Huh? What's Up With That?

Rebecca and the outdoors! Great Chemistry!   She drove past the 40-foot-wide clock for the last time and never looked back.  This particular  clock was seen in the movie, The Insider,  with Al Pacino and Russell Crowe.  It's an octagonal timepiece which faces the Ohio River in Clarksville, Indiana and is known simply as the Colgate Clock. It sits on top of a multi-story building and is held up by an Erector Set looking structure that's almost four stories tall.  The second largest clock in the world has been owned by the toothpaste company since 1924.  This is not a story about the clock, but rather a portrait of an impelling retired person who lives her life to the fullest.   HUH ? What's up with that ? caught up with former Colgate chemist, Rebecca Beyerle.     After graduating college, Rebecca began her career in 1977 at the Colgate-Palmolive plant across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.  She retired 31 years later...

Where was grandpa?   HUH? What's up with that ? is about many different things, but chiefly deals with the disparity of treatment shown older people by a younger generation.  Too many times we speak without thought or consideration of others. All too frequently, we fail to activate any kind of filter and the gap between thought and deed becomes miniscule.  But, an area that is almost excluded from criticism of any kind from anyone is what we politely refer to as grandma's cooking !  In fact, grandma's cooking is very nearly on hallowed ground.   Every culture I can think of reveres grandma's cooking.  Family stories gain legendary proportions when reminiscing about a speciality or particular dish prepared by a grandmother on one side of the family or the other.  Sometimes a family really lucks out and two grandmas are fabulous cooks!  Interestingly, families of various ethnic backgrounds seem to have fostered many, many great cooks. ...

Ruth....   Ruth is 104 and plays Bingo or another game every Thursday at Wellbrooke Retirement Community in Westfield, Indiana.  For as long as I've known her, she is a woman who has commanded the room with her kindness and sincerity.  Judging by the Wellbrooke staff and fellow residents, she may very well be the most sought after lady in the house.  No one passes her without speaking or acknowledging her presence, and, in turn, she never fails to address the speaker with a smile and cheerful greeting of her own.  Ruth is in a wheelchair and is losing her hearing.  Her short-term memory is also fading, but she still knows me and her other three sons, Dave, Carl, and Ken, along with other family members and friends.  Just a few months ago, I had a conversation with her that focused on some of her early recollections of girlhood.   When she was 13 years old, my mother worked in her dad's corner grocery store.  A year later, she ...

I hereby resolve..   It's that time of year when I ask myself what I can do better next year.   HUH? What's up with that ?  According to The History Channel, ancient Babylonians were the first civilization to practice what we call New Year's Resolutions.   They were also the first to celebrate the new year, although back then it was held in mid-March, which coincided with the planting of new crops.    Early resolutions were religious promises to the gods that they would be loyal to their new king and that they would pay all debts. Some of us may even observe close to the same resolutions today.  However, unlike early civilizations, almost all of our declarations are secular.   We tend to make promises to ourselves to improve a habit or characteristic seen as faulty.  Once again, count me in as one of the 46% of Americans who will commit to promising to alter my lifestyle. But, resolutions are almost tedious and sound like a ...

Malarkey and then some   HUH? What's up with that ? is a way to express my disbelief at how older people are often times treated by younger citizens.  It's also a phrase I use when I can't believe what was just said or don't want to believe my own eyes.  In other words, it's fun to laugh at some of the absurdities of life.  There are so many times senior citizens are laughed at because of old-school language or choice of words.  Such is the case of our former vice president.       Joe Biden has begun his latest campaign tour in a bus with his campaign slogan #NoMalarkey .  It didn't take long for pundits, comedians, and critics to make fun of the politician because of his choice of words.  Why?  Probably lots of reasons, but one of the main ones is that no one under the age of 50 would ever use the word malarkey !   The Oxford English Dictionary says malarkey was first used in 1929 and could be Irish...

Witty or sarcastic?!   Part of the brilliance of the hit television show Seinfeld was the wonderful sarcasm combined with simple humor and plausible situations made into outrageous, but believable scenes.  You have no doubt been in real-life situations where the person speaking to you is sarcastic, impatient, or just plain rude.  That's when I say to myself, HUH ? What's up with that ? Of course, I generally blame younger people, but if I was younger, it would be the fault of older people. See what I mean?  But, in all fairness, there are times when it does seem it takes older people three times as long to do something as someone half his age.   Recently, I was in a drug store waiting patiently for an elderly gentleman to pay the cashier.  Do you think he heard those imaginary groans from people behind him when he dug into his pocket looking for the exact coins to pay his bill?  Of course, as if it had been scripted, he dropped a dime or ...

WOW! That was special!   It doesn't take much for HUH? What's up with that ? to become a WOW !   Did you see that ? moment! So many slights, rebuffs, or rude actions towards senior citizens catch my attention, but just as many wonderful displays of respect are shown too!  I would be remiss in my reporting if I didn't take the time to tell you about a few select happenings.  Let's begin where it would be so easy to neglect or be rude to older people, a nursing home.   My mother is the oldest person in her current residence in Indianapolis.  By any other name, a nursing home is still a nursing home, but to me it's a staging area.  However, the people who work in places such as nursing homes, hospitals and other care-giving jobs are exceptional human beings.   If I had to guess, I'd say Roberta is 28-30 years old.  We had not met until a week ago when I last visited my mom.  Roberta came up to my mother, smiled at her and as...