September/October 2014 60 Plus In Omaha

September/October

•

2014

Denise Fackler

Rockin’ & Rollin’ Into Her 60’s

Style

Fall Fashion Trends

Cruising for Trouble Citizen Patrols

Bombs Bursting in Air The Night Japan Attacked Omaha september/october • 2014

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LOCATIONS

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14460 West Maple Rd. Omaha, NE 402.493.0443

14303 U St. Omaha, NE 402.895.0181

2609 S. 132nd St. Omaha, NE 402.334.6933

1919 N. 90th St. Omaha, NE 402.391.2072

10770 Fort St. [NEC] Omaha, NE 402.493.3257

4840 Dodge St. Omaha, NE 402.558.2000

8315 West Center Rd. Omaha, NE 402.393.2557

1701 S. Galvin Rd. Bellevue, NE 402.292.2685

6901 S. 84th St. LaVista, NE 402.339.1090

545 West Washington St. Council Bluffs, IA 712.352.4152

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letter from editor

Time Flies!

Fall Time is Go Time

W

Contents

volume 2 • issue 5

E ARE NOW ON the cusp of my favorite time of the

year. I love the jewel-like colors of the season’s foliage. I love the weather and how I am reminded of it first thing every morning when I stand at the threshold of my closet. No longer do I leaf through the hangers with the primary (singular?) purpose of making selections aimed at trying to stay comfortable in the heat. Instead, I am now liberated to celebrate the season with layer upon layer of fun clothing, just like the pieces described in this issue’s Style section on Page S16.

And it’s a time for dressing up as we swing into gala season by contributing our time, treasure, and talent to the nonprofits that make such a vital difference to our friends and neighbors in this great town. You can learn more about getting involved by checking out veteran volunteer Ann Hosford’s advice on Page S6. And be sure to look for our annual Big Give section of Omaha Magazine for profiles on some of the area’s most energized nonprofits.

Still need ideas on how to hit the streets in support of building strong communities? You’ll want to read the story on Page S12 about Betty and Roger Hansen of the Piedmont Wycliffe Citizen Patrol.

Fall is so beautiful that time seems to stand still. Well, at least figuratively.

If you find youself in a position where time literally stands still in your home you’ll want to see the story on Bob Rowlee and his Ye Olde Clock Shoppe.

Time flies! And now it’s time for me to grab a sweater and fly right along with it!

Gwen Gwen Lemke Contributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha

Right on Time Veteran Clocksmith Keeps on Tinkering___________ S4 Bombs Bursting in Air The Night Japan Attacked Omaha____________ S6 Ann Hosford Volunteer Advice From a Pro____ S7 Denise Fackler Rockin’ & Rollin’ Into Her 60’s___ S8 Cruising for Trouble Piedmont Wycliffe Citizen Patrol_ S12 Style Fall Fashion Trends___________S16 The Grandpa Chronicles Butterflies Are Free_________ S18 Comments? Send your letter to the editor to: david@omahamagazine.com All versions of Omaha Magazine are published bimonthly by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha NE 68046-1208. Telephone: (402) 884-2000; fax (402) 884-2001. Subscription rates: $19.95 for 6 issues (one year), $24.95 for 12 issues (two years). No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted, however no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations. Best of Omaha®™ is a registered tradename of Omaha Magazine.

september/october • 2014

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60PLUS feature by doug meigs • photography by bill sitzmann

Right On Time

Veteran Clocksmith Keeps on Tinkering

S

OMETIMES, BOB ROWLEE WINDS a dozen clocks in his

living room. Then, after a long day of tinkering in the basement workshop of his West Omaha home, he finally sits down to watch the 10 o’clock news.

The hour strikes. Sound vanishes under a wall of noise. Bells, chimes, rings, dings, whistling cuckoos, and clanging grandfathers all drown the news anchor’s voice.

“You’d better know how to read lips, because you won’t hear a thing,” he says with a laugh.

