Joyful living for seniors

If we live to be a hundred years old, an optimistic and historical view of our lives can be seen for each stage of 25-year life span.

Birth to 25 years is the “formative” period of infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The stage between 25 to 50 years can be seen as “career mastery” phase, when one struggles through several opportunities to become an expert. When we reach the third phase of 50 to 75 years, it’s time to share our special skills to the younger ones, so that when we reach the final stage of 75 to 100 years, we could leave an inspiring legacy behind. This involves writing one’s autobiography. This chain of achievements, which have benefited our own family, relatives and community would have its reward in the next world.

Our passages through life are conditioned by our mode of life. The American government has guaranteed health, security, education, and recreation for its citizens through an organized housing system for all, but especially for the final passages of life after retirement.

Housing for seniors

There are two different types of housing as classified by the housing authority of the country of Los Angeles (federally funded by HUD - Housing and Urban Development).

Single Family Residential — regular single family homes with no walls attached to any other home.

Multi Family Homes — can either be a duplex, triplex, apartments or row homes. All of these have attached walls.

Now senior homes can either be a single family residential or multi-family residential.

Senior community living and senior apartment buildings

Senior Community Living — It is normally a big landscaped gated community exclusively for seniors. These places are single family residential. Americans prepare for their retirement. Senior houses are mandated by law and are sold for less than market value. If a two-bedroom house cost $350,000 - a house that looks exactly the same in senior community would only cost $125,000 (50 percent marked down for seniors). In this community, seniors are still very active. They still drive. They can manage to do basic chores on their own. Of course, the cost of senior homes, vary depending on location. The more upscale the city, the more expensive the homes.

Senior Apartment Buildings — These are usually big complexes like apartments that only rented out to seniors. To avail of the section 8 program, the senior citizen will usually qualify for rent assistance since their only income would either be social security benefits or retirement pension. Thus whatever their income is, they will only pay 30 percent of their income. Let’s say they have $1,000 income per month from SS - 30 percent will total to $300. In senior blogs it is usually a one bedroom one bath unit with a kitchen. It looks like a hotel wherein there is a lobby or a receiving area for visitors, plus amenities for laundry. Some senior apartment buildings have a common dining area for seniors who are not able to cook anymore. They are served with healthy meals at a specific time. These meals (at senior cost $3-4 per meal) are out-of-pocket expense. These buildings have a front desk that assists seniors if they need transportation to either go to the grocery or the senior centers or the mall or even to Las Vegas.

Senior Nursing Home — This is set up more like a hospital. Professional nurses and doctors are available 24 hours per day. Seniors that are placed here do not have the ability to live on their own. They have to be fed. A nurse makes round the clock visit to its senior residents making sure they are okay. They assist with changing diapers, giving medications and taking a shower. They are supplied with three meals a day with a lot of in between snacks. Seniors are not capable anymore of going out except when picked up by family. To live here the seniors do not pay anything because their full pension check goes directly to the nursing home. After all, when they live there they have no need for money anymore because they cannot go out unless taken by family.

The difference between condominiums and apartments

Condominiums and apartments are very similar, except that apartments you can never own. Any regular family can rent an apartment unit. Every condominium unit can be owned by different owners, while an apartment and all its units can only be owned by one owner/company. Both a condominium and an apartment have balconies or patios.

Art class and stress management with chair exercise

LA MIRADA, LOS ANGELES — Between late November to December, I had the privilege of staying with my daughter, Marinella Bamba and her family in La Habra, Orange County next door to Los Angeles County. Every morning, my grandsons Christopher or Cyrus, who attend evening classes or do part time work would drive me from La Habra to the La Mirada Community Center, where various activities take place to keep senior citizens continue to enrich their lives. When I registered, I was given several sheets of information including a weekly schedule of events, which even young or handicapped persons could join.

It records daily activities from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. like General Exercise (video), Bridge Club, Canasta or Mahjong classes, La Mirada Singers, Veteran’s History project, Creative Writing, La Mirada Quilters, Adaptive Reading, Half Century Bingo or noontime Senior Movie — all free. Daily lunch meals like Seasoned Baked White Fish, Corn Tortillas, Cream of Broccoli Soup, Mandarin Sesame Chicken are available at $3.

