WARM HUGS

These days, especially when we’re focused on staying in our homes, can present an opportunity to engage in activities we enjoy and to explore some new ideas, too.  So, when a family member told me her good friend, Melissa R. Phillips, had launched a unique website, in memory of her mother, 

“The Warm Hug Project” (click on link) I was curious to visit, where I read:   

“The Warm Hug Project provides donated handmade knitted or crocheted shawls to both men and women living with dementia. When the hugs of Caregivers, Nursing Home Staff, or Family are unavailable, The Warm Hug Project shawls are there to wrap the memory-impaired person in a soft sanctuary of reassurance.”

I noted there was even a helpful link to a YouTube video demonstrating “how to” make the simple stitch needed to create those colorful “warm hug” shawls for those wanting to acquire a new skill some may have always wanted to learn. 

Perhaps The Warm Hug Project is a site and activity you, too, will find to be of special interest.  These are times when we all likely seek comfort, but especially as we maintain distance from one another these shawls will convey their caring message.   Receiving a tangible warm hug shawl for many will continue to be welcomed long after our current health crisis resolves.

Currently, many family members are separated from one another due to COVID 19, able to interact only via technological means, or some only able to engage from opposite sides of a window.  For those individuals with dementia circumstances now could be most confusing with reassuring warm hug shawls most valued.

We often begin to fret as we enter the last half of our age span whether the little forgetful events we occasionally experience indicate we’re developing a serious mental problem.  We fear having a dementia which can result in our having varying degrees of diminishing abilities, also sometimes altering our personalities in unexpected ways.

The most dreaded dementia is Alzheimer’s Disease which ultimately robs a person of themselves in every way.   Friends and loved ones experience having the relationship being stolen from them. The extended period of time this disease progresses is sometimes described as “the long goodbye”.  The individual’s personality gradually erodes as their cognitive skills and memory are lost, along with functional abilities including communication. 

Caregivers are challenged physically and mentally to adapt to a person with Alzheimer’s.  For loved ones this can be especially difficult.  There are inevitable changes that can stress a caregiver’s patience to the extreme.  The caregiver must take care of themselves during this time to maintain their own physical and mental health – easier said than done. 

Not everyone will develop a dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but meanwhile research for treatment and prevention continues.  

I wonder, is there anyone who doesn’t personally know or know of someone who has developed dementia and/or Alzheimer’s disease? 

SPORTS IN LIFE -- MENTAL ACUITY -- SUPER BOWL

All the hype we hear about the Super Bowl might lead some to think everyone in the U.S. is obsessed with going to the game in Atlanta, Georgia this year or viewing the TV coverage.   The reality is that statistics indicate more people watch the game than any other program – but that’s only approximately one-third plus of our population.   Of that number viewers may only watch part of the game as VOX reported in their analysis a few years ago of rating company Nielsen’s methods: 

“A ratings point — calculated to the 10th decimal place — is a percentage of the number of American households that own at least one television and were tuned to a particular program at a particular time.

It represents 1 percent of the ... American homes that own a television set....   From there, Nielsen estimates viewership based on its demographic samples, which account for age, race, family size, and other things.

One of Nielsen's "homes" could be a family of five, all watching the big game, or it could be a single person, or it could be a big Super Bowl party. The company can't ever know with 100 percent certainty how many people are watching the game in any of these homes (that single person might invite a friend over!), but it has a pretty good guess.”

Predictions by many sports analysts are that this year’s game will attract an increased number of viewers.   I don’t usually watch the game but did see some of the earlier NFL conference championship game that has become controversial, intriguing me. 

I guess this isn’t the first time a team ended up being “the winner!” when possibly their opponent might have been had it not been for a game official’s call or failure to call an offense.  That is what happened in the NFL conference game between the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints national football teams.

The New England Patriot’s aren’t without some controversies of their own.  One of the most recent has involved some manipulation of the football in the 2015 AFL conference game.  Interestingly, this year a ten-year-old boy won a science fair contest with a project designed to “prove” the team’s quarterback to be a “cheater”, possibly having been given an advantage.  You can view his project at Global News.

Feelings run strong with many avid fans of the teams who were defeated in those Conference playoff games by each of these two teams competing in this year’s Super Bowl.    I’ve thought the Patriot’s quarterback at age 41 defying typical age limitations to continue playing, is to be lauded, though the infamous “deflategate” scandal has colored the views of many football fans.

