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Marie Elium

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About the author

Marie Elium
Marie Elium joined Mitchell Media in 2015 as editor of Northeast Ohio Thrive, formerly Boomer magazine. A freelance writer for 45 years and a former newspaper reporter, she believes everyone has a story worth telling. She resides in Portage County where she grows flowers, tends chickens and bees and Facetimes with her young grandsons. Marie can be reached at [email protected]

Marie Elium Posts

Cleveland International Film Festival: See You at the Movies

By Marie Elium
March 25, 2019

 


Northeast Ohio Boomer and Beyond is in the movie business.
Full disclosure: we don’t know any movie stars and we’ve not actually made any movies. But we like movies and to prove it, we’re media partners for the 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival, which runs March 27-April 7.
Our film is “Very Senior – Attitude is Everything.” Showtimes are Thursday, April 4 at 4:25 p.m., (Tower City), Friday, April 5 at 11:40 a.m. (Tower City) and Saturday, April 6 at 12:40 p.m. (Cleveland Museum of Art).
The film is one of 212 feature films and 237 shorts that will be screened throughout the festival at Tower City Cinemas downtown and at satellite locations.
“Very Senior – Attitude is Everything” is a documentary film about Sun City, Ariz., a 55+ community and the residents who live there. Directed by Susan Gluth, the film is described as “a bright look at the process of aging gracefully and honestly while making one’s own choices.”
See you at the movies – see you at our movie.

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A Wild Life – Rehab Center and Volunteers Rescue Wildlife in Cuyahoga County

By Marie Elium
March 20, 2019

Adult squirrels are the worst.

They tend to get a bit nutty in close quarters, says Colleen Bumba, a volunteer at Lake Erie Nature &  Science Center, the home of Cuyahoga County’s only wildlife rehabilitation facility.

“They’re aggressive adult squirrels, they’re fast and they bite a lot,” Bumba says. She should know. The retired veterinarian has been a volunteer at the center since 2015, treating songbirds, turtles, rabbits and other creatures brought in by tender-hearted animal lovers.

The Bay Village center offers wildlife education and programs year ’round, but it’s probably best known for its assortment of birds and other mammals on display behind the sprawling facility. The animals have recovered from their injuries but are unable to survive in the wild. Instead, they help educate the public and give visitors an up-close look at creatures usually only seen in quick glimpses.

The center handles many hundreds of animals annually, ranging from stressed-out rescued baby bunnies to turtles with cracked carapaces.

Spring is prime season for the center. Pets uncover rabbit nests, baby birds and squirrels tumble out of nests, birds run into windows, amphibians encounter cars. The intersection of wildlife and humans often ends disastrously, with the animals coming up on the short end.

The staff has swim tanks for waterfowl rehab and covered cages for flying squirrels and birds that need a quiet place to recuperate.

Bumba enjoys the work and says her experience as a veterinarian gives her a chance to serve her community and the animals that live there. Every wildlife encounter is different.

When people find baby animals they assume they’re abandoned, but that’s rarely true, Bumba says. “Mom may have been scared away. Deer and rabbits only come back periodically (to their babies) so they don’t attract predators. A lot of times, the best, the highest survival rate is to be with their mother.

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What’s Your Plan? If You’re a Caregiver, You Need One

By Marie Elium
March 20, 2019
What’s Your Plan? If You’re a Caregiver, You Need One

 

By Jeanne Hoban

Caregiving for an older adult can be overwhelming. There are a lot of decisions to make and services to navigate – and it’s difficult to know where to start.

If you enter caregiving armed with a solid plan, while there may detours along the way, you can navigate the challenges more easily and with less stress.

Plan Ahead

It’s never too early to start developing a plan for future care needs. You don’t want to wait until an emergency situation arises to begin making what could be life-and-death decisions. And you want to make sure that the care plan honors your loved one’s values and preferences. If your loved one was incapacitated in an emergency and you needed to make decisions for them, do you know what they would want? Do you know who they would want to help?

