Gray Matters Winter 2012

Medicare Updates 3, 5

Gray Matters

Community Action Group 4 Volunteer Opportunities 6 Free Health Workshops 8

»+∏K%

zednanreF nyloraC

zednanreF nyloraC

A quarterly publication of Area 1 Agency on Aging

The White Way to Age

T

he last surviving Golden Girl is teaching America a thing or two about

aging. A pair of guest speakers at local senior events tipped their hats last year to Betty White, the 89-year-old actress, comedienne, author and former game show host whose career has spanned 72 years and is still going strong. She celebrates her birthday Jan. 17. A Reuters poll released in August tagged the “Hot In Cleveland” actress as America’s most trusted celebrity. Her 86 percent approval rating put her ahead of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, prompting Reuters to name her the “most likely to drive up the business of a company they would endorse.” That’s good news for AARP, which used to be known as the American Association for Retired Persons. Last June, it named her its spokesperson for

its latest membership drive. “Betty White is ballsy and beautiful and she’s staying involved in a meaningful way,” said Patrick Arbore, guest speaker at last summer’s Senior Expo workshop in Eureka. Arbore is the founder and director of San Francisco’s Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services. He’s heard White speak in multiple settings, serious and humorous. “She said ‘I don’t know why I’m still here, but I am, so I might as well work. I have a skill and I might as well use it.’” Arbore called White an example for all, and wasn’t referring to her poker and crossword puzzle practices. “We have to stand up and reclaim aging,” the 63-year-old Arbore said. “We have to take it back and say you won’t dispose of me or ignore me. I will show up and participate in life in a meaningful way, whether

people like it or not.” “In order to promote wellness and inclusion of aging baby boomers in society, it will be important to change the way aging is perceived,” former Assembly member Patty Berg said at last year’s Celebration of Seniors Luncheon in Eureka. “We have to popularize more realistic images of what it means to be old − like the Betty White phenomena − so people expect positive experiences in later life.”

WINTER 2012

Fans have liked White for decades, particularly for two of her signature roles, both of which came after the age of 50: as the man-hungry Happy Homemaker, Sue Ann Nivens, on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and as naïve Rose Nylund, one of four widowed or divorced women who lived together in Miami on “The Golden Girls.” In January 2010, White was at continued on next page



Our Pathways to Health Workshop Schedule EUREKA

Jan. 18Feb. 22

Wednesdays

5:30 p.m.8 p.m.

St. Joseph Hospital

EUREKA

Jan. 23Feb. 27

Mondays

10 a.m. 12:30 p.m.

Telehealth Center

EUREKA

Jan. 26March 1

Thursdays

1 p.m. 3:30 p.m.

Redwood Vet Center*

FORTUNA

Jan. 17Feb. 21

Tuesdays

1 p.m. 3:30 p.m.

Sequoia Springs

MCKINLEYVILLE

Jan. 17Feb. 21

Tuesdays

10 a.m. 12:30 p.m.

LDS Church

*Veterans, Vet Caregivers only.



Free Workshops, page 8

SPECIAL INSERT TO THE NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, JAN. 5, 2012

1