A Little Tidbit For Our Readers!

If your memory isn't what it used to be, don't worry. Go get some exercise and have a good time. It won't help your memory, but at least people won't pay as much attention when something slips your mind.

That's what a study in the Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences found.

When older people with a conservative lifestyle forget something, friends and family assume that the memory loss is due to mental deterioration. But when older people who practice a younger lifestyle forget the same things, friends and family don't take it too seriously. They just assume the older people aren't paying attention.

Now that we all know that, we realize that it is just one more reason for us all to be Walkie Talkies and to enjoy "the good life" that we do--lots of exercise and lots of laughter and excitement and new things to do!

An Exciting Morning!

Yesterday, Linda Tyssen, a reporter for The Mesabi Daily News joined about nine of us at our coffee table (We knew she was coming, so we got a little "fixed up"). Emily brought some of our photos from the archives plus Linda took a photo of the group at coffee. We are hoping that they will be in the paper around February 28 when they do a special section--kind of "A day in the life of . . ."

She was told that she would be meeting with a women who discuss meaningful topics. When she arrived the group was discussing the book clubs and winter reading programs at both libraries, so we appeared to be fairly "cultured."

We'll add a link when the actual story appears in the paper, so stay tuned!

Dinner for Four with Nancy

Last Friday night, "Dinner for Four with Nancy Zieman" was held at Mary's home. This dinner was one of the silent auction items at the Lutheran Church Women's Christmas dinner. Debbie, Paula, Tammy, and Marge's top bid earned them an invitation to an informal dinner with cloth napkins and surprises on January 12 when PBS Television star Nancy Zieman ("Sewing with Nancy"--see link at the right) came to Aurora for her annual January visit.

The meal consisted of lasagna, salad, garlic bread and date/chocolate cake for dessert. Dinner conversation included everyone sharing how she became interested in sewing; mothers and family friends were influential in building this interest. After dinner the entertainment was provided by the dinner guests and hosts who showed some of their sewing projects. It was an interesting discussion and sharing session.

The guests received copies of Nancy's and Mary's books and kitchen tools from a special event at Nancy's Notions. Tammy's husband was called to be the group's official photographer.

Front: Mary, Nancy and Marge.

Back: Debbie, Tammy and Paula.

As the newspaper social reporter used to write, "A Good Time was had by All."

More Good News!

Another red-letter day: Pat's husband is now in our local hospital also--he was transferred today. They have been in separate facilities since the accident. We know they are thrilled to be able to see each other and to be able to converse and to check on each other. It's also a lot better for the family so that they don't have to run between hospitals that are sixty miles apart!

We are all thrilled!

Better Late Than Never!

The WT's celebrate birthdays as close to the actual date as possible. However, we celebrate other holidays whenever we can get the group together. Today we celebrated the new year--just a few days late but it was still quite a celebration! We met at the hospital so that we could all visit with Pat and have a celebration at the same time--to celebrate the new year and hope for good health in 2007, to celebrate Pat's recovery after the accident and to celebrate Lorraine's recovery after her fall.

The two "Walking Wounded"--Lorraine on the left and Pat on the right.
Lorraine shows that she can still raise a glass in celebration--even with the bad elbow. Today she got her staples out and a new cast put on. What a sport she is to come out with all of us so soon after this!
Anna (left) and Helen S. (right) are evidently deep in thought (or tired from the wine and beer!). Helen just returned yesterday from two weeks visiting her son and family for Christmas in Connecticut.
The traditional group photo: Front: Jodie, Lorraine, Pat and Anna.

Back: Dorothy, Mary, Emily, Joan, Sharon, Irene, Helen S., Tee and Naomi. Again, a good turnout for a party (of course, there was plenty of food: shrimp cocktail, crackers and cheese, homemade hard tack by Irene, and wine and beer!).

On New Year's Day, Pat's grandchildren made a snowman for her right outside the window of her room--great fun to watch them build and great fun to see every day!