Rowlee is a clocksmith. Now on the cusp of his 80th year, he began repairing clocks for fun at age 30. He was a career military man for 22 years in the Air Force. He has collected and repaired clocks across Germany and the U.S. The hobby became a profession after retirement. He opened Ye Olde Clock Shop in 1980.

Clocks of all kinds crowd his home. They S4 60PLUS

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fill his living area upstairs. They gather en masse in his basement. His workshop contains every imaginable, wind-able, tick-tocking timepiece: mantle, wall, cuckoo, grandfather, etc. More clocks occupy a renovated basement, and they empty into a private showroom where Rowlee stashes his collection of rare, antique German clocks.

Ye Olde Clock Shop’s current suburban locale might seem unusual. The shop was previously located in a 2,400-square-foot showroom in Papillion. The way Rowlee explains his shop’s 1997 relocation, it seems more like a pre-ordained coincidence.

The owner of an adjacent building had offered to buy his showroom. “My wife said, ‘Listen, when you get ready to sell this building 15 years down the road, there may not be any buyers,’ and that turned out to be a true thing,” he says. “It was a blessing in disguise.”

In retrospect, the premature building sale guaranteed that he would avoid the real

estate bubble, which burst with the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. More importantly, he was able to remain close to his wife, his childhood sweetheart. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few years after his shop relocation.

Rowlee became her primary caregiver.

She had a cane and would often knock on the floor for help. He would rush upstairs and take her to the hospital. She passed away in 2004. Ever since, Rowlee has continued working from home.

“The number of times I would have rushed home from Papillion to take her to the hospital, I would have had to sell the building anyway (if I had held onto it),” he says. “You never know what you believe in until somebody says, well, that’s a coincidence. It’s probably all laid out ahead of time, and this was just when it happened. So, I let it go at that.”

During his Air Force stint in Germany, he crisscrossed the country buying antique

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clocks. A new generation of Germans had become apathetic to the timepieces of their grandparents and great-grandparents, Rowlee says, so he found bargains from antique dealers and also picked up regular part-time work repairing clocks for export to America.

In recent years, Rowlee has watched U.S. interest dwindle for mechanical clocks.

Nebraska Furniture Mart’s selection of wall clocks and grandfather clocks has grown sparse. Digital devices, smartphones, and computers have displaced demand.

Rowlee expects that declining demand for quality timepieces is part of a cyclical pattern.

But he’s not too worried. His workload is already backlogged many weeks out.

“I stay so busy that I don’t know if I’ll have time to do anything else,” he says.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m ever going to catch up.”

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60PLUS history by judy horan • photography by bill sitzmann

Bombs Bursting in Air The Night Japan Attacked Omaha.

T

HE OMAHA SUBURB OF

Dundee didn’t expect an enemy attack during World War II. Bombs weren’t reaching the U.S. heartland in 1945.

That’s why many thought of fireworks when a loud boom and a flash of light appeared in the sky over 50th and Underwood Streets the night of April 18. A few bleary-eyed residents ran outside in their pajamas. Seeing nothing threatening, they went back to bed.

Word soon got out that the explosion that jolted the neighborhood out of bed was caused by an incendiary device that had floated from Japan by balloon.

Hal Capps was 10 years old when the bomb went off. He remembers his father arriving home from his job at the Buffett grocery store in Dundee and saying: “Something happened in the neighborhood last night, but they’re not talking about it.”

Americans were asked to be mum about the bombings. “They didn’t want the Japanese to know how far inland the balloon had come,” says Capps.

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Residents in the suburb that was annexed

by Omaha in 1915—against their will— had other things to talk about at that time.

Dundee and the rest of America was still mourning the April 12 death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Churchgoers were in the pews at the thennew Saint Margaret Mary Catholic Church or at Dundee Presbyterian, founded in 1901.

They were greeted by name at the grocery store founded in 1869 by Warren Buffett’s great-grandfather Sidney. In 1915, Warren’s grandfather Ernest moved the store to 5015 Underwood where the Dundee Bank now sits.

