Montana55 Spring 2015

Spring 2015

the magazine for montanans in their prime

five sisters

alzheimers

spring books

still together after 73 years

know the warning signs

add to your collection

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Montana 55

montana55.com

publisher editor sales coordinator sales assistant

mark heintzelman sherry devlin jacque walawander holly kuehlwein

table of contents 6

five sisters

20 joint replacement

I Received High Fixed Payments With A Gift Annuity! “ I heard that a person could receive a very good return with a gift annuity.

After contacting the American Heart Association, I sent $10,000 for a 7.1% annuity. In addition to these fixed payments for life and benefiting charity, I benefit from a large tax savings this year. Best of all, part of each payment is tax-free.”

34 touring montana

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saying farewell

22 new treatment

38 writing a will

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family finances

24 yoga for boomers

42 spring books

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cooperative living

Learn and Live® If you would like more information, please send this coupon or call Mel Feeley toll-fee at 866-762-0441 Yes, I am interested in high fixed payments with added tax savings.

Please mail me a free information package.

30 alzheimers

I have already included the American Heart Assoc. in my estate plan.

Please send my thank you gift.

Name: Montana 55 is a special publication of Lee Enterprises and the Missoulian. Copyright 2014.

For advertising information contact Jacque Walawander 406-523-5271, 800-366-7193, ext. 271, or email jacque.walawander@lee.net www.montana55.com 4

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Montana 55

Address: City, State, Zip: Mail to Mel Feeley, American Heart Association 3578 Hartsel Dr., Unit E, #319, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 Spring 2015

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montana55.com

five sisters

5

still together after 73 years

In this remodeled house in the Mission Valley live five widowed women, all sisters, between the ages of 80 and 92.

By Vince Devlin

W

hen the four oldest moved in with the youngest last year, 73 years had passed since they all had lived under the same roof. The home of their childhoods is just six or seven miles away. They grew up in a family of 11, the children of homesteaders Lila and Jess Evans. Everyone else is gone now, all four of their brothers and two of their sisters. One of them, Lois, they never met.

She died at the age of 5, of a ruptured appendix, before any of these women were born. Total their ages, and you get 433 years. Add up their children, you get 24. Total

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their grandchildren, you get 90. Add up their greatgrandchildren, you get 110. Those last two numbers may be approximations, but are certainly pretty close. The “middle” child of these surviving five, 87-year-old Eva Bauer, has nine children herself – one son, eight daughters – and when you ask how many grandchildren and great-grandchildren she has, she answers “50” to both. There’s a large, framed photograph of most of her immediate family hanging in the hallway outside her bedroom door, and while nobody stopped to count, there could easily be 100 or more people in the picture.

THE FIVE SISTERS SAY THEY DON’T ARGUE much – and then immediately start to argue about how much they argue. The “argument,” understand, occurs amid much laughter from all of them.

“We get along half the time,” Bauer decides. “There was a long time in between living together where we all probably got set in our ways.”

“I leave the kitchen when they all get in there,” says the oldest, 92-year-old Inez Freshour Pounds. In addition to the three children, eight grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren she contributes to those totals above, Pounds has two great-greatgrandchildren. It was the youngest, 80-year-old Lila Faye Krantz, who first floated the idea of the five sisters pooling their resources and adding on to her house so they could live together.

“I mentioned it, and they all jumped on the wagon,” Krantz says.

“I wanted to wait till I was old,” Bauer interjects.

Although two of them, Pounds and 85-year-old Ella Gilchrist, have some problems with vision that makes living alone more challenging, there was no immediate need for them to do what they did – just a general notion that living together would be better than living alone.

“You get lonesome,” Pounds says. “When Lila Faye brought it up, I thought it was a good idea.”

The second-oldest of the bunch, 89-year-old Emma Roberts, still has her home in Polson and splits her time between there and the newly remodeled house.

Roberts was the last of the sisters to be widowed when she lost Newt, her husband of 65 years, in 2013.

Her son Mike built the addition to Krantz’s home.

THE WOMEN ALL CHIPPED IN TO FINANCE the major addition, which includes three bedrooms and a large and partially divided “great room” that two of them utilize as their bedrooms. They have rules for living together, but they aren’t exactly imposing ones.

“One thing we said is that everyone can sleep as late as they want,” Krantz says, “and when you want breakfast, come out and get your own.”

The sisters are regulars at senior center lunches in St. Ignatius and Charlo, and all help out with cooking dinner at home, where Bauer usually takes the lead.

“I get bossy,” Bauer admits.

“She raised nine children,” Pounds notes. “It’s natural for her.”

“If one of us is in the kitchen, she’s in there,” Krantz says with a laugh. But the bottom line, Krantz adds, is that “we don’t miss many meals.”

Each sister is responsible for her own bedroom.

Krantz, they say, does most of the cleaning in the rest of the house where she and her late husband raised their three sons.

“It’s her vacuum,” Bauer deadpans.

“I think Lila Faye sacrifices a lot,” Pounds says. “I think she tries to take too good of care of us. She’s always worrying about us.”

“I’m a lot busier,” Krantz says. “But it’s OK.” THE LAST TIME ALL FIVE HAD LIVED IN THE same house was 1942. Krantz, the baby of the family, was 6 when Pounds got married and moved away. Now that they’re back under one roof, they occasionally reminisce about their childhoods and the large family they were part of. Their father Jess’s calm disposition came up one day last week. Several of the older children had been born, but none of the five surviving sisters were around yet, when the Evans’ family house burned to the ground.

“Momma went out to get hair off the horse’s mane, because she was making a stick horse for the boys,” Gilchrist recalls.

While she was outside, one of the boys, who was about 3 years old, climbed up to where the matches were kept. He struck one, but dropped it into a pile of paper when it flared to life.

“Dad and Mr. Biggerstaff were pulling a load of wood Spring 2015

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montana55.com says. “And such a poor loser at cards!”

“I am not a poor loser,” Roberts responds. “I’m a bad-lucker.”

She’s always leaned toward the playful side, Gilchrist says.

“When we were kids, Emma would hide in the cubbyholes, and jump out at us,” Gilchrist says. “She’s still doing it.”

“All I did was knock on your bedroom door,” Roberts says of an incident a few days earlier. “I must have startled you out of a sleep.”

“I thought someone was coming after me with a hammer!” Gilchrist says. “And she doesn’t turn the light on in the bathroom at night either. You go in and could wind up sitting on her lap!”

“Just saving electricity,” Roberts responds.

And just like that, the Evans sisters are back at it – arguing a little, and laughing about it a lot.

But none of them put up an argument when Inez, the oldest, offers this assessment of their new living arrangement.

“This,” she says, “is a wonderful place to be.”

Meet our Team of Excellent Family Medicine Providers BROADWAY BUILDING

– LILA FAYE KRANTZ

home from the hills,” Gilchrist says. “Mr. Biggerstaff saw the house burning down in the distance, and Poppa knew it was ours. Mr. Biggerstaff wanted to race his horses back to the house, but Poppa said no.

