includes New York, Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii, and Alberta, Canada.
The past several years she has mainly deployed in a management role, where she makes sure those who provide direct assistance to those impacted by the disaster have the information and resources needed to do their jobs.
“When deployed outside the Region we work six days a week in 12 hour shifts. My longest deployment was during the 2019 flood where I worked most of the four month operation which was headquartered in our Moline office. Red Cross covers our travel, lodging and food expenses. The advantage of a local deployment is you get to sleep in your own bed,” Pat stated.
Including deployments, Pat volunteers about 1000 hours a year. She is a Disaster Instructor, has led many Home Fire Campaign Events that include installing smoke alarms in homes along with educating the homeowner about fire safety and the need to have an escape plan.
Pat recently returned from serving a stint in Florida following hurricane Milton.
Pat is one of those rare and special volunteers who has literally transformed the Red Cross of Illinois and made the whole organization better because of her involvement. Her commitment is unmatched and she welcomes and mentors new volunteers with real warmth, humor, and kindness.
– Connie Dudgeon, Volunteer Recruitment SpecialistAmerican Red Cross of Illinois
“One of the things I’ve learned is that we can’t fix the problem. No amount of time or money will ever bring back what was lost. What we can do is listen to their stories, however many times they need to tell it, offer our support and help them to find a way to cope with what is happening. The key is to meet them where they are at that moment. That was a hard lesson to learn for someone who likes to ‘fix’ problems,” Pat remarked.
“I’ve heard about finding your Tribe, and I’m not sure I would have known what that meant if it weren’t for the Red Cross. We are a group of like-minded people who do incredible things,” Pat emphasized.
If you are looking for your “Tribe,” go to Red Cross.org to start the volunteer process.
Ken Ferris is the founder and former publisher of Mature Focus.
Pat D’Alessandro volunteers with the Red Cross over 1,000 hours per year.
Mayo Clinic Q & A: Menopause and perimenopause
By By Stephanie Faubion, M.D., Women’s Health, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota and Jacksonville, Florida
Q: I just turned 40 and was told some of the symptoms I’ve been having could be due to perimenopause. I am of course familiar with menopause, but we don’t talk about perimenopause enough. Can
The Cowtippers
Saturday January 25, 2025 at 2:00 p.m.
The Cowtippers show is a timeline of Country Music, starting in the 60s through the 90s. We try to represent some of the most popular music from the different periods, such as the emergence of Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash through the Merle Haggard and George Jones period. We'll progress to the 70s “Urban Cowboy” craze, then on to the resurgence of Country during the late 80s and into the 90s with George Strait and Brooks & Dunn We guarantee to trigger many memories!
Tickets: $25 (advance), $28 (door)
Students (18 & under) Tickets: $15 (advance) $18 (door)
Get Tickets Now!
All Seating is General Admission
January 2025 • Mature Focus Office Hours: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Monday - Friday 1215 E Platt St., Maquoketa, IA 52060 563-652-9815
Tickets available online at ohnwardfineartscenter.com
you explain the difference? I admit I’m a little nervous for both stages.
A: The difference between perimenopause and menopause can be confusing. Menopause is defined by the lack of a menstrual cycle for a year, while perimenopause is the period leading up to menopause.
Perimenopause and menopause can happen at different ages for women.
Perimenopause may last a long time, even up to six to ten years for some women. Menopause beginning at age 45 or after is considered normal, so perimenopause can begin as early as 35. This is when you start to have some fluctuations in ovarian function. The ovaries aren’t working as well as they used to, and you may begin to see some variation in cycle length, such as your cycles getting closer together or further apart. Many women will eventually start having some symptoms.
We now know that women in perimenopause can have the same symptoms as women in menopause. Those symptoms can include night sweats, hot flashes, sleep disturbances and mood changes such as irritability, anxiety and depression. In addition, joint aches, heart palpitations, vaginal dryness, low sex drive and pain with sex are common in women during this transition.
There is a wide variety of symptoms women experience during this time. I have had patients come to see me thinking there’s something terribly wrong with them because they’re experiencing all these different symptoms. They’re losing hair, gaining weight, waking up at nightit all seems confusing and worrisome. But once you hear enough times that it’s common for women in midlife to have these symptoms, it can all start to fit together in a cohesive pattern.
I think another issue is that we don’t educate healthcare professionals enough in dealing with menopausemost have never had any training on menopause or menopause management. Not only are women confused, but healthcare professionals also can
The difference between the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can be confusing.
be confused by what’s happening and how to sort out these symptoms. It can be problematic for patients.
During the menopause transition, women may have some breast symptoms. Breast pain or tenderness can be common in perimenopause because of spikes in estrogen levels. You may notice changes such as less support structure within the breasts. As in all parts of our bodies with aging, there can be some physical changes.
It’s critical to remember to continue with breast cancer screening during menopause just as you did before. We recommend annual mammograms and supplemental screening for women with dense breasts (50% of women in the U.S. are classified as having dense breasts).