A Walkie Talkie anecdote: Yesterday Jodie was shopping in Target and ran into one of the nurses from the hospital. Conversation soon turned to the party we would be having the next day. The nurse wanted to know if we would be bringing stemmed glasses to the party. She was so disappointed when she found out we would only be using the regular water glasses in the hospital cafeteria. She made Jodie feel so bad that she finally ended up buying some plastic flutes to use (after all, they were on clearance after the holiday!). Last night the nurse called to say that she had found a dozen wine glasses for only $10. She said they wouldn't "ping" like crystal, but they were quite nice. She said she would wash them and bring them in and we could buy them or not. Well--they were great. Now the WT's have wine glasses for the next party. Irene is storing them at her house and has our permission to use them if she throws a party of her own! We have found that lots of people like to help with our celebrations and get a vicarious thrill from doing so.

Once again, a great time was had by all. We are all so thankful that Lorraine and Pat are doing so well!

It's Time For Another Party!

It's time for a party! The WT's are having a (belated) New Year's party with Anna and Pat at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow, January 4th. We are all looking forward to celebrating 2007 and hope that many of us will be available to be there. We have "plans" for a great time!

A VERY White New Year!

We didn't have a very white Christmas, but it certainly is a white New Year. We had rain followed by snow and ended up with close to eight inches by this morning. It appears that it sort of stifled some of the usual revelry in town. However, the roads are all cleared and the sound of snow blowers is definitely welcoming in 2007!

Even those of us who do not like the snow are admitting that this is quite beautiful!

A Healthy and Happy New Year To All!

Happy New Year to all of our relatives, friends, and loyal readers! We look forward to a healthy and happy New Year for everyone!

We also anticipate lots of zaniness and craziness in 2007--and we'll start right out this next week!

Fun Visits!

Many of us have had a chance to visit Pat and are all amazed at her healthy and positive outlook on all that has happened in the past two weeks. We wish her a speedy recovery and will be sure to visit her often and help out as best we can.

We are planning a New Year's get together with Pat and Anna sometime this next week and will keep our loyal readers updated on all of the news.

Wonderful News Today!

A RED LETTER DAY!

Pat is now at the local medical facility for her rehab. We don't know much about the details, but we had heard that she was close to being able to check out of the Duluth hospital and get into rehab. We were all hoping it would be closer to home--and this is the closest! Now, we can only hope that her husband will be joining her here shortly. We will wait to visit until we hear what she and the family want at this point!

GREAT NEWS!!!

Merry Christmas from the WT's!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Front: Mary, Emily and Jodie.

Sitting: Dorothy, Lorraine, Irene, Helen J., Pat, Elsie.

Standing: Laurie, Sharon, Helen S., Lil, Tee, Jo, Nancy, Joan and Naomi.

Have a wonderful holiday!

Another Update

One of us ran into Pat's daughter today. Dick is doing OK--still in a lot of pain. Sarah said he walked (with walker) about 20 feet this morning. They are hoping that they can get him home for Christmas. Pat had the skin graft (not as complicated a procedure as they had originally thought) and it went well. She might be starting rehab on Wednesday. The family is hoping it could be in Virginia so that she could be close Dick.

That is good news for all of us!

Another Christmas Event--Another Group Photo

Some of us visited Anna for a brief Christmas party and afternoon coffee on Thursday. Lil and Jo even drove from Virginia. Tee baked bars and bread and we enjoyed a nice visit. Of course, we had to have a group photo.

Front: Jodie, Irene, Anna.

Standing: Sharon, Lil, Jo, Tee and Mary.

We decided that we have to do this more often.

Perhaps wine and cheese in January?????

Good (Health) News

Just a few updates on our group. Lorraine got home from the hospital on Tuesday after her Monday elbow surgery. She does not have quite the mobility that she had with the temporary cast but is doing fine.

Pat is out of ICU and in a regular room. She can receive e-mail there and is enjoying that. She is doing well.

We are all going to visit Anna today and will have coffee at her place. Should be a great time and we'll post some photos tomorrow.

We Are Persons of the Year!

Time magazine announced that the annual Person of the Year went to all of us--"citizens of the new digital democracy." The winners were anyone using or creating content on the World Wide Web. That is certainly the WT's since we are on the Web through this 'Blog, our website page, and our photos that we post on the Geocaching site. Plus--wasn't the World Wide Web named after us?

Congratulations to Us!

Sounds like a reason to have a party!

Lorraine's Surgery Went Well!