If I view the Super Bowl to be played this coming Sunday, February 3^rd, the Los Angeles Rams will be my favored team – coincidentally the same name and team colors as my high school’s team.    The offending violation that officials didn’t call was finally acknowledged, a fine imposed, but no game replay granted as some wanted.  

I have had and continue to have reservations about this sport (also boxing, soccer, other sports) with athletes willing to risk damaging their brains in order to play and fans continuing to view.  

Brain-Injury-Research continues to determine any relationship, cause and effect between CTE and sports-related effects.  

“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a brain condition associated with repeated blows to the head. It is also associated with the development of dementia. Potential signs of CTE are problems with thinking and memory, personality changes, and behavioral changes including aggression and depression.”

We can reflect on some of the centuries earlier colosseum sports we’ve learned about as being violent, or even  considered barbaric that have declined from sport.    Physical damage to the human body was the most obvious aspect in sport then.  Life span was generally shorter than now.

Now that we’re acquiring more knowledge about the much less visible brain and neurological functions, plus having extended life expectancy, perhaps we’ll reconsider our favored sporting events for participation and/or viewing.   We might want to exercise some caution to retain our mental faculties as best we can.  Our brains sometimes outlive our braun.

I wonder if  how the current popular sports are played will, or should change in the future?  Will they diminish in popularity?   What sports might ascend to capture attention?   Will new sports gain prominence? 

DIGITALLY REWIRED SENIOR LIFE

Solution for Senior Over-Population 

(Please note this is a much abbreviated version of an article I had written about this film which may be better.  I’m relying heavily on extracted quotes from the Producer’s email to me in the interest of publishing tonight.   My much more  original content escaped into the digital netherworld during a transfer process to publishing.)

Life after death is a familiar topic often discussed from the view of religion, esotericism, and metaphysics.   Science Fiction often recounts stories of life and afterlife in other dimensions.  A  film I recently viewed suggested the possibility of life continuance in a digital world.

“Life Begins At  Rewirement,” written and directed by Trevin Matcek, is a short film recently premiered at the NYC Tribeca Film Festival.   You may view this film by clicking on the title (24+ mins. - a several sec. promo precedes.)   Public Broadcasting (PBS) is airing the film on many of their stations Futurestates series now in its third season.  

“Elder care in the future and the challenges of taking your loved one into a revolutionary retirement home” is the film focus.   Our goal was to engage and entertain while presenting a thoughtful portrait of one very difficult day for a family."

“Set in the near future, LIFE BEGINS AT REWIREMENT follows a man named Simon Ender on the day he checks his 100-year-old mother, Jessica, into a revolutionary senior care center. The strained relationship of mother and son is put to the test as Jessica transitions from her aging body and declining mental state to a data bank with infinite access to all of her memories. Simon comes face-to-face with feelings of guilt, insecurity and ultimately love, as he decides on his mother’s welfare and what is best for her.”   Related by the film’s Producer, An Tran.

Writer/director Matcek was inspired to create this science fiction film as he considered his own aging parents and health care’s future.   His hope is to stimulate conversation on some of these issues frequently not discussed in mainstream media.  

I found the film to be entertaining, thought-provoking and disturbing pending some unanswered questions deliberately left to each viewers interpretation.   Also, the mother’s dementia is actually Alzheimer’s according to the director in a post viewing chat room conversation in which I participated.  This difference did somewhat alter some of my perceptions and reactions.  All Alzheimer’s patients develop dementia, but not all dementia patients have Alzheimer’s. My view of her communication skills and prognosis allowed for a different perspective.  

Depending on how I viewed aspects of the ending my attitude toward the choice made by the son could be accepting or, possibly strongly rejecting. 

So the questions follow, including:

Is this “eternal life” option a choice you would select for yourself or a loved one?

What do you think of the language “senior over-population?”

Exactly what sort of “life” is this and is it preferable to a nursing home?

What exactly are we proposing here as a way to resolve out-of-control health care costs?

The essence of the elder or senior "lives" on as ...... 

UP DATE 5/23/12

I want to clarify that "Senior Over-Population" is a term not used within the film itself.  "Over-Population" does appear on a screen in part of a welcoming to the retirement community  introductory message the Mother receives while waiting for her son to return to her side.  There is accompanying brief comment about the burgeoning number of centenarians like her.   "Senior" added to it I encountered elsewhere, which I've learned may be attributed to others than the film's writer/director.      .