They saw movies at the Dundee Theater featuring local boys—such as The Ox-Bow Incident starring Henry Fonda, who grew up in Dundee before achieving movie stardom. Or maybe they saw Yolanda and the Thief starring Fred Astaire, who was also born in Omaha.

Signs of World War II were ever present.

Dundee women collected tin cans for the war effort. Victory gardens were planted.

But then in August of 1945, the Enola

Gay—a B29 bomber built at the Martin bomber plant near Omaha—dropped its atomic payload on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki was bombed. Japan surrendered, ending World War II. People in Dundee no longer had to whisper. The balloon bomb story was now public.

The bombing of Dundee was not forgotten.

The Dundee-Memorial Park Association put up a plaque in 1992 on a building near the southwest corner of 50th and Underwood Streets that begins: “Dundee Bombed in World War II.” What it doesn’t say is that the Japanese balloon bombs were indeed (insert chuckle here) “bombs.” Of the few Japanese balloon bombs that actually reached the United States out of thousands launched, only one caused deaths; a woman and five children were killed in Oregon.

60PLUS active living by david williams • photography by bill sitzmann

Volunteering at a Glance

Volunteer Advice from a Pro

Ann Hosford’s Top Five Tips

D

ID YOU WATCH MORE

than an hour of the Weather Channel today? Do you put less than 25 miles on your car in any given week?

Do you approach crossword puzzles with such confidence—and frequency—that you dare to solve them in ink?

There’s no reason that senior living can’t be active living. And there’s no better solution to “stir crazy” than to get out there and volunteer.

Ann Hosford is a seasoned volunteer who serves on the board of the Omaha Parks Foundation. She was a founding member of the Girls Club (now Girls Inc.) and has previously served on the boards of Fontenelle Forest and Community Alliance, among others. We checked in with Hosford for her Top Five tips on how to live a richer and more rewarding life through volunteering.

KEEP IT LOCAL Volunteering can begin at your front door. “Join your neighborhood association,” says Hosford, previously the multiterm president of the Metcalfe-Harrison Neighborhood Association. “That’s a great

and easy place to start. What better way to build stronger communities than with your neighbors?”

MATCHMAKING There’s a nonprofit out there that speaks to almost any interest. The key is to find something that fits your passions and personality, says Hosford. “Are you, for example, really into gardening, but you live in an apartment?

There’s plenty of volunteer opportunities for people who think green,” or any other color.

GO SMALL Don’t overlook new or smallish nonprofits.

“I made perhaps some of my most impactful contributions,” Hosford says, “when I served on the board of the [smallish nonprofit] Omaha Hearing School. Smaller groups need just about everything in terms of support.

Your work there in any role you play can really make a difference.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR “I started volunteering when I was young and my mother was volunteering,” Hosford says. Include your children and grandkids in

• According to the Corporation for National & Community Service, 64.5 million Americans volunteered nearly 7.9 billion hours of service in 2012, the most recent year of data collection. The average American volunteered 32.4 hours that year.

• The most popular volunteer activities included fundraising or selling items to raise money (25.7%); collecting, preparing, distributing, or serving food (23.8%); engaging in general labor or transportation (19.8%); or tutoring or teaching (17.9%).

• Volunteers are almost twice as likely to donate to nonprofits as non-volunteers. Eight in 10 (79.2%) volunteers donated to nonprofits, compared to four in 10 (40.4%) non-volunteers.

Overall, half of all citizens (50.7%) donated at least $25 to nonprofits in 2012. the great tradition of helping others. “It’s great modeling behavior. And volunteers always have such great stories to tell.” Those stories are even better when such shared experiences serve to add deeper and more meaningful levels of family connectedness.

TWO’S COMPANY Are you a little shy? Can new people, places, and experiences be a little intimidating? “Use the buddy system,” Hosford advises. “Volunteer with a friend. You’ll have a great time!”

ACT TODAY! Need more ideas to stir your imagination?

