50+ Lifestyles

Climb Your Mountain Wisely

By Mary Huebbe
Marketing Director
Ridgecrest Village

What is life but a hiking trip up a large mountain with a back pack on our back? This mountain has different peaks, turns and dips; our backpack can be full or empty. Our hike feels never ending and relentless at times, yet peaceful and fulfilling at other times. There has been no promise of joy or happiness; it is what we make it. How we handle each situation affects how our life will be.

Our younger years feel so carefree for most of us. We are living our life without a care in the world. In our teen years, we usually worry about if someone will like me. Will they want to spend time with me? If I do this or that, what will they say about me? It becomes more about reputation than about finding the true you. As young adults we still have our teen fears but also adding in responsibility. Life is starting to get serious, searching for the true us.

Middle aged adults are building their families and careers, as well as starting to experience what loss is. In our older years we experience more loss. Having loss makes us stop and think of others, as well as looking inside ourselves. What if I would have done this or that? Could I have made a difference for that person? For most of my days here at Ridgecrest Village, I’ve heard the happiness in my seniors’ voices. If we changed something from our past, what would that change for my happy residents? We learn from our past, and that creates our future. Again, our decisions throughout our life create our lives in the present.

Loss has been something my family has been learning a lot about in the last few years. Our Beloved Grandma, three uncles, a sister, a brother, my father in law, a cousin, several friends, with added news that another sister may be leaving us soon. With all these losses, my family has learned how to survive in the hospital. We could help you find the resources you would need to make the hospital stay a little easier. There are tricks you learn as well, use a nice scented lotion (not too overbearing) while massaging their hands, or their favorite flavor of Chap Stick for their lips because the air is dry in the hospital, especially if they are on oxygen, using their favorite flavor gives them a sense of pleasure and comfort.

Another comfort or relaxation idea is music. Bob Seger couldn’t have said it better in the chorus of “Old time Rock and Roll” – music can soothe your soul and make you reminisce about the days of old. What was their favorite music? Play it for them, so they can escape back to the time they enjoyed listening or dancing to it. They can relive the times of the past just by hearing certain songs. You will see a smile on their face that you may have thought was gone forever. Ridgecrest has been exploring programs that use music as therapy, and we are working to find a partner that would want to help do a drive for donated “iPod shuffles,” so we can use them for our residents that have Alzheimer’s, Dementia or other mental handicaps. It’s nice to know that our facility doesn’t believe that medication is the answer to all conditions.

No matter where you are in your life’s travels or if your backpack is weighted down or empty, remember one thing. You can’t go back to yesterday, so make an effort to tell people how you feel, mend old wounds, don’t hold grudges, keep your loved ones close to your heart and give all the hugs and kisses you can give, because we are never promised tomorrow.

Mary Huebbe is the marketing director for Ridgecrest Village in Davenport, Iowa. For more information about Ridgecrest Village, contact Mary at (563) 391-3430 or mhuebbe@RidgecrestVillage.org.