He said, ‘The house looks like it’s gone. This is a good team. Don’t kill ’em.’ “ Their mother, who had gotten all the children out of the house when she saw the flames, was frantic, Krantz says, but Jess Evans calmed her down after slowly making his way back to the fully engulfed home, and suggesting that all things considered, it had been a pretty good day.

“He said, ‘Well, you saved all the kids, didn’t you?

We can build another house,’ ” Krantz says.

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MANY DECADES LATER, BUILDING ON TO Krantz’s house has given the Evans sisters another place to call home.

Four of them have spent most of their lives within 30 miles of one another, between Polson and St. Ignatius. Gilchrist, meantime, moved back from the Tri-Cities in Washington, where she had been for the past 40 years.

They’ve remained close – every other year, an Evans family reunion at nearby Leon Hall draws well over 200 of Lila and Jess Evans’ descendants – but the relatively new living arrangement has them learning new things about each other.

“I never knew Emma was such a clown,” Pounds

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Vince Devlin is a reporter for the Missoulian. He can be reached by email at vdevlin@missoulian.com.

One thing we said is that everyone can sleep as late as they want.

And when you want breakfast, come out and get your own.

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montana55.com

saying farewell

the story of zephyr

“Now she’s gone, and it’s become very apparent how well she had us—her socalled masters—trained.”

By Brett French

A

fter waking us up with her insistent, highpitched barks in the morning for 12 years, our chocolate Labrador, Zephyr, would spend the rest of the day — and parts of the night — constantly reminding us of her presence.

At night, her claws could be heard clicking across the wooden floors before she would collapse to lie down with a large harrumph. Even when stretched out and quietly resting, her gaseous emissions were so foul as to leave us gasping for fresh air. When not resting, she would breathe heavily, like some prank phone caller, which helped to spread the smell of her bad dog-food breath.

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giving the same bark at the back door to be let in.

When I would go for my morning shower and shave, she’d follow and park outside the bathroom door.

Our house used to have carpet, so the doors were cut to accommodate the high pile. When we moved in I pulled up the carpet and refinished the oak flooring.

So now we have a gap under all of the doors, just wide enough for Zephyr’s tail to slip partially under like some intruding, furry brown snake.

If I forgot to latch the door she would always be lying on the bath mat outside of the shower when I went to step out.

My wife got so she would organize her outings around Zephyr’s daily routine: rushing home to feed her lunch and let her out. Forgetting could leave a mess to clean up. One time, Zephyr ate the inside of my wife’s car, chewing up the driver’s side door panel and gnawing into the seats’ cushions, in an attempt to exit.

Unlike many other outdoor writers who can pen tales about the great hunting adventures they had with their Labs, Zephyr was pretty much a house dog we adopted for our children. The few times I took Zephyr hunting she shied from the blast of the shotguns and one time nearly crushed my hand in her jaws when I tried to get her interested in a pheasant I had shot.

Now she’s gone, and it’s become very apparent how well she had us — her so-called masters — trained.

Walking down the dark hallway to the bathroom, outside of which lay her bed, I still squint to steer around her sprawled form.

In the morning after she got me up, one of my first duties was to fill her dog dishes with food and water, even before I started the coffee. She had a routine to gobble down her food, drink noisily, slobber a bunch of the water caught on her saggy chops around the house and then give that high-pitched bark to signal it was time to go outside for her potty break.

By the time I was done with my cereal, she was

Instead, she became a regular at the vets after being diagnosed with diabetes, hypothyroidism and finally cataracts that left her nearly blind. By the time she died she seemed nearly deaf and her hips kept giving out, forcing her to stand awkwardly. She was smart enough that she would sit or lie down next to a piece of furniture so she could push her butt into it to steady her as she rose.

We told our children when they visited over the Christmas holiday that Zephyr’s days were numbered. It was time to put the dog they had grown up with out of her misery. We suggested they

say their goodbyes then.

Then my wife and I kept putting off a date for euthanasia, even though we agreed it was the right thing to do.

Although the situations are completely different, it’s been impossible for me not to equate Zephyr with my elderly mother’s decline. Both of them, long dear to me in obviously distinct ways, were transformed in these past few years so greatly in all aspects but one: They both still loved me unconditionally.

Together, they also continued to teach me lessons about responsibility, devotion and kindness during difficult times. Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones most remembered.

Even though Zephyr’s now gone, when I hear a high-pitched squeak I think she’s crying to come inside. We’ve slowly taken the garbage cans, which Zephyr always raided given the chance, out of hiding.

Snacks can now be left on the coffee table without fear that the dog will devour them.

Zephyr, I now realized, had us well-trained, but now our furry brown master is gone.

to Glacier National Park

Yellowstone National Park

From the Crown of the Continent to Old Faithful’s doorstep. Join us on a journey from Yellowstone to Glacier and back again this summer in our May/June 2015 issue.

Subscribe today at MontanaMagazine.com/subscribe or call 1-888-666-8624

Spring 2015

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montana55.com

family finances

what to consider

If handing the reins over to a professional to help make financial and investment decisions is more up your alley, read on for some tips on how to find the right kind of financial professional to meet your needs. We consulted with Jean C. Setzfand, Vice President of the Financial Security issues team in the Education and Outreach group at AARP, and she offered the following information: TYPES OF FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS You’ll come across dozens of designations for financial planning professionals. Be aware that some designations are no more than a series of words that sound good together. For example, some people in the field of finance put themselves out there as specialists for seniors. Many don’t have any formal training or certification as senior specialists, so you can’t rely on the title. To look up a designation and find out its meaning, check the “Understanding Professional Designations” tool at www.finra.org/ investors. (FINRA is the securities industry selfregulating body.)

Here are the basics about some of the “standard” financial professionals:

By Stacia Dahl, AARP Montana State Office

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Rita from Lewistown e-mailed us with this question:

Last summer, my sister’s husband passed away quite unexpectedly. Her husband was always the one who handled the finances in the family and now she finds herself in the position of trying to either handle them herself or enlisting the help of a financial professional. We are at a loss of where to begin because the landscape is so complicated and confusing. What tips do you have to help us get started?

We are so sorry for your family’s loss. A lot of people go the “do it yourself” route when it comes to financial planning. There is no right or wrong way, so decide what works best for you and go for it. Whatever route you choose, AARP has helpful online information, tips and resources for you at www.aarp.org/money.

Investment Advisers generally provide investment advice to their clients and manage their investments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) typically regulates investment advisers, as do state securities regulators.

Brokers traditionally buy and sell securities, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds for their clients. The SEC and states regulate brokers, and they must be members of FINRA. Insurance Agents can help you with your insurance needs, such as life, property and long-term care insurance. “Captive” insurance agents sell the products of only one company, while independent agents can offer products from many companies. State insurance commissions regulate insurance agents.

Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) can offer a

variety of accounting services, such as tax preparation and financial planning. CPAs are licensed by the state after meeting education and experience requirements.