Researchers at Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging identified five core values for care that most people find important: independence, safety, not being a burden, activities with family or friends, and having a say in who helps out. Have discussions with your older adult loved ones to find out what is most important to them. It’s not always easy to have those conversations, but it is important for understanding your loved ones’ preferences and values. It also helps take some of the burden off of you and gives you permission to ask for help later – something caregivers often struggle to do.

Focus on Manageable Tasks

If you are the person providing the most care for your older loved one, you are probably making the majority of decisions related to health, medical care, finances, housing, social engagement, recreation, nutrition… the list goes on.

If you try to focus on all of that at once, it might seem impossible to accomplish anything.

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A Purposeful Life

By Marie Elium
March 20, 2019
A Purposeful Life

 

 

What’s your purpose?

That’s a good question. I used to think that having a purpose meant a life painted in grand gestures, things like athletic accomplishments, a cure for cancer, Instagram celebrity.

Now that I’m a bit older, I’ve found that most purposeful lives are built from small acts that are impactful in ways we may never know. Timely conversations, a soft word, honest opinions, a simple note. Together those create purposefulness, and over decades, a purposeful life. Every life has a purpose. Whether we channel that into a purposeful life – one that helps others in some way – is defined by our conduct and character.

WKYC’s Leon Bibb, featured on this issue’s cover, leads a purposeful life, but I’ll put him more in the grand gestures category. He reaches thousands of viewers each week telling stories – lots of stories – that remind us why NEO is an interesting place to live. I think you’ll find his comments thought-provoking in our wide-ranging interview that starts on Page 26.

NEO freelance writer Estelle Rodis-Brown writes about Good Deed Trips and why they can change lives  (Page 30). There’s nothing quite like reading to children in a Central American village or bringing medicine to sick people to not only change their lives, but also your own. Estelle also gives us a first-hand account of her own Good Deed Trip experiences.

If your purpose is roaming through flower beds, you’ll enjoy our guide to gardens that are designed to impress and inspire (Page 24). And if you’re leaning more toward grandparenting as an element of a purposeful life, don’t miss our NEO Grandparent section that includes a story about curating a child’s library with books that are both socially conscious and just plain fun.

I also want to make a pitch for our Boomer Bash West, set for May 1 at LaCentre in Westlake.

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Cleveland International Film Festival, Dyngus Day & More

By Marie Elium
March 20, 2019



Come See Our CIFF Movie
Well, it’s Not Ours Exactly…

Northeast Ohio Boomer and Beyond is in the movie business.
Full disclosure: we don’t know any movie stars and we’ve not actually made any movies. But we like movies and to prove it, we’re media partners for the 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival, which runs March 27-April 7.
Our film is “Very Senior – Attitude is Everything.” Showtimes are Thursday, April 4 at 4:25 p.m., (Tower City), Friday, April 5 at 11:40 a.m. (Tower City) and Saturday, April 6 at 12:40 p.m. (Cleveland Museum of Art).
The film is one of 212 feature films and 237 shorts that will be screened throughout the festival at Tower City Cinemas downtown and at satellite locations.
“Very Senior – Attitude is Everything” is a documentary film about Sun City, Ariz., a 55+ community and the residents who live there. Directed by Susan Gluth, the film is described as “a bright look at the process of aging gracefully and honestly while making one’s own choices.”
See you at the movies – see you at our movie.




Pentameter Envy
A Month Made for Poetry

If it’s been decades since you’ve worked on your iambic pentameters, or you ’ve forgotten what the heck that is, you’re in luck. April is National Poetry Month and Northeast Ohio is crazy full of poets.

One of them is nationally recognized poet George Bilgere, who describes himself as the poet of aging. Several of his poems have been broadcast on Garrison Keillor’s “The Writer’s Almanac.” His latest poetry collection, “Blood Pages,” was published last year.

