Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1316
If you've noticed that sleep isn't what it used to be, you're in good company. Many older adults find themselves waking earlier than they would like, getting up several times a night, or lying awake wondering why they can't fall back asleep. Friends often reassure them that "It's just part of getting older." This statement is not entirely true. Healthy aging can bring changes in how we sleep, whether we like it or not. Research shows that men tend to start having problems with their sleep after...
Dear editor, My name is Desiree. I'm 33 years old, but I am a social work student, and I care about the senior community. I am disabled because of a tumor that left me paralyzed from the chest down when I was 3. I use a wheelchair full time and have been on and off work over the years due to cancer and other life events. Long story short, I have lived alone in low-income housing for seven years and many of my neighbors are seniors. Although the idea of getting into low-income housing sounds fabulous, especially if you are only getting Social...
Even though I grew up on the fringes of Hollywood, I don't remember my high school companions yelling the iconic good-luck phrase among actors, "Break a leg!" Not even in acting class. How is breaking a leg a stroke of good fortune? I suppose we didn't say it to each other because we did not appreciate the finer points of black humor. During World War I German fighter pilots wished their fellow pilots good luck by saying a phrase translated as, "May you break your neck and leg." I am sure there...
Q: Recently, several of us at our assisted living home observed a very upsetting medical emergency involving a resident. Since then, I’ve been having recurring nightmares. I am worried that these bad dreams will never stop. What can I do? A: Know that what you are feeling is completely normal. Witnessing a medical crisis can be frightening, and your mind is simply trying to process that stress while you sleep. You went through a scare, and it makes sense that your evenings are feeling less t...
When a loved one's brain starts to unravel, it can really throw you through a loop. Here was a person you relied on for sage advice and it seems as if the next minute, they've become childlike. And it is also the day you realize you are now the adult in the family. Learn about the stages First off, educate yourself on the different stages of the diseases. This will help you from feeling overwhelmed, confused, and angry. It may also make you feel too connected with your own mortality and make...
Winning a gold medal in the Olympics is a big deal. It's an even bigger deal when you’re in a sport where nobody pays much attention except during the Olympics. Like, for instance, target shooting. So let me take you back to 2004. Matthew Emmons, an American shooter, was competing for gold. He was well ahead and on his last shot, all he had to do was hit anywhere on the target, which should have been easy for him. And he hit a target all right. The problem is he aimed at the wrong target and h...
Dear Savvy Senior, I’m on Medicare. What changes are coming in 2027, and how can I make sure I’m not paying too much for my coverage? - Careful Shopper Dear Careful, If you have Medicare, now’s a good time to make sure you’re getting the best coverage for your money. Open enrollment runs through Dec. 7, giving you a chance to switch Medicare Advantage or prescription drug plans for 2027. Since costs, drug coverage and extra benefits can change from year to year, comparing plans now could save you money and headaches later. Even if you’re...
In our line of work, we hear a lot of thank yous. Not to us, but to the person who has passed. A daughter thanks her father for teaching her to drive on an icy road. A friend thanks a friend for showing up, year after year, without being asked. A husband thanks his wife for forty years of patience. These are some of the most honest words a person will ever speak. And most of them are being said for the first time. That is the quiet heartbreak of a funeral. The room is full of gratitude, and the one person who most needed to hear it is no...
Filipinos and Filipino Americans have more than 200 years of history in Alaska, but there is only one book that tells our story. It's called "Filipinos in Alaska, 1788-1958," written by the late former Alaska state Rep. Thelma Buchholdt, who herself made history. Buchholdt was the first Asian American and Filipino elected to the Alaska Legislature, and the first Filipina elected to any state legislative body. October is Filipino American History Month, which has been officially recognized in...
To us she'll always be the Red Rocket. To the rest of the world, she is a red 2011 Toyota Sienna minivan. We bought her 13 years ago, already a couple of years old, at the Avis used car lot out by the airport in Anchorage. The Red Rocket served us well all these years. It never had a major mechanical problem and it didn't use or leak oil. This is what happened: Christy and I are in pretty good health but we got older. Reaction times are a bit slower. Vision is a little less sharp. The mind...
Q: Recently, I've read about people identifying as "Spiritual But Not Religious" (SBNR). What does that mean? A: As we age, maintaining physical strength, balance and mobility is essential, but cultivating a positive outlook is equally vital. A recent Pew Research Center study (July 2023–March 2024) highlights how Americans view spiritual and religious self-descriptions: 21% Spiritual but not religious 53% Spiritual and religious 5% Religious 21% Neither spiritual nor religious Spirituality is a...
Dear Savvy Senior, Since my dad passed away last year, my 82-year-old mother has struggled to keep up with her bills. She’s proud and insists on doing things herself, but I worry she’s falling behind. How can I help her manage her finances without upsetting her? - Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned, You’re not alone – lots of adult children step in to help aging parents with their finances. Whether it’s paying bills, handling bank accounts, filing insurance claims, or sorting through taxes, taking on these responsibilities can feel tricky. T...
Former North Slope Borough Public Defender Rebecca Wright Stevens has published a memoir "Sisters of the Midnight Sun" that details her life in Utqiagvik (Barrow), her relationship with an Iñupiat man, the drinking parties she attended and one time hosted, and the horrific double murder of two local sisters where she defends one of the suspects. I am in the unusual position of having reported on the same case when I was editor of The Arctic Sounder covering the North Slope. I am also mentioned...