The United Way of the Midlands maintains an online directory with scores of volunteer opportunities. Check out the “Volunteer” tab at unitedwaymidlands.org.

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60PLUS feature by james walmsley • photography by bill sitzmann

Denise D Fackler

Rockin’ & Rollin’ Into Her 60’s

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ENISE FACKLER IS COOL.

That is, if cool still means what it meant when the singersongwriter was touring coffeehouses as a teenager in the ‘60s, or later helicoptering over the war-torn jungles of South Vietnam. The Omaha native even dashed off at 19 to marry her guitar-shredding flame, Lightnin’ Lyle, whose long locks made him an ill-fitted suitor in her parents’ eyes.

Yeah, the 62-year-old is pretty cool.

Of course, a duet with John Denver, a rock performance with Ted Nugent, and two improbable encounters with Lou Rawls and Ed Sullivan doesn’t hurt either.

At the very least, Fackler’s life can surely gussy up a diner — Shirley’s Diner in Millard, to be exact, which she’s owned with her husband, Lyle “Doug” Fackler, for 22 years.

“We decided to do something different,” Fackler says, reflecting on her transition from musician to business owner. “We needed something a little more secure.”

Adorned with relics from less certain times, to call Shirley’s a mausoleum would be a big

mistake. The memories Fackler has amassed in the form of photographs, newspaper clippings and other miscellany are very much alive to tell her story.

Above the diner’s booths and tables, a guitar case displays the name, “We, the Living,” the three-piece folkadelic act she says she helped found in junior high. At 14, Fackler and her bandmates, Nikki Lycan and Salli Evans, signed to a local agency and began playing out-of-town gigs.

“We were good. We did three-part harmony,” she says. “We just practiced so much after school everyday, that you just get good — you get good at anything you practice at,” just like the wonder that is the diner’s Stickto-Your-Ribs Chili.

Like all good things, the band eventually petered out, but a lingering war and its disheartened U.S. troops still required their musical prowess. A framed letter and photograph hanging just outside the diner’s kitchen reminds Fackler of her tours with the USO through Vietnam and Thailand.

“I’m most proud of that in my life,” she

Helping Seniors with Topaz EZ says with watery eyes. “I remember the sad faces of those boys—never smiling. I had no idea what they were going through every day.”

And then there’s Fackler’s youngest son, filmmaker/musician Nik, 29, whose framed movie poster for Lovely, Still, starring Martin Landau and Ellen Barkin—both Oscarwinners—proudly decorates the opposite wall. The director wrote the film’s script in high school and credits his mother for encouraging him to write at a young age.

“It didn’t matter what the story was about or how it ended, just that it was created,” Nik says. “Because of her, it became a habit to create.”

Perhaps as a form of continued maternal support—and amping up her hipster quotient three more notches—Denise has even provided background vocals while performing on the Waiting Room stage with her son’s ethereal art-rock band, InDreama.

Yep, in this or any other decade, Denise Fackler is just that cool.

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60PLUS history by sally shepherd • photography by bill sitzmann

Cruising for Trouble Piedmont Wycliffe Citizen Patrol

R

OGER HANSEN WAS ATTACHING to his vehicle a magnetic

sign with the words “Piedmont Wycliffe Citizen Patrol” when his wife, Betty, noticed something unusual. A truck was parked far off the roadway on the grounds of Cottonwood Elementary School. Before Roger could fasten his seat belt, a 60PLUS ride-along with these veteran patrollers had stumbled onto its first perp.

Uh…not so fast.

“Hey, you guys can’t drive across the property like that!” joked Dale Robinson as the Hansen’s vehicle approached his own. Turns out that Robinson is a fellow patroller with the group that is an arm of the Piedmont Wycliffe Neighborhood Association. And it turns out that he, weed-wacker in hand and other tools at the ready, was merely doing a little geurilla gardening. “Just cleaning up a bit after the city,” Robinson explains. “I wish S12 60PLUS

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they’d let me show them how to make a park look nice,” he chuckles before returning to his volunteer chores.

