EDITOR’S NOTE
By Marie Elium
Not to brag, but among my friends, I’m known as the strong one.
I dug a three-foot-deep pond in my garden and hauled toddler-sized rocks to line it. I carry 50-pound bags of chicken feed and single-handedly flip our king-size mattress twice a year.
All that strength means I have an impressive Spanx collection to reshape what I prefer to call muscles (a matter of semantics during my annual physical). But by golly, I can lift and move heavy things, body mass index aside.
It’s the small stuff that’s getting to me.
Champagne bottles, pickle jars, my pretentiously expensive shampoo—since I hit my mid-60s, I can’t open a darn thing.
Somewhere between my shoulder and fingers, I’ve lost that ability. I’ve started keeping a set of channel locks nearby, which may get promoted to the kitchen drawer to save crucial steps. The way my hand strength is going, I’m getting paranoid about other body parts.
Sock It to Me
That brings me to the sock situation. I’ve got a bad hip (email me and I’ll happily tell you about it), and it’s gotten hard for me to put a sock onto my right foot. So, I sit on the bed with my leg splayed on the mattress, and pull it on.
I’m proud of my sock-inspired flexibility and imagine I look exactly like a gymnast doing a half split on a balance beam. There’s no mirror nearby to confirm that, so I’m keeping the thought in a safe mind space for days when I need a boost.
I won’t bore you with other ways I’m managing (one involves the bathtub), but I’ll use my examples as a segue to the main point of this column: the crux of our magazine’s new name, “Thrive.”
We knew “Boomer” had an expiration date because it’s linked to a specific age group. “Thrive” better reflects the age and energy of our age-55+ readers. Plus it’s aspirational; our logo is a cool, new green color.
We’re publishing four times a year now: Spring, Summer, Fall and Holiday, to coincide with our popular Bash events. Look for more online content, including a directory of services and places geared to older adults.
If you haven’t done so already, sign up for our weekly newsletter through our website northeastohiothrive.com, follow us on Facebook, and support our advertisers. They make all of this possible, and it means a lot to them and us if you mention you heard about them through our magazine or events.
We’re also switching things up in the magazine. We’ve added a local travel columnist, Your Getaway Guru Kathy Yarian, whose tips are handy for all travelers, regardless of budget. We’ll produce longer feature stories (send me your ideas) as we continue to balance fun topics with serious issues.
In keeping with the spirit of “Thrive,” I’m working on a few improvement projects of my own. I no longer use my hands to get up from a chair (I read that was a sign of physical fitness), and I listen to soft jazz to calm my mind.
All of this, however, is a peaks-and-valleys endeavor.
As I write this, I’m eating a handful of stale marshmallows left over from last summer’s final bonfire, but I didn’t use my hands when I stood up to walk into the kitchen to get them. And there’s more good news: I opened the bag without a tool; then again, it was only twisted shut.
Baby steps. That’s how we’re all thriving. Baby steps.