When you think about it, the menopause transition is puberty in reverse. Women often get “the talk” when starting their periods because they’re of school age and the organization provides education. But there is no talk for women when they’re about to stop their periods.
The important thing to note about menopause is that it is not a disease. This is a normal life stage that 100% of women will go through. Some struggle more than others going through it, but the good news is that there are things you can do about it.
You don’t have to suffer. There are many treatments available for menopause symptoms. The treatment might differ if you’re in perimenopause as opposed to menopause because you can still become pregnant and may need contraception (or control of bleeding) when you’re in perimenopause. Talk with your healthcare team about what is right for you so you can live as comfortably as possible.
Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care.
E-mail a question to MayoClinic Q&A@mayo.edu. For more information, visit mayo clinic.org.
FIRESIDE DINNER THEATRE
West Side Story April 3-4
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is transported to modernday New York City as two young lovers 昀nd themselves caught between warring street gangs. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence, and prejudice is one of the most innovative, heart-wrenching, and relevant musical dramas of our time. Tour Includes: Transportation, Host, Accommodations, Show & Meal, Mystery Stop
The Last Potluck Supper Church Basement Ladies July 10-11
It is 1979, the day of the church’s Centennial Celebration, and past parishioners have gathered to share hotdish, bars, and stories from the last 100 years. As the women work in the kitchen, shared memories burst into life through a series of 昀ashbacks. Travel back to 1897 and meet Vivian’s grandmother; see Karin as a newlywed cautiously navigating the politics of the kitchen; and be there in 1944 when Mavis 昀rst barreled her way through the door. The Centennial Celebration is bittersweet. Times are tough in this small farm community, and hard decisions will have to be made. Tour Includes: Transportation, Host, Accommodations, Show & Meal, Lunch Cruise on Lake Geneva
As one of the last prolific character actors who launched their film and television careers in the 1950s – and subsequently spanning eight decades with hundreds of roles – it's no surprise that H.M. Wynant didn't have instant recall when interviewed by author Steven Peros for his new book, “H.M. Wynant – You Must Believe!”
“I was kind of amazed – he wanted to do a book about me?” said Wynant from his home in Los Angeles. “But Steven did his research and dropped clues about my previous roles and all of a sudden a lot of the past came back which was kind of wonderful. I would film a television episode over a few days, then literally forget about it – just erase it – and move on to the next project. So there are some shows I just don’t have any memory about.”
Nevertheless, the book is full of entertaining anecdotes shared with the author.
“It’s basically an authorized biography with HM contributing quotes as well as photos from his personal collection,” explained Peros from Los Angeles, who’s also a playwright,
New book outlines career of 97-year-old character actor H.M. Wynant
screenwriter, and director. “I’ve known HM for 30 years since I cast him in a play. He appeared in so many iconic TV shows just in the 1960s.”
A sampling of Wynant’s credits for that decade includes Batman, Perry Mason, Get Smart, Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Ironside, and westerns such as Wagon Train, Cheyenne, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Wild Wild West, and The Virginian.
“I did everything that was available then, and think I did some of my best
SOCIAL SECURITY AND YOUR RETIREMENT SEMINAR
January 22, 2025 | 6 p.m. | Bettendorf Branch, 2770 Middle Rd. Bettendorf, IA January 23, 2025 | 6 p.m. | Asbury Branch, 3465 Asbury Rd. Dubuque, IA
Find answers to the following questions and more.
• What are the rules for starting your Social Security benefits?
• How do spouses coordinate their benefits?
• Are there different routes to take that could potentially increase your benefits?
RSVP
Save your spot by Friday, January 17 by contacting Sherry Kurtz at 563-557-5002 or sherry.kurtz@lpl.com.
work during that period,” said Wynant. “It was my favorite decade.”
For many series, Wynant appeared in multiple episodes usually portraying different characters including ten episodes of Perry Mason where he was cast as a “prosecutor, defendant, murder victim, witness, and murderer.”
“He’s the only actor in the history of that long-running show to play such a variety of characters in different episodes,” said Peros. It’s a testament to Wynant’s talent and commitment to his craft that he could quickly adapt to new characters as a supporting actor. While he also worked in movies with classic film legends including Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, Clark Gable, and Rod Steiger, Wynant was satisfied to be largely cast in supporting roles.
“I never wanted to be the big star, but did consider myself a good actor and just as important to the story as anyone,” he said.
He took the lead role in one of the most beloved series of the era, The Twilight Zone. The 1960 episode, “The Howling Man,” is often listed among fan favorites.
Wynant’s character is coerced into releasing a man imprisoned in a monastery who turns out to be the devil. Speaking anxiously to the camera during the opening scene, his character warns them “You must believe,” a phrase lifted for Peros’s book title. Wynant laughed heartily when asked why the episode is still rated so favorably with Twilight Zone fans.
“Honestly, I really don’t know,” he admitted. “But it was beautifully written, beauti-
H.M. Wynant and Steven Peros.
Photo: Provided by Steven Peros.
fully directed and, of course, beautifully cast! They were all good episodes – it was a tremendous show.”
