The calls start coming into Lutheran Community Services as soon as the holidays are over. Sometimes they are just concerned but often they are panicked. Adult children spend a few days with mom or dad and realize the food in mom’s fridge is well past expired or the cupboards don’t have any food or dad drives with a lot less skill than he used to and they begin to have visions a whole lot less sweet than the sugar plums that danced there just weeks ago.
Perhaps it wasn’t the “kids†but rather you. The holidays are here and the kids are too far away or involved with their own families and that big old house that used to feel so overflowing with love and noise and excitement was frankly too quiet, too big and too lonely.
What many people don’t realize is that there is an almost unlimited number of housing options these days. It’s not as simple as when there were really only three options: continue to live at home, move in with one of the kids or and this final option was dreadful, move into the nursing home. That last went by several names (rest home, old folks home, etc…) but generally called up images of lonely old people sitting morosely in their wheelchairs in the hallways and hoping for any sort of company―even the kind of company that came to visit someone else.
Senior housing today can be as exciting as living on a cruise ship or as down to earth as a low-cost place filled with other seniors. Options can involve daily activities, trips and learning opportunities or be as simple as a continental breakfast. If you want it you can have housekeeping, daily medication reminders and spa-type facilities. There are some amazing options for Alzheimer’s patients and options for people who are independent now but worry they might need more help later but don’t want to move again. There are chef-prepared meals and amazing views at both ends of the price spectrum.
Finding senior housing starts with our housing guide.
Many people assume that when something major occurs that they can count on their local fire and police departments and other emergency personnel to rescue them but it’s not always possible. Emergency crews perform a triage of sorts during disasters and respond to events based on that gathered information. Triage is a term we hear most frequently in television or movies when doctors or other emergency personnel make decisions about caring for a person based on the severity of their situation. This method of prioritizing care allows for the most efficient use of insufficient resources. This same method is used during major disasters. That’s why Emergency Preparedness personnel recommend that everyone prepare themselves for emergencies rather than counting on outside help. Preparing makes good fiscal sense for everyone. According to economists every dollar spent on preparing for a disaster saves seven dollars in response.
The Washington State Department of Emergency Management has broken down the steps to being your own disaster preparedness resource into one-hour activities you can do each month. In the next 12 months, we’ll cover each of those 12 steps.
During the month of January, consider what your immediate response will be to the natural and most likely types of disasters for your area. According to the office of Emergency Management, what you do in the first hour after a major disaster can reduce the severity of injuries and save lives and property. They provide a checklist of things to do in the event of earthquakes, tsunami, volcanoes and chemical release but most of these tips will also work for winter storms and floods (the disasters that strike most frequently in Washington).
If you’ve been in the Northwest for any time, you’ve experienced an earthquake. Generally speaking our earthquakes have been relatively minor but we know historically we are overdue for a major event. Should one occur:
• Check on your loved ones.
• Dress to protect your head, hands and feet from broken glass and objects that might continue to fall after the event.
• Shut of natural or propane gas if necessary.
• Shut off your water at the house master shut-off valve.
• Post an OK/Help card in your front window or door.
• Place fire extinguishers where they are available in case of fire.
Until the recent Tsunamis in Asia, most people were unaware of their danger. They move very fast.
• If you are at home, make everyone in your family aware of it and evacuate immediately.
• If you are at the beach or near the ocean, move immediately to higher ground if you feel the earth shake.
East Pierce County is at high risk for a Lahar or eruption. During one of these events.
• Grab your 72-hour kit
• Evacuate immediately
• Listen to the radio.
Check Emergency Preparedness or call 1-800-562-6108 for more information about preparing for emergencies.
Michele Williams (center) talks to Lighthouse cook, Nadezda Litvin (left) about a meal while Grace Morales looks on. Williams said that one of the requirements for her job when she was initially hired was that she be certified as a Boiler Operator. “It was the hardest thing I ever did,” she said when she talked about her training to be certified.
It’s 8:30 Monday morning and already the phone’s strident ring can be heard throughout the entire Lighthouse Activity Center. While it never rings for long, it rings relentlessly like a broken school alarm, it’s blare only drowned out by the commotion and clash of exercise classes and dozens of voices. Michele Williams, the queen of all this hustle and bustle moves quickly through each minor disaster and momentary angst with a gentle touch and a quick smile.
The Lighthouse Senior Activity Center started out life as a Mormon church. The city bought it in 1981 but Williams still gets Mormons looking to tour the old church and loves that part of the building’s history. When the city took over the building, the Red Cross and the meal site shared it and eventually the Red Cross left. “The center used to be like a mini Boys and Girls Club,†says Williams. Widowed men, uncomfortable with the quiet of being alone at home and by nature not as social as their widowed women counterparts, hung out at the center. Over time the push has been to make programs more intentional—focusing on healthy older adults and offering group activities such as dance that are tailored for individuals. Williams is proud of the work the center has done.
She encourages a group of seniors to put down a deck of cards and go make Christmas stockings, “Carol in room six…they’re making free Christmas socks downstairs,†she hollers over to them. Someone makes a comment about it might be fun. “Well get down there,†she answers back.
“I ain’t got time,†says another.
“Oh, you got time, honey,†she laughs at her.
