Double-Barreled Celebration

Diana and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on Friday May 29th. It hardily seems possible that it was 15 years ago when we exchanged vows on a bright, sunny, and very windy afternoon on a mountain overlooking Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The ceremony was unique and memorable, with but a few friends and family (including my three children) in attendance. After the ceremony my parents hosted a small reception at their home in Jackson Hole. Memories, memories…

But there was an even greater cause for celebration late in May: This was the 5-year anniversary of Diana’s victory over breast cancer, this is a huge milestone for cancer survivors to reach. Unfortunately on her last series of blood tests a potential recurrence was detected and she was retested with even worse results. We had to go back down to Pasadena to have a complete PET Scan. Our good thoughts, along with those of our family and friends, did wonders, and the only glitch in the PET Scan was a small problem with her tonsils.

Truly we have much to celebrate and be thankful for!

CSUN GENERATES ANOTHER BRIGHT ONE

Our youngest son, Todd, graduated from California State University-Northridge on Thursday afternoon May 28th. He earned a MA in Computer and Technological Education with an emphasis on Digital Photography and Graphic Design.

For those of you who don’t have a clue to where CSU- Northridge is, see below:

View CSUN in a larger map

Di and I attended the big event with Holly, Todd’s Mom, and Brenda and Bill Umbro, Melissa’s gracious parents (Melissa, of course, is in Indonesia). Todd had an awesome surprise guest: His brother Erik took a day off from Google and flew down from San Francisco to attend the graduation ceremonies—it was a special treat for everyone!

I don’t mind saying that I am extremely proud of Todd and have a great deal of respect for him. By the ninth grade Holly and I feared that Todd might never get out of Torrey Pines High School! He had issues with his auditory and speech abilities that made learning in the traditional manner very difficult for him. But he was placed in the TPHS special ed program and had extra help, along with an angel of a teacher who mentored Todd throughout high school. The net result was a high school diploma, a BA degree from UC Santa Barbara, and now is MA from CSUN!

I have ample reasons to be proud of Todd…even more reason to be grateful!

Another Acronym?
Oh No! OH YES!: SPC!!!!!

“I seen my duty and I done it.” I can’t remember where that quotation comes from, but I think it’s apropos for my decision to volunteer for yet another worthy organization. Since being retired, an awareness of age related issues for older Americans has been sharpening in my consciousness. I am just beginning to experience some of these issues first hand. I strenuously object to being called an "old fart," for example.

More serious concerns of this segment of our society include (but are by no means, limited to); increasing of age-related health issues, decreasing thinking acuity, increasing financial pressures, decreasing personal independence, and, of course, losses (like death of a spouse, friends, etc.). The list goes on and on.

This country is just waking up to the fact that our population is rapidly increasing in the number of citizens over sixty. Age related issues will no longer be, more or less, ignored. The reason? More votes.

There are serious issues here. Which gets me back to my new volunteer endeavor: I have become a volunteer with Senior Peer Counseling. SPC is a joint project funded by the Wilshire Foundation, San Luis Obispo County, and private grants and donations. Its mission is to provide counseling services to County residents in need of emotional support.

A counselor is assigned up to three clients. We meet with them for an hour once a week in their homes. Additionally, each counselor has a weekly supervisory meeting with their area’s licensed psychologist and/or social worker to review the volunteer’s cases and activities. This is open-ended counseling service with no maximum number of sessions. Also, this service is absolutely free of charge to our clients.

Those of you who really know me are probably thinking that it’s like the inmates running the asylum! True, but that’s the point: Through our life experiences we should be able to be more effective with clients in this population than young people. Plus, we went through a three month, 78 hour training program taught by professors from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Department of Social Services, and active psychologists who specialize in age related issues.

I am excited about this volunteer opportunity: There is a very great need for SPC’s services in SLO. SPC is it for this kind of service for seniors except for the severely mentally impaired who require constant supervision or confinement.

I am also a bit scared: I’ll be personally confronting many of the same issues as the people I’m trying to help!