Financial Planners generally take a broad view of your financial affairs. The financial planning profession doesn’t have its own regulator, but planners may be regulated based on the services they offer. For example, the SEC would regulate a financial planner who is also an investment adviser.

Certified Financial Planners® (CFPs) earn this special designation by meeting educational requirements and passing a comprehensive certification exam. These professionals are held to a code of ethics that, among other things, puts their clients’ interests above their own. CFPs take a broad view of your financial situation, and are regulated based on the services they offer.

HELP YOUR AGING PARENT GET ORGANIZED Better now than during an emergency Baby Boomers are commonly known as the “sandwich” generation, they have the burden of caring for their children, but also for their parents. The sooner you begin getting organized, the easier it will be when the time comes to transition responsibilities.

Call today to request a complimentary RBC Wealth Management Family Emergency Workbook.

HAYES KEEL GROUP TOM HAYES

RHAD KEEL

First Vice President Financial Advisor 125 Bank Street, Ste. 700 Missoula, MT 59802

Vice President Financial Advisor 101 River Drive North, Ste. 101 Great Falls, MT 59401

(406) 728-0035

(406) 761-3111

www.hayeskeelgroup.com

There’s Wealth in Our Approach.™ © 2014 RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC. Spring 2015

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montana55.com 7. How much will I have to pay for your services? What is your usual hourly rate, flat fee or commission?

8. Do you or your firm impose any minimum account balances? If so, what are they? And what happens if my holdings fall below the minimum?

9. How frequently will we meet to discuss my portfolio and the progress we are making toward my investment goals?

Whether you decide to manage your finances personally or hire a professional, make sure you’re comfortable with the decision.

Do you have a question for AARP Montana? Send your question to “Ask AARP Montana” at MTAARP@aarp. org or 30 W 14th St., Helena, MT 59601 or call our tollfree hotline at 866-295-7278. As we receive questions, we will consult with both internal and external experts to provide timely and valuable advice.

10. Who else in your office will handle my account?

After the interviews, compare the answers you received.

Think about each professional’s approach. Did they discuss financial issues using language you could understand? Do you think they understand your situation well enough for you to entrust your personal information and your future? And most importantly, did you feel a connection? You may be working with this person for years to come, so it’s important you’re comfortable with what they have to offer – and how they offer it.

HOW THEY GET PAID Financial professionals receive compensation in a variety of ways. Before you hire anyone, make sure you understand how that person gets paid. A financial professional may: • Charge a percentage of the value of the assets they manage for you (for example, 1%), • Charge an hourly fee for the time they spend working for you, • Earn a commission (a fee for selling a certain product), • Draw a salary, or • Some combination of these Each method has potential benefits and possible drawbacks, depending on your needs. For example, someone who makes money solely on commissions for selling products may not have your best interests in mind.

FINDING A FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL Family and friends are a good place to start, but be sure to ask what they like about their financial professional.

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Gather two or three names of financial professionals and ask for an in-person meeting.

Cottages

Independent & Assisted Living

Think about what you want out of your relationship, and be ready with a list of questions of your own.

Here’s a list of 10 questions from FINRA to take with you:

Memory Care

Play P lay on!

1. What experience do you have working people who are like me?

In a community of friends & neighbors

2. Do you have any special areas of expertise?

3. What licenses do you hold? Are you registered with the state, SEC or FINRA? If so, in what capacity?

4. What relevant professional designations do you hold?

Enriching life for the Heroes of our Society—Seniors.

5. How long have you been with your current firm?

Where did you work before?

6. What investment products and services do you (or don’t you) recommend to your clients? Why?

406.652.9303

4001 Bell Ave l MorningStarSeniorLiving.com Spring 2015

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montana55.com

cooperative living

O

ver the years I have written about aging in place, rightsizing, downsizing, making accommodations to existing homes and even moving to different towns. The most feedback that I received on my articles was the one in which I talked about exploring different living options. And the concept that piqued the most interest was about my son’s experiences with cooperative living in college.

People asked why that can’t be an option for the aging population. Of course it is a viable alternative, as are others, outside of traditional single family housing.

Since that time I have found out more about how inventive individuals are taking this matter into their own hands. There are more choices and once again the boomers are forging the way.

This past December, I was visiting my family in Boston. My sister’s friend Peg graciously offered my niece Rachel a place to stay, as space was filling up where we were sleeping. Her home was in walking distance, so we accompanied Rachel to Peg’s home in Cambridge one evening. As we entered her courtyard,

I was drawn in immediately. There were gardens and sculptures and lovely seating arrangements. Inside was a warm, inviting living room with a piano and other spaces that I could see around the corner.

This felt like someplace I may have been before but I knew I hadn’t. I soon learned that I had entered a Cohousing neighborhood.

Peg welcomed us to her home, a private apartment in the building. My sister laughed and smiled, as I started asking a string of questions about this place.

She knows me well and settled in for a visit filled with lively discussions about alternative living choices. It was obvious that Peg, a night person like me, truly enjoyed talking about her home and community. She was one of the original organizers. I was excited to hear her story.

She sold her home when newly single in the nineties and was trying to decide what would be her next move.

She met other people in similar situations. They pooled their money and resources from the sales of their homes and not only found the perfect housing

SPRING IS HERE!

Still struggling to pay your winter heating bills?

The Low w Income Energy Assistance Program (LIEAP) accepts applications thr through April 30th for winter heating costs.

2014-2015 Income & Resource Limits** HOUSEHOLD 12 MONTHS RESOURCES (excludes home, vehicles, personal items & most retirement accounts) MEMBERS INCOME 1 $21,702 $10,769 2 $28,379 $16,157

**For additional income/resource limits or to request a LIEAP application, please contact us at

Website: www.capnm.net • Email: lieap@capnm.net • Phone: 800-344-5979 or 758-5433

Higher income households may still qualify for Weatherization services or for emergency assistance from Energy Share of Montana.

WE ARE LEADERS AND LEADERS BY EXAMPLE. WE ARE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND A ROLE MODEL BOTH AT WORK AND IN THE GREATER COMMUNITY.

Our staff at Westpark Village is involved in over 120 different service organizations and Billings community volunteer activities

CONSERVATION TIPS

• Turn down your thermostat at night & when you’re not at home • Set your water heater to “low” or 120 degrees • Clean or replace epla furnace filters monthlyy during during the heating heating season

By Joy Earls

They are designed to encourage social interaction while still maintaining individual living spaces and autonomy.

HOUSING 16

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Learn L earn tthe he T Truth... ruth...

• How much $$ can you get • What are my options and the costs • What are the benefits and risks 406-258-7526, 800-669-5138 490 N. 31st St., Ste. 130, Billings, MT 59101

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The purpose in life is to live a life of purpose.

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Robert Bryne

Kathy G. Earle REVERSE MORTGAGE CONSULTANT NMLS# 402121

2351 Solomon Ave. Billings, MT 59102 406-652-4886 www.westparksenior.com www.GenerationsHealthNetwork.com Spring 2015

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montana55.com

– CAMBRIDGE COHOUSING

solution, but a rich lifestyle. I learned that cohousing emerged in Denmark more than thirty years ago and the first in the US was completed in 1991. Many are intergenerational while some are designed specifically for seniors. The common thread is that they are designed to encourage social interaction while still maintaining individual living spaces and autonomy.