We figured he’d be the perfect person to ask about poetry, specifically some of his favorites, for Boomer readers.

“(Some) I’d highly recommend to older readers are, of course, the great Billy Collin, a wonderful poet named Tony Hoagland, (and) everybody loves Mary Oliver.

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Senior Living News March-April 2019

By Marie Elium
March 20, 2019

Under Construction

The Montrose area near state Route 18 and Interstate 77 is the site of a new senior living complex now under construction by Omni Senior Living.

The continuum care facility in Copley Township will include independent living, assisted living and memory care apartments, along with independent living villas.

The VITALIA Senior Residences of Montrose will open later this summer.

 

New Logo and Website

Ohio Masonic Home, a non-profit, 55-plus living community and healthcare provider that owns and operates three campuses in Ohio, including one in Medina, has refreshed its corporate branding with a new logo and the launch of its newly designed website, ohiomasonichome.org

 

Originally founded by the Masonic Fraternity to care for Ohio Masons, their families and children, Ohio Masonic Home evolved over time into a senior living provider. While still serving Ohio Freemasons and their families, Ohio Masonic Home, and its subsidiaries, opened its doors to the public over 20 years ago.

 

Learn More

 

Hilltop Senior Living in Euclid has started College Course Fridays by joining Cuyahoga Community College’s Encore 55 program. Every Friday, residents can take as many courses as they choose from 9 a.m-3 p.m. Encore 55 is available to others, too. Check it out at tri-c.edu.

 

Hispanic Senior Help

Catholic Charities through the Diocese of Cleveland operates the Hispanic Senior Center at St. Augustine Towers, 7800 Detroit Ave. The program is free and open Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4:40 p.m. The Hispanic Senior Center serves seniors in the Greater Cleveland area with an emphasis on the culture and linguistic needs of the older adults of the Hispanic community.

Funding is provided in part by the City of Cleveland Community Development Block Grant, Community West Foundation, Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, and Catholic Charities donors. To learn more, go to ccdocle.org.

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WKYC’s Leon Bibb has More to Say

By Marie Elium
March 19, 2019
When I fly over Ohio or over the United States or wherever, and I look down and I see all those lights of the city – street lights, house lights, automobile lights at nighttime – I realize under every one of those lights there is a story. ...
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Cleveland History Center Planning New Exhibits for Women’s Suffrage Anniversary

By Marie Elium
March 12, 2019
Cleveland History Center Planning New Exhibits for Women’s Suffrage Anniversary
Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) has announced plans to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage and the 100thanniversary of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland with a new permanent exhibit at the Cleveland History Center in University Circle.
Presented by WRHS in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland, Women and the Struggle for Political Power will trace the story of women in politics, exploring the early days of the suffragette movement, the successful fight for the 19th Amendment, the birth and growth of the League of Women Voters as a force for clean government and the election of northern Ohio women to positions of power on the local, state and national levels. The exhibit will open in 2020. WRHS will also serve as the Regional Coordinator for the State of Ohio Women Suffrage Centennial organized by the Ohio History Connection, the historical society for the State of Ohio.
The experiences and contributions of women, African Americans, and immigrants are a focus of the Cleveland History Center, and are core to the Empowerment theme that defines and unifies the experience. Women and the Struggle for Political Powercontinues the transformation of the Cleveland History Center that began in 2013 with the renovation of the Crawford Auto Aviation Museum and the opening of the Euclid Beach Park Grand Carousel in 2014. In 2017, WRHS celebrated its 150th anniversary with the grand opening of Cleveland Starts Here®, a permanent exhibit about Cleveland sponsored by the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation.
In 2019, WRHS explores aspects of our history that, in the past, have not received the attention they should command.
Currently, an exhibit about the life and work of the Reverend E. T. Caviness: Church, Community, Cleveland (open now through August 2019) and the permanent exhibit “Carl & Louis Stokes Making History” examine the political and social achievements of three great leaders in the African American community. 
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