Lorraine's husband just called to say that she is out of surgery and in recovery (He had "orders" to report to us). The surgery took a little longer than expected and they found three bone fragments that had to be removed. She is now all "plated" together and will be in the hospital overnight and home tomorrow. The doctor said that everything had gone well.

We will be anxious to have her back "in the fold" and back at coffee as she feels better.

Now their travels will be a little more exciting as she sets off the alarms at airport security with her new hardware.

Another one of the "Walking Wounded" is fixed. We are so happy that it is a good outcome!

WWW--A New Name--FOR NOW!

First of all--an update!

Pat and Dick are doing fine. Dick came out of his knee surgery just fine but is in a little pain now. Pat is not in any pain and her attitude is phenomenal, according to family and the pastor. She will need a skin graft because one of the bones poked through on her leg. That might even be done this week. The first round of family has returned to the Cities with the next batch coming on Tuesday. Both Pat and Dick are so thankful for surviving the accident. Pat remembers that she was able to touch the semi from the car. We all pray for a good recovery for both of them and will be anxious to visit.

We wish Lorraine well in her surgery tomorrow. Hopefully, we will know something early in the day so that we can report to our readers.

Last night Helen J. called from the Cities where she is visiting her daughters for the holidays. She called us the "Walking Wounded." I guess, in keeping with the "WWW" theme, that makes us the "Wonderful Walking Wounded." This is a temporary name and we will go back to the other name when we are all back at full strength--soon, we hope.

Your loyal writer will be gone until Wednesday night, so there might not be an update until then. Please check back for what we are sure will be good news.

Update

There was so much going on yesterday and the information kept changing about Pat and Dick. This seems to be right today:

Dick has some broken ribs and a shattered kneecap and had surgery for that on Friday afternoon. He delayed his own surgery until he could talk on the 'phone with Pat after her surgery. He told his brother-in-law that he loved the car and hoped he would get it back! Don't think that will be happening. He doesn't remember much of the accident.

Pat had a fractured knee cap on her left leg and a broken femur and ankle plus another break on her right leg. She had her surgery on Friday and was "feeling no pain" in the afternoon--good meds! She talked to Dick and also her brother on the 'phone and sounded fine. Pat remembers getting hit by the semi.

Their children are arriving. Evidently, some were on their way anyway for a cousins' Christmas reunion scheduled for next Friday evening. Their son and family and daughter and family are here and splitting their time between Virginia (Dick) and Duluth (Pat).

There was a short article in the paper today about it: http://virginiamn.com/mdn/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=207652
Pat might not appreciate that they listed her age!!!


We are all concerned and will try to keep our readers updated on what is happening to our group.

Not A "Good News" Day for the WT's

We have had some strange weather--rain mixed with snow. The sidewalks and streets have been treacherous for walking.

Yesterday Mary and Lorraine were walking to coffee, trying to stay on the crusted snow on the edge of the street to get more traction. Lorraine took a tumble and hurt her elbow, so Mary walked home with her and drove down to coffee by herself. Later in the day, we found out that the elbow was broken and she is now at home in a cast. On Monday she will have surgery to remove a bone fragment and to put in a plate. Mary was walking with Irene nearly three years ago when Irene fell and broke an arm. Now Mary worries that no one will want to walk with her in the winter!

This morning we saw a photo in the paper of a semi-trailer truck that had fishtailed and had an accident with a passenger car. We found out that it was Pat and her husband. He has some broken ribs and they kept him in the hospital overnight. She was taken to Duluth by ambulance (too foggy for the helicopter) with a broken knee cap on one leg and a broken hip and ankle on the other.

We are thankful that they are all OK but we worry about them nonetheless and hope for speedy recoveries. We are a "tight" group and will take care of each other!

One If By Land, Two If By--Air???

"Listen, my children, and you shall hear . . ."

We've all read the poem and know the story of Paul Revere's ride through the streets of Boston warning that the British were coming. We only feel it is only fair to warn the current Boston citizens that the "Rangers are Coming!" Tee and Joan are off to another ElderHostel, this time in Boston.

They will be seeing one Boston Pops Christmas concerts plus another Christmas concert. They will also be seeing A Christmas Carol and The Nutcracker. That adds up to four events in six days. We fear that they will return with "TB"--"Tired Bottoms!"

They leave this weekend. We are always anxious to hear their stories when they return--sort of makes us feel as if we were right with them!