Robinson was let off with a warning of the tongue-in-cheek variety.

The Hansens have been patrolling for over 15 years. Sure, they’ve had their share of excitement, usually minor and involving minors. But our travels this day through the seemingly endless cul de sacs of their West Omaha neighborhood yielded no reports and included only one more stop.

A neighbor, one previously unknown to the Hansens, flagged down the patrol vehicle.

She introduced herself and described some upcoming travel plans. Could the Hansens inform the other patrollers to keep an eye on her home? Sure, but Betty’s gift for gab also kicked in. Before Roger put the SUV back in gear to continue our meanderings, Betty had charmed her newest friend into checking out

the next patrol training session.

“You see how that works?” Betty muses.

“Good neighbors—involved neighbors— make for safe neighborhoods.”

“The police can’t be everywhere at once,” says Roger, who is also the president of the Omaha Coalition of Citizen Patrols, “so citizen patrols can fill a valuable need. Our main role is to be an extra set of eyes and ears for the police department.”

The Coalition consists of the 35 patrols that operate across the community. All patrollers go through background checks and training that includes multiple Omaha Police Department officers advising learners at each session. Patrollers are also issued official identification lanyards that are to be worn whenever one is “on duty.”

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Visit our website to find out more about us! to the world of patrols. The Hansens are quick to remind the community that Zimmerman’s notoriety as a vigilante begs some clarification when it comes to the rules of the road when it comes to patrolling.

THE FOUR “NEVERS” OF CITIZEN PATROLS: • Never engage, only report. Patrols are non-confrontational and personal safety is topmost in everything they do. Team members are not to interact in any way with potential suspects or suspect vehicles.

• Never get out of your vehicle.

• Never carry a weapon, especially firearms.

• Never patrol solo.

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BROUGHT SUZA AS A MEMBER OF WHAT JOURNALIST TOM BROKAW FAMOUSLY CHANCE CALLED THE GREATEST GENERATION, Roger Ihle’s military service became a roadmap for his 25 YEARS AGO w ALMOST favorite volunteer activity. But where to turn when the then 93-year-oldtake lost long his for the two to form a road privileges after his driver’s license renewal was denied?

Retired USAF Lt. Col. Roger Ihle was par t of a small cadre of Strategic Air & Space Museum volunteers who helped restore the same sor t of aircraft that had carried him through 25 spy missions over Europe in WWII. “He’d come home just covered in green, oxidized dust‌but with a big smile,â€? says daughterin-law Barbara Ihle. Driving him to his volunteer gig would have been easy enough, Barbara says, but she was keenly aware that having a woman hanging around the restoration team could change the dynamics and camaraderie shared among the exservice members. “It was a very social affair for all the retired airmen,â€? Barbara explains, “and I knew I’d be in the way, especially if their coffee break chats became‌ well, salty.â€?

Enter Home Instead CAREGiver Richard Sladky. “Richard was an amazing companion to my father-in-law,� Barbara continues. “We didn’t need help with daily living issues, but they became great friends during the last couple years of Roger’s life.

Richard actually became more than a friend to my father-in-law. He became a trusted confidante.�

Richard also visited frequently when Roger’s deteriorating health found him living in an assisted Suzanne (L) with her care facility. And Richard attended theFraser funeral when mother-in-law Carol Armada Roger passed away in May, 2014.

The lasting impact of the relationship led to

the family recognizing Home Instead in the first paragraph of Roger’s obituary in thanking them for the loving care that also led to a great friendship.

Home Instead offers a comprehensive slate of senior care services—but sometimes there’s just no substitute for the warmth and sense of connectedness that comes with good old-fashioned companionship.

Home Instead CAREGiver Richard Sladky with the late Roger Ihle at the Strategic Air & Space Museum

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60PLUS style story and drawings by mary anne vaccaro

Fall Fashion Trends (For the Real World)

M

AYBE YOU’VE LOOKED AT the September Vogue or

Bazaar by now. Are you confused yet?