She jumps up to suggest a change to the center’s new cook and checks in on the exercise class with a quick stop to pass a private joke with a woman in her 90s that leaves the ones in on the joke slapping their thighs while everyone else just smiles. She’s quick and efficient like you can only be when you have dozens of years of experience under your belt. At the end of December, the queen abdicates her throne. Williams, who has been at the center for 32 years says one of her clients has been with her for 25 years. She’s working with the fourth generation of another family. “That means I’ve been here too long,†she says with a bittersweet smile. She muses, “Where did it go?â€Â She dabs at brimming eyes and reflects on memories—good memories she’s been happy to be part of. “They’re not my participants. They’re family. Family calls me from out of town. I know everybody by first name. I know who their kids are…their dogs’ names. That’s my honor—to work with them. The best part is so much sharing.â€
Williams decided in early December to accept an early retirement when Tacoma employees were informed that many of them faced layoffs as the city deals with a $23 million budget deficit. The center’s employees and clients are still reeling from the shock.
Cindy Rieger, the center’s van driver calls Williams, “the best boss I’ve ever had. She’s incredible.â€Â Rieger has worked at the center for two years and says that Williams’ generosity of spirit extends beyond the clients. “It’s not just the seniors, it’s every one of us.â€
Bob Riler, Community Outreach and Education Specialist with Pierce County, is a frequent contributor to many of the center’s awareness programs including a senior providers meeting Williams hosts each month.  “There are few people as skilled as Michele Williams,†he says. “She has a thorough knowledge and understanding of community resources that complements her passion for the needs and concerns of older adults. She is one-of-a-kind and will be sorely missed.â€
Michele Williams talks with Terri Coplin
Carol Maddox, who teaches quilting classes, says that Williams’ has been a major force in her work. “She’s got my creative juices going,†says Maddox. “It’s been fun. I’m going to miss her in a big way.â€
Williams jokes that when she retires she’s going to clean her basement, organize her house…then stops and shakes her head with a little laugh. “I have a fourth granddaughter coming in April and I want to work for Mary Bridge (in their hospice program for children with cancer).â€
She muses, “Thirty years. Where did it go? I would still like to not retire. I have to have another door open. I can’t see myself watching The View or Bob Barker. You have to have a purpose in life. If you don’t, life just goes away.â€
Ret. Col. Joe Jackson (center) signs books at Tyee Park Elementary in Lakewood.
For 25 years, Tyee Park Elementary’s exuberant music teacher, Tracey Lundquist has packed the school’s tiny auditorium with uniforms of every type. Most children’s events don’t draw the kinds of crowds that covet seats and force people to stand outside looking in doors or windows but at this tiny school in Lakewood, sailors sit cheek to jowl with Marines, airmen and soldiers as students from every ethnic background give enthusiastic and heartfelt thanks to active duty military and American veterans of every war since World War II.
The 56th Army Band opened the event on Nov. 3 with “Soldiers of Swing†and then the children launched into songs specific to the eras of various military retirees, starting by honoring the Pearl Harbor survivors with “Remember Pearl Harbor.â€Â Lundquist drew a parallel between the attack on Pearl Harbor and September 11, 2001. “Boy and girls,†she said, “None of you will remember, but for the rest of us, we will never forget.â€
Lundquist told her audience that children often ask her what a veteran is. She tells the children, veterans are America’s Treasures.
Larry Todd served as a Radioman on the USS Pennsylvania at Pearl Harbor. Todd said he was just getting ready to play football when the alarm sounded they were being attacked.
One veteran at the event was Col. Joe Jackson. A video introduced Jackson with a story of his most daring rescue. He joked afterwards, “I’m kind of sorry you showed that video. It scared me all over again.â€Â Jackson, who served his country in three wars, earned the Medal of Honor in 1968 for a daring rescue of a combat control team at Kham Duc, South Vietnam. He’s famous for his letter home that day that began, “Dear Rosie, I had a very exciting day today. Someday I’ll tell you about it.â€Â Every year since Lundquist started the program, this American hero has spoken to Tyee Park children about what it means to be a citizen, how important it is to use their schooling to be educated and active voters and how they must participate in the process. He told them, “Country is not made up of earth and water. It’s made up of people. You have a certain responsibility.â€Â When you’re young, he said, you’re responsibilities lie in making your bed, telling the truth and obeying your parents. “As you grow older, responsibility changes to participating in government and voting. It’s about preserving the freedom,†he finished, “that other people have gained for you.â€
Michael Reagan, of the Fallen Heroes Project spoke about his foundation’s mission to honor the American Fallen Heroes. He presented the school with a framed image of an American eagle and then surprised Lundquist with her own portrait.
The sad note to the day came when the children paid tribute to Former Joint Chief of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, who died this summer. For years, the retired general and his wife have participated in the Veterans Day celebration. Children, who had just begun to learn to read, have each year been able to brag about their ability to pronounce a name that twists most adults’ tongues in knots.
Richard Moats served in World War II in the 3rd Infantry. He was in 10 campaigns including four major ones. At 92, he still fits in his uniform.
Unfortunately, the school has chosen to end the widely popular program that introduced the children to veterans of Pearl Harbor, the Tuskegee Airmen and thousands of active and retired veterans from every war since World War II.
The calls start coming into Lutheran Community Services as soon as the holidays are over. Sometimes they are just concerned but often they are panicked. Adult children spend a few days with mom or dad and realize the food in mom’s fridge is well past expired or the cupboards don’t have any food or dad drives with a lot less skill than he used to and they begin to have visions a whole lot less sweet than the sugar plums that danced there just weeks ago.