Born in Detroit in 1927 as Hyman Weiner, and later going by Haim, he was a poor student and hung out in a pool room as an underage teen.
“When the cops raided the place, I would be hidden in the toilet,” recalled Wynant. “One day I picked up a Shakespeare book and for some reason
I am Bonnie Johnson, the Moline Township Supervisor and I am seeking another term to serve our residents. I also ask that you vote for a team dedicated to help keep Moline Township a strong community resource.
Vote for us in the primary on February 25, 2025.
Join us on January 9 at 6 p.m. at the East End Club, 3712 4th Avenue in Moline for a meet and greet fundraiser. We will have raffle baskets, food and great fellowship as you learn about the candidates.
We look forward to seeing you.
developed an affinity for it.”
Wanting to act, dance, and play music – he played the trumpet in the symphony orchestra in Detroit – at age 19, a one-way train ticket took Wynant to New York. Focusing on acting, numerous theatrical and early East Coast live television roles followed, before heading west in 1956 to Hollywood. After a name change to H.M. Wynant and his first appearance in film (“Run of the Arrow”) the following year, Wynant never looked back.
With television exploding in popularity in the 50s, Wynant was quick to recognize its value for an actor although major movie stars initially scoffed at the new mass media format.
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“I didn’t look down on television at all,” he said. “I accepted it, loved it, and it’s been good to me. I accomplished everything I wanted and have no regrets. But after eight decades, I do miss acting a lot.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama.
A woman we knew only slightly died one recent afternoon. The funeral was scheduled for five days later. The date and time landed hard on a previously scheduled, important meeting. Should we bail on the meeting? Would anyone miss us if we didn’t attend the funeral?
Could we skip the funeral since she wasn’t a blood relative or a close friend? Or was this funeral - any funeral - a must-do?
I was scratching my chin and mulling what to do when my mind (always churning like a Cuisinart) landed on the answer. It arrived via my boyhood baseball hero, Yogi Berra.
He was the star catcher for the New York Yankees in the 1940s and 1950s. Dumpy, frumpy and lumpy, Yogi nevertheless resides today in the Hall of Fame. As we used to say in my ancestral home in the Bronx, Yogi
was a heckuva ballplayer.
But he was also a heckuva sage, especially when it came to funerals.
Yogi is a legend for laugh-inducing, spit-your-coffee-back-into-the-mug one liners. Among his many sayings that have endured for decades, this one still lights up the sky:
“Always go to other people’s funerals. Otherwise they won’t come to yours.”
How great is that?
It’s even greater when you hear the back story. Apparently, Yogi meant it.
This wasn’t some tossed off, wiseguy quip. Yogi, a man with only a grade-school education, truly believed what he said about attending funeralslogic be damned.
Of course, Yogi-isms have endured because they portray Yogi as a dumbo. But was he? As all my college professors used to say, let’s consider.
At any funeral, the key person will not know who’s there and who isn’t. So you are not risking the rupture of a friendship if you don’t show up. The friendship is already ruptured in the most
important way.
But at any funeral, the joint is jumping with relatives, old friends, business associates and neighbors. Even if the dearly departed doesn’t know if you’re there, many others do.
Then there’s the question of the guest book. It’s the first thing you encounter at any funeral.
If there is such a thing, the book is the official attendance record of a funeral. If you don’t want to tempt evil spirits, you will attend the funeral, and you will sign.
Then there’s the upside-down-ness of any funeral.
The entire purpose of the event is to take notice of a death. But life is for the living. When one attends a funeral, one actually enjoys it much of the time, because it’s a chance to mix and mingle with - if you’re lucky - interesting folk. All of whom will be very much alive.
Finally, there are the eulogies. Even
if you aren’t asked to recite one, others will amble to the microphone. And if you’re not careful, you might learn something.
Yes, the principal actor is dead. But what a stamp collection he once had! And what a ghost story he used to tell his always-aghast younger sister! And what a brilliant financing coup he pulled off to keep his business afloatno one ever knew a thing about it.
If I may amend the sainted Mr. Berra just a tad, you don’t just go to someone’s funeral so they’ll come to yours. You go to someone’s funeral for the same reason you attend any social event.
You are showing respect. You are showing optimism. You are showing a lively spirit.
You are doing what the deceased would want you to do - not mope, not moan, but have a piece of layer cake and offer up a toast.
That’s how to ward off the evil eye. That’s how to reinterpret a Yogi-ism
Coming in February
Wanting
Indulge
Rear-view mirror
Heart
that’s even more famous than his quote about funerals.
Quoth Yogi, once upon a time: It ain’t over till it’s over.
Even at a heartwarming funeral, a life may be over. But the stories, the grace and the glow of that person’s life ain’t even close to being over.
Yes, we went to the funeral of the woman we knew only slightly. The eulogies convulsed the room in laughter. Even the grieving spouse was seen smiling. If it’s possible, that funeral was fun.
Yogi, my guy, you’ve been right about funerals for a very long time. You’re right still.
I know one person who will be attending my funeral. I just attended hers.