Securely snug in her Midcoastal Maine home during last year's late-fall chill, Alicia Malone settled in for another approaching snowy New England winter. This time, however, she found not only warmth beside the glow of the crackling wood fire but also inspiration-as she planned a murder. In the following weeks, the Australian transplant would juggle a laptop, sheets of printout drafts, and steaming cups of tea while her pair of golden retrievers looked on as she carefully wove together clues,...
I had this month's column all planned out, and all I needed to do was commit it to paper. But then Dolly Parton died. The passing of the "Queen of Country" is still fresh as I write this, and there is not a great deal of information available, but what we know so far is encouraging. Dolly had said that she did not want to leave a mess for her loved ones after she was gone, and it appears likely she didn't. Dolly Parton was one of the most generous and, according to just about everybody who ever...
Q. What is one of the best Nintendo games I might not know about? A. Nintendo Online is a subscription service that gives every Nintendo Switch owner access a vast library of classic games. I would start there. Decades ago, before the Switch and Wii, was GameCube, which had a relatively short life but some amazing titles. The older Zelda games are there, along with a large library of other popular games from classic Nintendo consoles. Not long ago Nintendo Online expanded into GameCube games, including Zelda’s WindWaker, and the hidden gem, S...
Each fall, a sudden symphony, as a gaggle of estate planning professionals in V-formation transit National Estate Planning Awareness Week (NEPAW) and trumpet the accessibility of estate planning, Oct. 19-25. Estate planning provides the opportunity to reflect on what we give versus what we leave behind. Giving implies active, intentional action. You can't wing it. Planning with a giving mindset is a choice to demonstrate your family values, acknowledge a stroke of fortune, or fledge a lifelong p...
Grief is not a problem to be solved. It is the natural response to losing someone we love, and it arrives whether we invite it or not. Yet many of us treat it as something to get through quickly, or worse, to avoid altogether. We stay busy. We tell ourselves we are fine. The trouble is that grief does not disappear when it is ignored. It waits. Unspoken sorrow often surfaces months or years later as restlessness, exhaustion, irritability, or a sadness with no clear source. Avoiding grief does not make it smaller. It only delays the work. Grief...
As people approach age 65, we hope they are thinking about retirement, Social Security benefits and how they want to spend the next chapter of life, not where they are going to lay their head. Yet in Anchorage, 361 of our neighbors age 65 and older experienced homelessness last year. And many others faced the scary prospect of being without a safe, stable place to live. The good news? The number dropped by more than 20% between 2023 and 2025. Our community also has been expanding resources for those 55 and older, such as the In Our Backyard...
Dear Editor: I was so interested to read the article from Lawrence Weiss about driving around Europe (and beyond) in the late ’60s and early ’70s. I was living in England at the time and spent some time in Morocco with Minitrek (another similar organization to Encounter Overland). Basically, we drove around the country camping out in the desert, sometimes just on the ground as we didn't feel like putting the tents up, and at other times we all bunked in small cheap hotels to have a bit of comfort — and a shower! Several friends did similar trip...
Artificial intelligence is a rapidly growing technology with a wide variety of uses. An increasingly popular use of generative AI is as a form of mental health support. The temptation is real, as one college student, Violet, found out. "I try to avoid AI as much as possible. If I can use my own brain, I want to use my own brain. Except when it comes to venting. There have been periods of my life where I was in a very, very, very dark place with nobody to really talk to, who weren't going to...
Q: Why do I sometimes feel an instant connection with someone I've just met? A: It is common to feel an instant connection with someone you barely know. This phenomenon occurs when we recognize familiar personality traits, body language, or communication styles that make us feel understood and safe. Your brain subconsciously detects subtle cues-a specific tone of voice, a facial expression, or a unique mannerism-that put you at ease. When these nonverbal signals feel recognizable and intuitive,...
Claude, you are an artificial intelligence (AI) product created by Anthropic, but what does that mean? Who or what would a user be communicating with? I'm a large language model, which is a fancy way of saying I'm a very elaborate pattern-matching system trained on an enormous amount of text: books, articles, websites, conversations. So, what are you actually talking to? Not a person. Not a database. Not a search engine, though I can search the web when I need current information. I don't have a...
Dear Savvy Senior, I turn 62 early next year and plan to retire soon after. Most advice says I should wait to claim Social Security because my monthly benefit will be higher. But with all the recent news about Social Security’s financial problems, I’m wondering if taking benefits early might be the safer choice. Is there ever a good reason to claim at 62? - Ready to Retire Dear Ready, You’re definitely not alone in asking this. The latest Social Security Trustees Report projects the retirement trust fund could be depleted around 2032 if Congr...
Q. Can Apple AirTags track my family pet? A. I recommend against AirTags for pet locations. AirTags depend on iPhones, and they only report their location every once in a while. They can work in some circumstances, but they are not the right tool most of the time. If you want to track your pet, use a GPS collar. The GPS I use is made by a company called Fi, and they have an entire line of trackers of different sizes and capabilities to fit different sized pets. They require a subscription, which might be a dealbreaker for some users. But the...
