Do you have a family friend or neighbor that is an elder that does something that moves you? In the past year at Engage As You Age we’ve seen someone nearing 100 get online and write their memoir on a computer and met many other memorable people. It’s the day-to-day anecdotes, laughs and learnings that keep Engage As You Age going.

We’d love to hear from you and learn about seniors that inspire you. Please contact us or respond to this post and tell us about seniors that you see engaging as they age.

Whether you live in Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda or Contra Costa counties we can help you. We’d love to hear from people throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the rest of the country about seniors that have made them smile.

According to the study, much of the nationwide increase can be attributed to increasing blood pressure and diabetes nationwide (which increase the odds of developing Alzheimer’s in all populations).

“African-Americans and Hispanics are particularly vulnerable, because the proportion of these two risk factors is higher even still,” says Maria Carrillo, the Senior Director of Medical and Scientific Relations at the Alzheimer’s Assocation. “We can actually do something about this increased risk with better management of the conditions.”

The study also found that there will be 500,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s diagnosed this year.

One of the most striking findings of the report was that for every $25,000 the federal government spends on care for people with Alzheimer’s and Dementia, it only spends $100 on Alzheimer research.

Alzheimer’s is a type of Dementia. Below is a video that explains what exactly Alzheimer’s is:

Click here to read the it!

Geeben, also known as “Mayor Dorothy,” moved to Ocean Park Breeze, Florida in 1952 and in 1976 was elected president of the town council. She held that position for 31 years until the death of Mayor Ruth Hoke. After Hoke passed away, Geeben was appointed to fill the post and served until two months ago.

In April 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives recognized Geeben as the nation’s oldest mayor in April 2008. According to the Associated Press, the Meals on Wheels Association of America survey also finds her to be the oldest active mayor (until her passing in 2010).

This is a great example of someone being engaged with their community. Born Dorothy P. Colleen on March 31, 1908, the future mayor was raised in Wisconsin and contracted polio at a young age. She graduated from high school in Marion, Iowa and married an electrician; eventually working as his bookkeeper. They moved to Ocean Breeze Park to retire and lived in a mobile home. Ironically, it was during her “retirement” that she gained her fame as America’s oldest active mayor. She even appeared on NBC’s Today Show in 2004.

A few other tidbits about Geeben. She truly was an active mayor even though she (according to Wikipedia) characterized her role in the council as largely a ceremonial one. In 2008, Geeben helped mediate a deal that enabled many town residents to remain in their homes.

Engage As You Age would love to hear from anyone that can give us the scoop on the following:

1. Who is now the oldest active mayor in America?
2. Who is oldest active mayor in American history?
3. Who is the oldest mayor in California history?
4. Who is the oldest mayor in the San Francisco Bay Area?
5. San Mateo County? Santa Clara County? Alameda County? Contra Costa County? Marin County?

Are you a senior that would like to learn how to get on Facebook? Contact us today and we’ll show you how to not only get comfortable with your computer but put you at ease on Facebook as you learn how to see photos of your grandchildren and even post your own comments and photographs. We’ve even helped non-seniors such as baby boomers and reverse parents learn how to get up and running on Facebook. Our computer lessons are senior-friendly and we’ll not only help you get online but make sure that you use computers, mice and keyboards that work well for you. Just because computers and equipment are marketed as “senior friendly” doesn’t mean that they are.

Contact us at 415-690-6944 if you live in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and any other San Francisco Bay Area county.

The play was done by a fabulous Oakland-based organization called Stagebridge. Stagebridge is the nation’s oldest Senior Theater Company. Go to their website to learn more about this great local San Francisco Bay Area organization.

Stagebridge does a wonderful job engaging seniors in theater, drama and storytelling activities. The common thread of the seniors that they serve is that they’re able to easily get out of their homes. Many of the 1.1 million seniors in the San Francisco Bay Area are able to do this. Engage As You Age is able to bring Shakespeare, theater, and the arts (as well as computer lessons and other fun activities) to the many other seniors that have a hard time leaving their homes in the east bay and other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.

You can also see the videos in this blog:

This is a great opportunity for people to learn more about what care options are out there for themselves and/or their elder or senior parent(s). There will most likely be a lot of baby boomers at this event.

This highly interactive seminar will cover subjects including dementia warning signs, intentional and unintentional elder abuse, costs of home care, isolation issues and caregiver respite.

90% of older adults want to remain living in their own homes until they die. This choice can lead to complicated medical, legal and emotional challenges. Growing old in Marin presents unique obstacles because of its large older population, high cost of living and large concentration of Baby Boomers.

Reservations: 1.800.805.7104 or events@livingwellalah.com

This event will take place in Marin County but anyone that lives in the San Francisco Bay Area should consider attending.

The address for the 6 pm seminar is:

Acqua Hotel
555 Redwood Highway
Mill Valley, CA 94941

4 months after they met online they were married! Engage As You Age wishes Ruth and Leonard a happy 2010 Valentine’s Day!

If you’re a senior and looking for love online there are other website aside from match.com. A few examples include:

• Seniormatch.com
• Datingforseniors.com
• Seniorpeoplemeet.com
• Eharmony.com
  
• Jdate.com
  

We urge seniors to be cautious about meeting someone online or in-person. Never give any personal information to someone that you meet online. Always meet in a public place and don’t tell anyone your home address or any other personal information. People aren’t always who they say they are. Still, love can be found online (or by chatting up the person sitting next to you in an elevator, a store or a park) and these online websites can be a great resource for many seniors.

You don’t have to look for love on the internet. You can do a ton of other amazing things too. Many seniors are going online to connect with family, friends and new ideas. Still, we at Engage As You Age, believe that computers aren’t the cure all. Ruth and Leonard used a computer to find one another. Many homebound and isolated seniors don’t know how to get online to connect to someone. That’s where we can come in by helping them get online and/or  bringing someone that shares their passions to their doorstep. Chatting online, while a great substitute for face-to-face interaction, isn’t the cure all. Nothing beats sharing some laughs with a friend (or one of our great team members at Engage As You Age), debating, or sharing a favorite song, book or anything else.

Below is an ABC morning show video that discusses  Ruth and Leonard finding love online. Happy Valentine’s Day 2010 to seniors, their baby boomer children and everyone else.

Liu says that “We are still very much in love and always will be. As to the secret of a long marriage–avoid arguments like the plague and remember the golden rule–she’s always right.” She added “It’s true I am–but that doesn’t stop him [from] doing what he wants anyway.”

The couple, from Beijing, China, were brought together via an arranged marriage when Liu was 10 and Shi was 15.

If you’re interested in learning about other senior couples that are breaking Guinness World Records, check out their new online article “GWR Celebrates Valentine’s Day With Lovers Young, Old, Tall, Small, Canine and More!”

Some of the records held by elder couples include:

• The largest age difference between a married couple… 63 years when Gertrude Grubb Janeway, 18, married 81-year-old Union Civil War veteran, John Janeway on June 9, 1927.
• Most marriage vows renewals (same couple)… 83 times! when Lauren Lubeck Blair and David E. Hough married one another for the 83rd time on August 16, 2004.
• Oldest divorced couple (aggregate age)… 188! on February 2, 1984, a divorce was granted in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA to Ida Stern, aged 91, and her husband Simon, 97.

Engage As You Age wishes everyone a happy and healthy Valentine’s Day. We know that this can be a difficult time of year for elders who recently lost a loved one.