There is some great information on their website: http://www.cambridgecohousing.org/index.html I particularly enjoyed the New Year’s card that someone posted on their website. It describes this lifestyle far better than I can. You can read it in its entirety, but here are some excerpts: In the spring of 1998, 90 of us moved into our new yellow complex of 41 units ….Our ages ran the gamut from newborn to 80, one third were single people, one third were groups of two or more (our category), one third were families with young children (27 kids under 15). Individual homes, or units …are different styles and sizes, 1-room efficiencies to 4-bedroom townhouses. (We are comfortably ensconced in our own fully equipped 1,083 square foot apartment, never imagining we’d be able to write “comfortably.”

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We kept a spare house for the first 8 years!)

We enjoy using the many community spaces: a large living room with fireplace, kitchen and dining room with 2 children’s playrooms adjoining, plus a library, workshop, and rooms for exercise, recreation, laundry, music, bike storage, and 2 guest rooms.

Underground parking, allows us enough open land on our 1-3/4acre lot for a large “pretty good lawn,” a few smaller lawns, a shade garden, an open area we call “the glade,” several compost piles and a large organic garden. We have planted many trees, shrubs and flowers and share the usual tasks. Unlike living in a single-family house, we can choose to specialize. Our responsibility— the shade garden, others shoveled the snow! The blessing of interdependence!

We use ground source heating and cooling, and changed all community lights and most household lights to fluorescents. We’ve decreased dependence on cars —7 hybrids, some car sharing, nearby Zip cars, plus the usual cars, but less of them (we own one car, a hybrid)—increased commuting by bike, foot and public transportation. We continue to ramp up recycling (learned how to recycle pizza boxes),

concerts of classical, folk and doo-wop; fundraisers for social justice organizations; support the Hospitality Program for Children’s Hospital; and we helped get a block party going on Richdale Avenue!

We are quietly content, wouldn’t want to live any other way, and never expect to move! We will join our community’s Carol sing, Hanukah party, Christmas tree trimming, solstice celebration and New Year’s Eve gathering in front of the fire, happy to be in a community able to enjoy as many celebrations as people will step up to lead! With love and best hope for the New Year!

I feel enriched learning about Cohousing. Once more I learned that there are many ways to live depending on our needs and resources. It’s opened up another perspective of how many choices there are if we continue to explore housing opportunities.

Joy Earls is a Real Estate Broker/Owner of Joy Earls Real Estate. She truly enjoys your stories, calls and emails. You can find her at: joyearls@joyearls.com or 406-531-9811.

If you have difficulty understanding words clearly over the phone, just fill out this form!

You may qualify for free assistive telephone equipment through the

Montana Telecommunications Access Program!

The Montana Telecommunications Access Program (MTAP) provides FREE assistive telephone equipment to those who qualify, making it easier to use the phone to do business or keep in touch with family and friends.

Equipment available through MTAP includes: • Amplified telephones • Captioned telephones • Loud bell ringers TTYs • Artificial Larynxes • And much, much more!

Live More, Worry Less.

Serving Missoula Seniors since 1989 Retirement Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care.

Yes, I want to learn more about MTAP! Return form to: MTAP P. O. Box 4210, Helena, MT 59604 Name: Address: City:

State:

Zip Code:

Phone:

For more information just mail us this form or call toll-free 1-800-833-8503

VSR-14-04-M55

Our ages ran the gamut from newborn to 80...Many are intergenerational while some are designed specifically for seniors.

composting, cut down on trash, reduce water and electricity use. This year we installed clotheslines and are looking into the feasibility of building a green roof deck and clothesline on the common house roof.

Our community has aged, we are almost 11 years older.

More of our 83 residents are retired, three founding members died, several youngsters grew up and moved away, six are at college. We now have only 17 residents under 17 years…..We’re eating more locally…... Three times a week we may sign up for community meals (costs based on the shopping receipts range from $2.50 to $5.00 per person, kids —half price.) Volunteer cooks prepare delicious, nutritional and environmentally-conscious meals.

(We sign up for one or two each week, bringing our own basket of dishes and taking them home to wash up, just as people did at church suppers when Molly was a girl.) ….

Coho supports the wider community and world in other ways. The Fireside Reading series, curated by Molly, is now in its tenth year of readings. We host

2815 Old Fort Road • Missoula, MT 59804

(406) 549-1300

www.villagesenior.com A Platinum Service® Community Spring 2015

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joint replacement Work Harder.

PLAY HARDER. Live YOUR Montana Life.

Joint replacement surgery in America is on the rise as the wear and tear an active baby boomer generation puts on their hips, knees and shoulders catuches up with the,m.

By Dillon Kato

R

oy Strong is the CEO of Ortho Montana, an orthopedic surgery group in Billings that includes 17 physicians. He said the surgeons include specialists for hips and knees as well as shoulder and ankle replacement.

That part of the business has continued to grow over the last several years, with more and more of the clients being aging baby boomers.

“These are people who are not sick people. They have good hearts and lungs, they are active Montanans and don’t want to be held down. They want to keep living that Montana lifestyle,” Strong said. Continued on Page 26 20

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new treatment

experimental options

By Chris Cioffi

I

n the nearly two years after Billings resident Mary Ellen Hitron, 64, was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma – the most common form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma – she has always believed that she would beat the cancer.

“I’ve got eight grandkids,” she said. “I can’t see me not being here.”

The Terry native who has lived in Billings for more than two decades is on her third round of chemo treatments and participated in an experimental cancer study at the National Institutes of Health.

She is one of only two patients from St. Vincent Healthcare who received chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, said Dr. David Christianson, an oncologist at the St. Vincent Frontier Cancer Center.

“This is a form of personalized therapy that uses the patient’s genetically engineered T-cells to destroy cancer cells,” he said.

The experimental treatment involves removing some

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of her body’s T-cells, re-engineering them to attack the lymphoma cells and injecting them back in her body.

“They were in there like little Pac-Men eating up those cancer cells,” Hitron said.

Surgery is rarely used as an option to treat lymphoma, and the T-cell therapy was the only treatment option that had potential.

The therapy is still in its infancy, but Hitron said she hopes her treatment can be an example for others facing a grave prognosis.

“What they are doing with me, they will be able to develop the same thing in other people,” she said.

Hitron got sick in 2013.

After gallbladder surgery didn’t alleviate her illness, and a CT scan revealed a grapefruit-sized mass between her spleen and her stomach.

Doctors told her she had cancer, but the reality of her diagnosis didn’t sink in until she underwent surgery to implant a port in her chest. The device allows

doctors to easily inject drugs into her bloodstream.

Woozy from the anesthesia, she looked down, saw the port and began to cry, she said. “I couldn’t stop it.”

After the initial shock wore off, she found some inner strength, she said. “I started thinking, ‘Yeah I can beat this,’ and I’ve thought this all along.”