I decided to alternate General Exercise (video) with Stress Management with Chair Exercise. Tracy Van Herk, a pretty young blonde American gymnast handled the Chair Exercise for about 50 of us, including three Down syndrome young ladies seated with caregivers. As directed by Tracy, we helped ourselves to either 3-pound dumbbells or soft clutch balls for the different arm and waist exercise. Tracy made us move fast to the count of 16. Several slowed down after 40 minutes.

Next, I joined Elizabeth Barraza’s class, a pretty Puerto Rican in her late 20’s. She carefully greeted everyone asking how their thanksgiving holiday was spent. Flushed with excitement, she recalled the delicious Thanksgiving dinner her boyfriend cooked for her. She distributed a black and white drawing of a fruit platter for art technique of shading. Even the three Down syndrome young women worked on it with gusto.

Fine tuning seniors in arts and crafts to hold public exhibit

Two years ago, I looked up my St. Scholastica high school, college classmate, and wedding veil sponsor, Minnie. She and her husband Jim Martin live an hour away from La Habra in Ventura, right beside the art colony of Sta. Barbara. They first introduced me to the busy life of retirees during a week stay in their lovely house in Templeton Drive, close to the Marina. They keep their house so organized and attractive so it’s like staying in a five star hotel. An experience several of my other classmates have enjoyed.

Jim’s acrylic paintings of their grandson Luke (7 years old) and Nate (13 years old), looking like Justine Bieber were hang up over the TV sitting and dining room, while his finely sculpted zoo animals — the giraffe, hippo, rhino, etc. make a charming conversation piece in the “sala.” Jim opted for early retirement from social work so he could focus on cultivating his talent in arts. He continues to join the Arts and Crafts weekly class at the Ventura Senior Center. I sat in one session where his colleagues, Mary Anne O’ Langhlin showed me her water color land and seascape. Her 1 1/2 foot long watercolor set was spread beside her. The Fox couple proudly displayed their gorgeous flower acrylic and pastel paintings, reflecting the wide variety of spring blossoms of California.

Judy Clement, their famous art teacher, who often holds a one-woman show, expertly taught me how to use art pencils copying the colored photo of Our Lady of Liberty from the O.B. Montessori shrine chapel. I must say she has much reason to be proud of her students, several of whom have done their own public art shows.

Memoir writing from childhood to grandmotherhood

Ecstatically proud of her creative writing, Minnie Martin showed me 4 compilations of her memoirs, complete with sepia photos of her parents from Nueva Ecija, which she hopes to publish. Both Minnie and Jim were taught by Janeva Scharf, their creative writing teacher. Minnie (Esmirna Lopez) completed an adult education class “Preserving the Past” by writing about her childhood in Nueva Ecija; her growing-up years in Kansas St. (now known as Benitez St.), Manila, walking distance from our house in Singalong; her school days in St. Scholastica’s College; her receiving her masters in Psychiatric Social Work from Canada and internship in New York, where she met her husband Jim from Philadelphia. Jim recalls, “I used to deliver the papers everyday to Grace Kelly’s residence.”

In Courtship and Marriage, she wrote “Being a Filipina, I had to be mahinhin (prim and proper, which is so hard to do), so I would turn down Jim’s invitation to go to Broadway shows. But then he would say “Well, I have the tickets so I’ll have to invite somebody else.” Of course, Minnie quickly changed her mind.

Chapter on “Motherhood, The Working Career Woman” (working in Veterans hospital in California), “As Grandparents,” and final chapter “As Retiree”. They indulge in traveling, including bringing Jim home to the Philippines to meet us all. Volunteering to Catholic charities to help the homeless, like preparing meals, gift boxes were fulfilling occupations.

When evening comes

“When evening comes” is a poetic expression of one’s farewell to earthly life and ultimate awakening in a new world of the spirit. Before “evening comes,” Americans accept the necessity of drawing up the “last will and testament.” In contrast, Filipinos avoid settling family properties with their aging parents — until it’s too late. This has caused major discussion among family members resulting in properties loss due to inheritance taxes.