When you’re 60-plus, your world of fashion is not the world of the 20, 30, and 40-somethings that designer collections cater to. So it’s important to know what’s trending and how to interpret trends that are best for you.

Fall is the season that often garners the most fashion buzz. Let’s check some of the hottest trends and ways for you to wear them.

Most of what is new and different can be seen in outerwear. Sumptuous, robe-like coats are long to the ankle, usually wrapped and tied. Some are slim but most oversized, always with a feature neckline that could be a collar as big as a blanket, a flounce, or even a tie. There are plenty of shorter cuddlecoats to choose from as well. Fabrics are lush and furs are hugely popular, especially the color-blocked varieties. Shearlings and curly lamb looks are back. Puff and quilted coats and jackets have now attained the status of classics. Suede is everywhere, and is so beautiful in both draped coats and jackets.

Roomy knit ensembles certainly make dressing up easy and comfortable. You’ll love the oversized tops and jackets with pants to match. Skirts are either short or midilength…and feminine. Stay away from the short ones and be careful with midi lengths. If worn wrong, they can make you look frumpy.

The trend in dresses is Mod, with a Swinging ‘60s look (the decade, not your age). I say pass on these as there are still plenty of styles and cuts that are age and fit-appropriate for you.

Gray—yep, in all “Fifty Shades”—are supposed to be fall’s strongest color, but bright prints are everywhere in florals, animal prints, and geometrics.

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with tall turtles and big, tall collars seen on tops and jackets of all kinds. Pants are designed in a variety of styles with various leg shapes. And, yes, leggings are still in. Sometimes they’re shown under dresses, but that look is for the young and foolish enough to fall for it. The urban, street look is popular as ever, but it’s not for you.

When dressing up, all-over sparkle and shimmer will be popular. Buy a sequined dress for the holidays!

The fashion shoes of the season are flats, most with the same pointed toe that are hot in pumps, too. Heel heights have come down considerably, lucky you! Boots are ubiquitous and are to be found in a dizzying array of styles and heights. Ankle, calf, knee, and over-the-knee styles range from very simple to ornate, some with hardware, laces, and even lace details.

You’ll want to shop for yet another new purse. They have become must-have fashion statements for every season, and they don’t have to fit or even coordinate with what you’re wearing. Sure, they just carry your “stuff,” but a stylish bag announces to the world that you are what fashion is in being “of the times.”

P.S. Yes, you can wear these! From Carlisle’s Fall Collection; Flounced Suede Coat, Turtleneck and Leggings...

All-0ver sequined, striped Party Dress.

Mary Anne Vaccaro is a clothing and product designer and an image consultant to businesses and individuals. She is also a sales consultant for Carlisle and PerSe, New York. maryannevaccaro.com carlislecollection.com

DIRECTORY

Brookestone Meadows Brookestone Village

Skilled nursing communities providing short-term rehabilitation including physical, occupational and speech therapy as well as long-term nursing care.

Home Instead Senior Care If you’re looking for someone to help you or a loved one a few hours a week or need more comprehensive assistance, Home Instead Senior Care can help.

Elk Ridge Village on the Lake Home Care Assistance Retirement Community Elk Ridge Village provides Independent and Assisted Living and Alzheimer’s Care and is committed to providing services of the highest quality.

www.BrookestoneVillage.com 402-614-4000 • Omaha www.BrookestoneMeadows.com 402-280-2696 • Elkhorn

19303 Seward Plaza 402-312-1198/402-216-8835 www.elkridgeseniorliving.com

Kohll’s Pharmacy & Homecare

Nebraska Cancer Specialists

8 locations & free delivery. Providing retail & compounded prescriptions; all medical equipment & supplies.

Our services are distinguished by the caliber of our caregivers, the responsiveness of our staff and our expertise in Live-In care. We embrace a positive, balanced approach to aging centered on the evolving needs of older adults.