Last week, Hitron was able to drive herself to the cancer center and walk to a reclining chair for treatment, but in the fall of 2013 she could barely stand.

“I had gotten pretty sick,” she said. Her lungs had begun to fill with fluid, and the cancer was getting out of control.

During the first round of chemo treatments she also was bitten by a rattlesnake while walking her dog.

She spent three days in intensive care, and it further After hearing her options for treatment, Christianson and Hitron determined the best chance for her survival would be the NIH trial in Bethesda, Maryland.

Too weak even to walk through airports, she was pushed through the airport in a wheelchair by her husband, Ken. NIH doctors examined Hitron and determined that she was too sick to be eligible for the trial, but doctors requested an exemption from the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA exemption was granted during the government shutdown, she said. “I really lucked out.

I got some really good doctors.”

Returning to Billings after a follow-up appointment in December 2013, a scan revealed the tumor was down to the size of a walnut.

“It was actually a miracle as far as I am concerned,” she said.

By winter 2013, her lymphoma went into partial remission, and she went to work until December 2014, when the lymphoma was found near her heart.

Hitron is now on her third round of chemotherapy, and Christianson still coordinates with NIH doctors to determine the best course for her treatment.

“They are really the ones who set their plan,” said Michele Lacher, the clinical nurse manager. “They tell us what to do.”

Hitron was at the Cancer Center on Tuesday to receive part of the drug regimen she gets every three weeks.

“What (Christianson) is trying to do is get rid of it before it turns into the aggressive kind,” Lacher said. “This isn’t

a cakewalk and she’s just handling it very well.”

Even though she’s been in treatment and on and off disability for the past two years, she’s never lost her sense of humor, she said.

“My sense of humor has been one of my saving graces,” she said. “I kind of always try to make jokes and stuff.”

Her hair has begun to thin again after growing back while she was in remission, and now when she takes off winter hats her hair stands up on end.

She wanted to show her grandson, who recently got an iPhone, her silly hair-do, so “I took some selfies of myself and sent them to him,” she said.

It’s important for Hitron to stay positive and communicate with family and friends about her cancer treatment.

She hopes that her story can be an inspiration for others who are struggling with a tough prognosis.

“A lot of people get diagnosed with cancer and think it’s the end,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a death sentence.”

Chris Cioffi is a reporter for the Billings Gazette and can be reached by email at ccioffi@billingsgazette.com.

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yoga for boomers

Y

When the breath wanders, the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed, the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.

– HATHA YOGA PRADIPIKA

Yoga is a practice that includes physical postures (asana) and movement, breathing exercises (pranayama) and meditation. There is a common misperception that yoga is an exercise only appropriate for young, flexible people. True yoga practice does not require physical flexibility, but a certain amount of maturity and patience, the ability to slow down and look within.

Many people come to yoga originally for the fairly well-known physical benefits of the practice, such as flexibility, strength, balance and range of motion.

Other positive side effects are weight management, improved digestion, circulation and posture, and increased immunity. Because practicing yoga improves all of these things, it contributes to the overall health and fitness of the individual and can be complementary to other physical activities.

Other people come to yoga specifically because of certain injuries or illnesses. A regular yoga practice can help to reduce risk factors for chronic diseases, such as heart disease and high blood pressure, as well as alleviating chronic conditions such as depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia. For those wanting to avoid injuries that often come from high-impact activities such as skiing, yoga offers a more gentle way to stay active and fit.

There is no denying the physiological changes associated with aging, such as loss of muscle mass and tone, loss of bone density, loss of flexibility, joint disorders such as arthritis, deterioration of lung elasticity and capacity, disorders of the circulatory and nervous systems, reduced immune function and sleep disorders, to name a few. The good news is that yoga can help improve all of these conditions, even if just by contributing to positive coping strategies.

focus, concentration and memory, increased selfacceptance and confidence, and increased energy and awareness. All of these contribute to a feeling of being more alive and present in each moment.

Yoga is for everyone. “If you can breathe, you can do yoga.”

– KRISHNAMACHARYA

In fact, pranayama, the practice of breath control in various breathing exercises, is part of an advanced yoga practice.

Through yoga and mindfulness, one can cultivate health and happiness. Slowing down and connecting with the breath, in the present moment, promotes a deeper awareness of all aspects of your life. You may find yourself being kinder to yourself and those around you, eating better, sleeping better and feeling an overall sense of relaxation and peace. Yoga can help you to find balance in all aspects of your life, enhance your mood and improve your well-being.

While there are a plethora of books and videos available on yoga, the best way to learn is from a qualified teacher. Start with something gentle, perhaps a restorative practice, or if you are an active person who prefers a challenge, jump right into a hot yoga class. With yoga, there is something for everyone. If you try one and feel like it isn’t right for you, don’t give up.

Find the right practice, the right teacher or teachers, and stick with it over a period of time. Use your practice to gain a deeper connection with yourself and it can become a tool that you can use any time, you can take with you anywhere.

By Lori Chase

W

hile yoga is pervasive today, many from the baby boomer generation remember how it began to grow in popularity in the 1960s. Boomers were the first to really incorporate yoga into mainstream culture, and now there are more people than ever practicing yoga in this country.aSome boomers have maintained this practice over a long period of time and have learned to modify their practice as their bodies age, but even for those who have never tried yoga, it’s never too late to start.

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“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”

– B.K.S. IYENGAR

“It is only when the correct practice is followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality of positive attitude and eagerness that it can succeed.”

– THE YOGA SUTRAS OF PATANJALI

While these benefits alone could be enough, there are other, more subtle benefits to the body and mind that take place over time when one continues to practice yoga. These include stress reduction, improved

Lori Chase is a registered yoga teacher who teaches at a variety of studios and health clubs in Missoula. She can be reached at (406) 396-2275 or at ljcmontana@gmail.com.

Spring 2015

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montana55.com

joint replacement continued

I get a lot of people that say they are not happy with just existing. It’s not just surviving, it’s living.

– DR. JUSTIN JACOBSON

According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, more than 645,000 total knee replacements were done in 2011, 45 percent of them to people younger than 65. In the same year, Americans underwent more than 306,000 total hip replacements, with nearly the same percent going to younger individuals.

As physician ability and the components that go into joint replacements have improved, the surgeries have become a far more common treatment, Strong said.

“You used to hear of times that physicians were saying wait until you’re in your 60s. That’s changing, and patients don’t want to live in misery for 10 or 15 years to wait for joint surgery to improve their lifestyle and pain,” he said.

Joint surgery earlier on can also lead to longer, healthier lives. When people’s joints function better and don’t hurt them, Strong said they are more likely to stay active, pick up a physical activity, or even just be able to go out for a walk with their children and grandchildren.

“If you can’t go out walking you’re more likely to be sitting around putting on weight. It’s important to keep that under control to make joints last longer,” Strong said.

Dr. Justin Jacobson, an orthopedic surgeon with Northern Rockies Orthopedics in Missoula, said part of the reason he attributes a rise in joint replacements to is a generational shift in how people think about pain, as well as a society that is wanting to stay active longer in life.

