2021 Fall issue of Vibrant Senior Options Resource Guide

Welcoming Seasons and Interconnectedness

Kirk Blankenship, Publisher

October, 2021

Greetings to our readers! Thank You for reading our resource guide/magazine to find educational articles related to health and well-being…and for considering our Directories of businesses that serve seniors to help meet any needs you or a loved one may have. See Table of Contents on Page 5.

This past Summer flew by as each of the seasons tend to do. Summer becomes Autumn becomes Winter becomes Spring. As the earth hurls through space at 67,000 miles per hour, making a complete orbit around the Sun, we measure another year gone by and more memories are tucked away in our brain to reflect on. It reminds me of a 1959 song by the Byrds called “Turn, Turn, Turn” based on Ecclesiastes 3. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” This past year or so has reminded me of how precious relationships are. It’s all too easy to let the news of each day dictate emotions. But amidst the changing times and tides, I recognize the importance of one-on-one relationships – in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, churches, and communities.

Thinking back over the years, I recall stories from my Grandpa Donald Blankenship and others of his generation who spoke about The Roaring Twenties (1920’s), The Great Depression, The Kansas Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, WWII, post war economic expansion, Glen Armstrong’s first step on the Moon, etc. There were times of both economic uncertainty and stability. One of the things that brings a smile to my face were stories told that expressed how people were interconnected. Neighbors that helped neighbors build a house or raise a barn. Entertainment that was relationship driven, like going to a local grange hall or ball room for dancing. The stories were of people helping people, families helping families. Reminds me of a famous piece of prose from the 17th Century:

No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were...

(John Donne, 1624)

At least one take-a-way from this poem is the importance of not being isolated, but rather interconnected. It encourages me, and I hope you as well, to get to know a neighbor or two. In these current times, it may be an in-person visit or on a Zoom or video chat. And although we won’t see everything eye to eye, rather than looking down we can look up (metaphorically) and see each other as another human being with value. We wish you well this Fall and Winter… and hope to connect again next Spring and Summer too!

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Kirk Blankenship, Publisher, Vibrant Senior Options