402-763-9140 homecareassistanceomaha.com

Nebraska Cancer Specialists is dedicated to providing complete cancer treatment for patients, medical oncology, radiation oncology, surgical specialists and diagnostic services.

Nebraska Low Vision Regain the Joy of reading and writing today.

In Home Demo: Call 402-905-2794 www.NebraskaLowVision.com

402-408-1990 www.kohlls.com

5 Convenient Locations.

For address and phone info, visit our website: nebraskacancer.com

Saint Jude Hospice

Steven D. Wegner D.D.S.

Travel and Transport

Rooted in Christian Love and Guided by the Holy Spirit, our Radical Loving Care brings healing to those when their hope has changed from a cure to comfort.

Dr. Wegner has 35 years of clinical experience and thousands of hours of continuing education. He knows how to help seniors, and all ages, to achieve and keep a healthy smile.

Travel and Transport is proud to be the 5th largest travel agency in the US, servicing clients throughout the country, as well as globally.

Wealth and Estate Planning, RiskManagement, Executive Services, Foundations & Endowments.

travelandtransport.com 402-399-4500

(402) 399-1513

Metro: 402.498.3444 West: 402.932.4555

10506 Burt Circle 402-609-4818 saintjudehospice.org

11840 Nicholas St Suite 210,Omaha, NE 68154 402-498-0400

EJ Militti, Jr.,Financial Advisor The Militti Group at Morgan Stanley

www.morganstanleyfa.com/milittigroup

september/october • 2014

60PLUS S17

60PLUS the grandpa chronicles story by david williams

Butterflies Are Free Mail-Order Metamorphosis

A

S A SMALL BOY growing

up in the ‘60s I lived off of a steady diet of comic books.

The action stories told on cheap pulp in cheaper ink placed me squarely in the midst of super heroes saving mankind from all manner of diabolical evil, but the advertisements found in those 25-cent comics had the same power to fuel the imagination of a young lad being raised in the Atomic Age. X-ray specs would allow me to see straight through walls!

Bodybuilding panaceas were available for 98-pound weaklings who were tired of getting sand kicked in their faces by beach bullies! Chattering teeth, slingshots, whoopee cushions, and piles of faux feces filled the pages.

Unbelievable! Incredible!

Amazing! And all for the princely sum of $1.98!

None of the offers was more captivating than the very, very creepy ad for sea monkeys—the one showing wildly inaccurate cartoon depictions of a nuclear family of the creatures (little Sis Sea Monkey even had a bow in her hair)—that turned out to be nothing more than microscopic brine shrimp. The very notion of live animals being shipped through the mail was mind-blowing to me, so it was with no little trepidation that I learned all these decades later that my wife, Julie, had ordered a live butterfly garden for our grandsons, Easton (4), and Barrett (3).

Unlike the cheesy come-ons from the ads in vintage comic books (A seven-foot Polaris submarine for under two bucks? Really?), S18 60PLUS

september/october • 2014

our butterfly garden turned out to be a real world adventure showcasing one of nature’s most astonishing transformations. The boys took charge of every step in the process of the care and feeding of the inchworms. Multiple readings of the kid-lit classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, acted as something of a field guide for understanding what we were witnessing as exoskeletons were shed before upsidedown perches were established so that a miraculous metamorphosis could unfold before our very eyes.

Julie, a para-educator at Hartman Elementary School, skipped the summer session this year so she could care for t h e boys. The babysitting schedule meant that our little junior entomologists would get only Monday-Wednesday-Friday lab time with their chrysalide charges. The timing was such that they missed the emergence of all five butterflies, but nothing could dampen their enthusiasm as they raced to the butterfly cage upon each new arrival to see what new wonders awaited.

Being of a certain age, I fondly recall a hippie-era flick featuring Goldie Hawn as a free spirit who invades the world of a

life-challenged neighbor. And just as the name of the film was Butterflies are Free, our little investigation into insectology would naturally culminate in a big-big-big butterfly release party.