“The younger generation doesn’t want to live with pain so much anymore,” he said. “I get a lot of people that say they are not happy with just existing. It’s not just surviving, it’s living.”

Insurance, driven by Medicare, is increasingly requiring that patients go through all other avenues of treatment before covering surgery. Jacobson said the trend of insurance becoming more restrictive will only continue.

Because replacement joints will also wear out eventually, Jacobson said he generally tries to convince

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Surgery of Neck and Spine

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joint replacement continued

patients not to undergo surgery until their pain is limiting their lifestyle. He said there are a variety of preventative steps that can be taken early on to prolong or even negate the need for joint replacements.

“One of the biggest is weight control, there’s no doubt that it affects your joint surfaces,” Jacobson said.

Heavier people also have a lower rate of success in joint replacements, and the risk of complications from surgery goes up. Smoking is another risk factor. Not only does it affect bone density, Jacobson said, it also reduces the body’s ability to heal tissue damage, both from wear from daily life as well as when recovering from an operation.

Another part of the job Jacobson said he spends a lot of time on is counseling his patients to make sure that what they expect from a joint replacement is realistic.

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“I think there’s a misconception generally that if you replace a knew you can do everything I could before,” he said.

After surgery, there are certain activities Jacobson councils his patients not to do. He said he suggests runners transition to biking, and that skiers stay on groomed trails and off of moguls. Those conversations are most difficult with younger patients who might otherwise be healthy, but should still consider bringing down the intensity of their physical activity as they age.

“I explain to them that it’s like a brake pad. It only has so many miles you can put on it,” Jacobson said.

Dillon Kato is a reporter for the Missoulian. He can be reached at dillon.kato@missoulian.com.

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alzheimers

know the warning signs

By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may nearly triple, from 5 million to as many as 16 million.

• In 2013, 15.5 million family and friends provided 17.7 billion hours of unpaid care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias – care valued at $220.2 billion, which is nearly eight times the total revenue of McDonald’s in 2012.

• More than 60 percent of Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers are women.

• The cost of caring for those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is estimated to total $214 billion in 2014, increasing to $1.2 trillion (in today’s dollars) by midcentury.

• Nearly one in every three seniors who dies each year has Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

– ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION

Steps to prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia as we age: We are very fortunate that there is strong research to show us how to prevent and/or forestall the onset of dementia. These steps are helpful most of the time, but will not be effective for everyone. These include all of the following:

Know the 10 warning signs for Alzheimer’s and dementia:

By Mindy Renfro

T

he days go by faster, my body doesn’t always “rise to the occasion” and my keys – where did I put my keys? Aging certainly beats the alternative, but is certainly not for the weak. Of course, aging equals living longer – a very good thing – but presents many new challenges to each of us.

One of the greatest worries for baby boomers is the threat of cognitive decline and/or the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease.

As aggravating as it is to have to search for our keys, the real problem is our fear that we are heading down the “slippery slope” of one of the many types of dementia. Thankfully, this is not commonly the case.

However, it is occurring at an alarming rate to our 30

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parents, family members, friends and neighbors – and it will include a significant number of those of us reading this article.

What are the facts? According to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) • Every 67 seconds, someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s disease.

• An estimated 5.2 million Americans had Alzheimer’s in 2014.

• By 2050, the number of people age 65 and older with Alzheimer’s may nearly triple, from 5 million to as many as 16 million.

• Memory loss that disrupts daily life.

• Challenges in planning or solving problems.

• Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work or at leisure.

• Confusion with time or place.

• Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships.

• New problems with words in speaking or writing.

• Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.

• Decreased or poor judgment.

• Withdrawal from work or social activities.

• Changes in mood and personality.

• For more information, go to alz.org/10signs or call 1-800-272-3900 and/or speak with your health care provider.

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montana55.com • Increase your physical activity: A medically approved activity program designed specifically for older adults and your interests is critical to increase blood flow to brain cells and maintain overall wellness.

• Improve your diet and nutrition: A nutritionally dense but calorie-restricted diet is vital to overall health and prevention of all dementias. Annual blood tests to check vitamin levels, electrolytes and cholesterol levels will help you to plan your best diet approach with your physician.

• Prevent head trauma: Serious head trauma is linked to Alzheimer’s later in life. Wear a helmet during activities such as biking, skiing, etc. Wear seat belts in motor vehicles. Take steps to prevent falls, a common cause of traumatic brain injury in older adults. A very good resource for fall prevention can be found on the National Council on Aging’s website, titled “Debunking the Myths of Older Adult Falls” • Limit alcohol use: People who consume large amounts of alcohol may have a higher risk of dementia.

Although studies have shown that moderate amounts of alcohol may have a protective effect, abuse of alcohol increases your risk of developing dementia.

• Control your blood pressure: A number of studies show high or low blood pressure may increase your risk of developing dementia.

• Avoid obesity: Being overweight or obese during the middle of your life may increase your risk of developing dementia when you’re older. If you are diabetic, be proactive in controlling your blood sugar.

• Cut out smoking: Smoking tobacco may increase your risk of developing dementia and blood vessel (vascular) diseases.

What is happening in Montana to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and the other dementias?

Despite our best efforts, some of us will experience this devastating disease either directly or indirectly. We must all know how to come together as a community to prevent, diagnose, treat and support the best

quality of life of both patients and their caregivers/ families. Montana is not yet ready, but we are taking great steps to improve our services and care.

Come and learn more. Whether you are an older adult, a professional caring for older adults, a concerned citizen or a family dealing with Alzheimer’s, there is an upcoming conference you will want to attend. This year, the Montana Gerontology Society and the Governor’s Council on Aging are combining their annual conferences into one.

The focus this year is “Insights into Alzheimer’s Disease” and will be held May 12-14 at the Red Lion Colonial Inn in Helena. Registration for both attendees and exhibitors is now available at montanagerontology.org.

Keynote speakers include four national experts with concurrent breakout sessions to follow. Three tracks of presentations will be available as well as a large exhibitor hall, a celebration of Montana’s centenarians at a special luncheon and statewide aging awards. Continuing education will be available

for health care professionals. Networking and support will be available for families. Please plan to join us by registering.

Mindy Renfro is a clinical coordinator for the University of Montana Rural Institute’s MonTECH. She is an invited member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Expert Fall Prevention panel and works closely with the physical therapy subgroup at a national level. She can be reached at mindy.renfro@umontana.edu.

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montana55.com

touring montana

By Vince Devlin

Quick: What’s the fastest way to visit all 56 Montana county seats?

56 T

he answer depends on whether you’re a crow or a computer whiz. A crow can fly the shortest route in 2,469.64 miles. That would allow it to zip over the Bitterroot Mountains from Hamilton to Superior while skipping Missoula, and make straight shots from Terry to Baker and from Baker to Ekalaka and Broadus.

Following roads, that crow would drive 3,147 miles.

So figures Jim Ullrich, a retired University of Montana computer science professor and puzzle solver.

