July 31, 2008

Second Journey
Recommended Reading
Visit Archives
Alzheimer Wandering
Lotsa Helping Hands
Kill Devil Hills Donates Bikes
Currituck Child Find Screenings
Participate in CommonGood


Second Journey

Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life?- Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"

Turning 60 or retiring is a passage from midlife which carries its own sorts of challenges. Sue Monk Kidd in When the Heart Waits describes it this way "that of confronting the lost and counterfeit places within us and releasing our deeper, innermost self - our true self. [We are called] to come home to ourselves, to become who we really are"


One website Second Journey is about Mindfulness, Service and Community in the Second Half of life. The site contains ideas about
The Heart's Desire
To rediscover ourselves
To live more simply
To recover a sense of place
To live in community
Beyond Golf The Sun City "Lifestyle"The New UrbanismThe Center That Holds
*Birds of a Feather
Aging in Community Accessing ServicesThe Retrofit*Communities Without Walls*Community-wide InitiativesCohousing Intergenerational CohousingElder CohousingShared Housing
Certainly worth a look.


Recommended Reading
I've ordered this book after reading several reviews. The most remarkable from The Miami Herald titled You Think Slavery Ended in 1865?by Leonard Pitts Jr.
Mr. Pitts says: "Douglas Blackmon says it happened hundreds of thousands of times in Alabama alone. Blackmon, Atlanta bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, is the author of Slavery By Another Name. Yours truly flatters himself that he is well versed in African-American history, but this book introduced me to a chapter of that history I did not know. I didn't know, for example, about the so-called "convict leasing system" of the South, wherein poor black men were routinely snatched up and tried on false, petty or nonexistent charges by compliant courts, assessed some fine they could not afford and then ''sold" for the cost of that fine to some mine, turpentine farm or plantation, the money going back to the judges and sheriffs."


Wandering Man with Alzheimer's Found
Currituck County, NC Sheriff's Office found missing Virginia resident and Alzheimer's patient Hiram Foster at the Handy Hugo Exxon Station in Grandy. Thankfully, a clerk spotted him and contacted the Sheriff's office. Virginia Beach police and the Currituck County Sheriff's Office made arrangements with Hiram's daughter to pick him up and get him home safely. 84-year-old Hiram Foster had been missing since 9:00 p.m. July 23.

So if you are ever in Grandy, stop by Handy Hugo's and say thanks.

Information on Wandering From the Alzheimer's Association
Nearly 60% of people with Alzheimer's disease living at home will wander during the course of the disease and sometimes frequently. Once an individual wanders they have a 40% chance of wandering again. If not located within 24 hours, 46% of wandering individuals may die. People who care for Alzheimer's patients often decide to overlook wandering behavior until it becomes dangerous to the patient and to others.

Tips To Prevent Wandering
Check frequently to see if the person is hungry, needs to go to the bathroom, or feels uncomfortable.
Encourage movement and exercise to reduce anxiety and restlessness.
Involve the person in daily activities such as folding laundry or preparing a meal.
Remind the person that you know how to find them and that they are in the right place.
Reduce noise levels and confusion.
Reassure the person who may feel lost, abandoned, or disoriented.
Alert police ahead of time that you care for a person with dementia.
Make a plan of what to do if the person becomes lost.
Be Prepared For A Wandering Incident
Keep a list of the person's age, height, weight, hair color, blood type, eye color, identifying marks, medical condition, medication, dental work, jewelry, allergies and complexion.
Make multiple copies of a recent close-up photograph.
Make a list of places the person might go, such as familiar walking routes, former neighborhoods, places of worship, workplaces, or favorite places.
Keep scented clothing on hand to give to police. Wearing plastic gloves, store a piece of the person's unwashed clothing in a sealed bag. Replace it monthly to retain scent.
Make a list of possible dangerous areas you have identified in the neighborhood.
The Alzheimer's Association offers a wanderer's registry called MedicAlert-Safe Return. When a person with dementia wonders or becomes lost, one call immediately activates a community support network to help reunite the lost person with his or her caregiver. When a person is found, a citizen or law official calls the toll-free 24-hour emergency response number on the identification product and the individual's family or caregivers are contacted. The nearest Alzheimer's Association office provides support during search and rescue efforts. In addition, should medical attention be required, access to a personal health record is immediately available


What can I do to help?
Lotsa Helping Hands is a simple, immediate way for families facing the challenges of long-term caregiving. It's an easy-to-use, private group calendar, specifically designed for coordinating visits or help with meals delivery, rides, and other tasks necessary for life to run smoothly. It's also a place to securely share vital medical, legal, or financial information with designated family members while keeping these 'circles of community' informed with status updates, message boards, and more.

This is really a cool website for any group that is trying to coordinate support for anyone - new babies, long-term illness, sharing your scheduled visits to a loved one, etc.


It is a free service and you can get started by clicking the calendar above.


Kill Devil Hills Donates Bikes to International Studen Workers

As reported in the The Virginian-PilotThe town of Kill Devil Hills has donated bicycles with LED safety lights, as well as reflective armbands and bicycle safety literature, to Pathways. They outfitted the bikes that had been captured by the town staff but never claimed. Pathways gave the 35 donated bikes to international student workers on the coast. "They were gone within 24 hours," Pathways Director Bellantine said.

Town Clerk Mary Quidley said she was involved with purchasing the lights and reflective bands, which cost at total of around $150, she said. Bellantine said her organization, which estimates that 2,800 international students come to the Outer Banks each year, provides bike safety information on its Web site.

Currituck Child Find screenings.

Currituck County Schools will be conducting "Child Find" screenings at Central Elementary School, Wednesday, Aug. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Child Find is an effort to located children with disabilities and those in need of special education and related services. FMI, call 232-2223 ext. 297.


Child Find is a component of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that requires states to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities, aged birth to 21, who are in need of early intervention or special education services. The Child Find web site is mainly focused on Part C of the IDEA, the Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities.

One web resource for learning more about infant and children disabilities is www.kidsource.com. It contains hundreds of links and articles about a wide range of child developmental issues.