Easton, after doing his squealing, tippy-toe, flailing-arms dance of nerding out the way only a small child can do, had the honors of unzipping the top of the butterfly garden.

But he didn’t quite yet grasp the concept of “free.” All he wanted to do was bury his face in the opening for one last, close-up peek at the Painted Lady butterflies he and Barrett had nurtured along.

But a sense of serenity—or as close to the word as any 4-yearold can hope to attain—soon prevailed as he leaned back and watched as, one-by-one, a quartet of winged beauties fluttered onto the lawn. The last of the butterflies needed a little coaxing before making his jailbreak, and that one landed gently on Easton’s hand for a moment—just one split second—before darting away.

“Look, Easton,” Julie exclaimed. “He just gave you a butterfly kiss!”

The metamorphosis was complete. But there was also a parallel transformation playing out that day and all throughout the experience. The minds of young boys were going through a metamorphosis of their own as they were filled with a reverence for nature and the world around them.

And that’s pure magic in the eyes of a grandparent. Even more magical than sea monkeys.

HOME CARE ASSISTANCE announces the GRAND OPENING of our OMAHA OFFICE! Home Care Assistance, a premier provider of in-home care, has a new, larger office to better serve clients in the Omaha area.

We’re conveniently located at

13057 W. Center Rd, Ste 10, Omaha, NE 68144 (On the professional/south side of Montclair Center) Read what your neighbors have been saying about our exceptional home care services: “Shortly after her diagnosis of a brain tumor, my brothers and I realized we could not take care of mom by ourselves. Home Care Assistance was there the next day to set things up. They allowed us to spend quality time with our mom, rather than spend all our time taking care of her. We never could have made it through those last months without their help.” — Kevin, Mark and Chip F. “Your direct help to get Mother home and comfortable was perfect. You listened to Mother and encouraged her in just the right way. Your knowledge of working with the nurses was also top-notch. It is a lot of work, but you make it look easy.” — Kit S. Meet Claire. Claire Shannon, M.Ed., an Omaha Care Manager, develops a unique plan of care for each client. She trains and supervises the client’s assigned care team, and ensures proper care and client satisfaction. Call Claire today for your free consultation.

402-763-9140 • HomeCareAssistanceOmaha.com

Receive the Highest Level of Cancer Care

NEBRASKA CANCER SPECIALISTS IS NOW QOPI® CERTIFIED!

Nebraska Cancer Specialists was recently awarded QOPI Certification for our outpatient oncology-hematology practice by ASCO, the largest oncology society in the U.S. ®

Based on careful analysis and on-site inspections, we met core standards in all areas of treatment, including:

• • • • • •

Treatment planning Staff training and education Chemotherapy orders and drug preparation Patient consent and education Safe chemotherapy administration Monitoring and assessment of patient well-being

This certification is an honor, a testament to our high standard of care — and a reminder that we must always strive to exceed our own expectations in order to better care for our patients.

As the largest independent QOPI-certified cancer practice in Nebraska, we are dedicated to providing superior treatment and services to cancer patients and support to their families.

Alegent Creighton Health Cancer Center - Bergan (402) 393-3110 Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center (402) 354-8124

Call Nebraska Cancer Specialists today.

Midwest Cancer Center Papillion (402) 593-3141 Midwest Cancer Center Legacy (402) 334-4773

Margaret Block, M.D. M. Salman Haroon, M.D. Ralph J. Hauke, M.D. Timothy K. Huyck, M.D. Robert M. Langdon, Jr., M.D. Kirsten M. Leu, M.D. John M. Longo, M.D. Patrick J. McKenna, M.D. Geetha Palaniappan, M.D. David A. Silverberg, M.D. Gamini S. Soori, M.D. Yungpo Bernard Su, M.D. Stefano R. Tarantolo, M.D.

Fremont (FAMC) (402) 941-7030

omaha september/october magazine • september/october 2014 • 2014 60PLUS

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Where Love and Healing F low