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Montana’s mountains and rivers force some lengthy detours. On the map, Ullrich’s path from Anaconda to Deer Lodge to Butte to Boulder to Helena looks like a jagged EKG around the Continental Divide.

“I had no idea where a lot of these places were,” Ullrich said of his midwinter mind exercise on Montana geography. “And there were a couple I’d never heard of.”

It was also an exercise in the “traveling salesman” problem – find the most efficient route through a set of unequal distances. Politicians love to claim they’ve visited all 56 counties in the 147,040 square miles of Big Sky Country. If they wanted to stand before every courthouse door, what’s the best route?

Until recently, humans and computers were on almost equal footing trying to crack a big traveling salesman task. That’s because there’s no good algorithm – no formula – for finding an answer. The computer simply has to tally up each possible route and announce the shortest.

If that seems simple, consider that Ullrich’s problem involves 56 stops. That requires a factorial equation to solve: 56x55x54x53 ... x3x2x1=? (Actually, it’s the “!” key on your kid’s fancy programmable calculator, if you want to get punctual).

That produces a number with 75 digits. And that’s not the answer. That’s just the number of tests you’ve got to make to get the answer.

Cory Palmer specializes in the mathematical discipline of combinatorics – the study of counting and combinations. The traveling salesman problem falls in that field, and it remains a puzzler.

“It’s one of the most famous problems known as NP-Complete,” Palmer said from his office at the University of Montana. “That’s a class of problems we don’t know how to solve quickly. It’s quite possible there’s no solution. Computer power is just so massive, but we’re still brute-forcing it.”

At the Missoula Children’s Theatre, they don’t even try. MCT’s iconic Little Red Trucks deliver pairs of actors/teachers to hundreds of schools throughout North America year-round. Right now, 33 trucks are traveling from Texas to Saskatchewan, Florida to Washington, every Sunday between shows.

“We are not efficient in that regard at all,” MCT

marketing director Jonna Michelson said of the route planning. “There are so many variables at play in making a residency week successful. We have to find a piano player, lodging for the team, make sure we’re not returning a show the community has had recently, what passes are safe to drive, whether the parks are open to get through. The teams have a schedule in advance, but most of the routing is done on the ground, weekly.”

Semitrailer drivers confront that all the time.

“It’s always a challenge,” said Dave Wanzenreid, a former Missoulian who retired from Watkins and Shepard Trucking five years ago. “You’re always trying to figure out the shortest distance and the least gas.

But you can look at the map and say – no that doesn’t make any sense. You can’t drive a truck from A to B legally – you’ve got to find something different.”

Ideally, a trucker would pick up a load of machinery in Iowa, and have drop locations in South Dakota, Montana and Oregon. But then something comes up, or something gets misplaced, and you’re driving from Billings to Seattle by way of Laramie.

“Usually you’re just responding to someone saying,

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Ullrich wasn’t trying to save gas money on next summer’s road trip across Montana. He was enjoying the boost in computer power he’s experienced over the years. “When I started, the first computer language I used would take a couple of years to make a program that would solve a problem,� he said. “The next language I learned could do it in a summer. The third language could do it in about three pages of code. For this, it only took me three lines of code.�

Ullrich used a program called Mathematica, based on the Wolfram computer language. Most of us

picture computer language as a series of commands: “multiply,� “divide,� “sort,� “copy.� Mathematica has a command “find shortest tour� that swallows the whole city mileage index in the lower left corner of the Montana state road map and spits up a traveling salesman route. “Another line of code built the whole graph,� Ullrich said. “Typing in the names of the towns and the mileages was more work than writing the program itself.�

Mathematica has more purpose than helping Ullrich figure out it’s more efficient to go from Kalispell south to Hamilton rather than east to Cut Bank.

The program juggles multiple variables that tell an aircraft engineer how much more weight a wing design can carry when it gets longer or wider, or how many office floors an architect will gain by using a different earthquake reinforcement.

It helps stock brokers make sense of company valuations and sports bookies predict Super Bowl outcomes. But the traveling salesman problem remains on the outer edge of its capability.

ERA M IN

‘Can you do this?’ � Wanzenreid said. “Life is never predictable.�

Edulog, the Missoula-based company specializing in traffic routing, does this for school buses all the time. Ullrich knew some of the folks who founded that company – their initial crack at reprogramming the Great Falls school buses saved the district about $100,000 in the first year.

SO WHAT’S ULLRICH’S NEXT PROJECT?

I’m going to put pins in a map and mark the route with string.

I’m going to see if I can improve on it.

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writing a will

plan for the future

By Marsha Goetting

D

id you know that how you’ve titled your real and personal property affects who receives it after you die?

Title can also have unintended consequences for your survivors. Baby boomers take note: You need to take appropriate action to see that your hard-earned assets are distributed according to your wishes. If you don’t, Montana statutes will determine who receives what. Let’s examine three situations to see how informed you are about Montana intestacy statutes (dying without a will).

Property titled in sole ownership in a marital situation; no written will.

equally to his parents. Jack’s wife receives $650,000 while Jack’s father and mother each receive $75,000.

Jack died without writing a will. All property valued at $800,000 was in his name only. Jack’s survivors are his wife and parents. What amount does Jack’s wife receive?

Property titled in joint tenancy with right of survivorship; no written will.

1. $800,000.

2. $650,000.

3. $400,000.

4. None, all passes to the state of Montana because Jack didn’t write a will.

Most Montanans believe that Jack’s wife receives all $800,000. Wrong. Why? Because the Montana Uniform Probate Code provides for the surviving spouse to receive the first $200,000 and three-fourths of the balance. The remaining one-fourth passes

Assume Tim and Sharon, married with no children, titled all their property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship. They had no written will. As a result of an automobile accident Tim died immediately and Sharon passed away three days later. Who receives their property?

1. State of Montana, because they had no written will.

2. Tim’s parents.

3. Sharon’s parents.

4. Half to Tim’s parents and half to Sharon’s parents.

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montana55.com Most people think Sharon’s parents would receive the property because she survived Tim by three days. But half the property passes to Tim’s parents and half to Sharon’s parents. The UPC states that if property is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship and neither survives the other by 120 hours, the property is split equally between their heirs.

But if Sharon survives until the eighth day and dies, Sharon’s parents receive the property. That’s because

Sharon lived beyond 120 hours and became the heir.

Therefore, after her death the property passed to her parents. If Sharon dies immediately and Tim dies on the eighth day, Tim’s parents get the property.

Few Montanans are aware that by titling property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship and by not writing a will, their property could pass to unintended heirs. But a will only controls the property after the death of the joint tenants. If Tim writes a will

leaving his half of the property to his parents, his will is effective only if Sharon is not living. If she is still alive, the property passes to her under the joint tenancy contract. That’s why many married couples have mutual wills that designate heirs if both spouses die. An attorney can draft a will that provides the appropriate wording to accomplish your wishes.

Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship and a written will.

Gary, 67, has remarried and titled his land in joint tenancy with his new wife. His adult children are concerned. Dad told them not to worry because he has written a will leaving them the land. If Gary dies, who receives the land?

Take note: You need to take appropriate action to see that your hard-earned assets are distributed according to your wishes.

1. Gary’s children because the will has priority.

2. Gary’s kids receive half and his wife receives half.

3. Gary’s kids receive three-quarters and his wife receives one-quarter.

Most people think that Gary’s children receive the land because the will was written after establishing the joint tenancy with right of survivorship between Gary and his new wife. Wrong. The joint tenancy title on the land is a contract. Gary cannot undo the contract with his written will. His new wife receives his land, not his children as Gary intended. No wonder the children are concerned. Dad has disinherited them without realizing it.

If you’d like to learn more, I’ll be presenting two free sessions at the Missoula Public Library, 301 E. Main St., about estate planning on April 29 at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. Register to attend at missoulaagingservices. eventbrite.com.

Additional estate planning information is available in MSU Extension MontGuides at montana.edu/estateplanning/eppublications.htm.

You may also request copies from your local MSU County Extension Office or from Goetting, P.O. Box 172800, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717.

Marsha A. Goetting is the family economics specialist with Montana State University Extension in Bozeman.

4. Gary’s new wife.

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spring books

add to your collection Pictograph: Poems by Melissa Kwasny “If you would learn the earth as it really is,” N. Scott Momaday writes, “learn it through its sacred places.” With this quote as her guiding light, Melissa Kwasny traveled to the ancient pictograph and petroglyph sites around her home outside Jefferson City, Montana.

The poems in this collection emerge from these visits and capture the natural world she encounters around the sacred art, filling it with new, personal meaning: brief glimpses of starlight through the trees become a reminder of the impermanence of life, the controlled burn of a forest a sign of the changes associated with aging. Unlike traditional nature poets, however, Kwasny acknowledges the active spirit of each place, agreeing that, “we make a sign and we receive.”

Not only do we give meaning to nature, Kwasny suggests, but nature gives meaning to us. As the collection closes, the poems begin to coalesce into a singular pictograph, creating “a fading language that might be a bridge to our existence here.”

Excerpts from a Secret Prophecy by Joanna Klink Celebrate a new work from an award winning Missoula poet.

Joanna Klink has won acclaim for poetry of bracing emotional intensity. Of her most recent book, Raptus, Carolyn Forché has written that she is “a genuine poet, a born poet, and I am in awe of her achievement.” The poems in Klink’s new collection offer a closely keyed meditation on being alone—on a self fighting its way out of isolation, toward connection with other people and a vanishing world.

By Barbara Theroux

P

oetry has come a long way in the past decades. Gone are the school “punishments” of memorizing poems, or the insistence of rhyme. Poetry slams and readings draw large audiences and thanks to programs like Poets in the Schools, young people are learning to appreciate and write their own poetry.

New volumes to consider adding to your collection include: 42

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This Present Moment: New Poems by Gary Snyder (on sale April 14)

The Crossover by Kwame Alexande “With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” announces dread-locked, Fourteen-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court.

But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he’s got mad beats, too, that tell his family’s story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood. Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their father ignores his declining health.

The first book of new poetry in ten years is a collection of poems about grieving, renewal and growing old. Gary Snyder finds himself ranging over the planet: Journeys to the Dolomites, to the north shore of Lake Tahoe, from Paris and Tuscany to the shrine at Delphi, from Santa Fe to Sella Pass, Snyder lays out these poems as a map of the last decade. Placed side-by-side, they become a path and a trail of complexity and lyrical regard, a sort of riprap of the poet’s eighth decade.

And in the mix are some of the most beautiful domestic poems of his great career, poems about his work as a homesteader and householder, as a father and husband, as a friend and neighbor. A centerpiece in this collection is a long poem about the death of his beloved, Carole Koda, a rich poem of grief and sorrow.

The Crossover was the 2015 Newbery Medal Winner and 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner.

Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation by Brett F Lauer and Lynn Melnick Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation is a diverse collection of voices, styles, and backgrounds and points of view. Anthologists Brett Fletcher Lauer and Lynn Melnick have their ears to the ground, and have crafted a book that is sure to be carried in backpacks, hip pockets, and into the classroom. A cross section of American poetry as it is right now---full of grit and love, sparkling with humor, searing the heart, smashing through boundaries on every page. For those wanting to know the future of poetry this anthology is a must read. Poems by Prageeta Sharma, Joanna Klink and Thomas Sayers Ellis are part of this collection.

Verse narratives are as old as the epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, and The Odyssey, two young adult titles have received awards bringing new attention to verse-form:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson In vivid poems, Jacqueline Woodson shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South. Raised in South Carolina and later New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place, and describes the reality of living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world.

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Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories—something she’s always loved to do, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Readers will delight in witnessing this gifted author discover her love of stories and storytelling. Brown Girl Dreaming won the 2014 National Book Award in the Young Adult category.

Montana 55

Life, Well Lived.

At Marquis Grand Park Senior Living, we help people get the most out of every moment. Our mission is to enable them to live life to its fullest!

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For the young poetry lovers, two books to encourage them to recite and write:

Otto the Owl Who Loved Poetry Written and Illustrated by Vern Kousky

Activities include creative writing exercises designed to reinforce language arts skills, plus art projects that encourage children to visualize concepts and definitions. Short biographies of important poets reinforce the concept of poetry as an important part of society. Poetry can be personal or met to share.

Try tucking a book of poems into your backpack and celebrating spring with words.

Barbara Theroux is manager of Face & Fiction bookstore in downtown Missoula.

Otto the owl would rather recite poetry than hunt mice. The other owls don’t understand why he makes friends with the forest mice and spends his time reading books. Their taunts make Otto unhappy, but he refuses to change and instead strikes out to woo the world with poetry. Soon he has most of the forest charmed, and eventually even some of the owls, who come to appreciate his passion when he recites a rousing version of Emily Dickinson’s “I am nobody, whooooo are you….”

Explore Poetry!: With 25 Great Projects by Andi Diehn and Illustrated by Bryan Stone Poems can be silly, serious, or fun, just like kids. Whether it’s the sing-song rhythm of a limerick, the magic of a found poem, the deceptive simplicity of a haiku, or the easy familiarity of an acrostic poem, children are charmed by poetry. And what’s more fun than reading poetry? Writing it. In Explore Poetry! With 25 Great Projects children have fun learning about different forms of poetry while delving into different literary techniques such as personification, metaphor, and alliteration, all of which are discussed in a simple and accessible way.

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Each day to the fullest.

The secret to happiness as we age is to stay as mentally, physically and socially engaged as possible. To feel a sense of purpose. And to be surrounded by those who truly care. Helping residents live each day to the fullest is our mission at Highgate. We offer a host of activities, nutritious and delicious meals, and full care for all in a lovely, homelike setting. If you or your loved one needs either a little or a lot of extra help with daily living, call today and schedule a tour of our Assisted Living or Memory Care community. You’ll see why a move to Highgate is one of the best moves you can make.

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