Kitchen Table Kibitzing February 15, 2026

KTK

Live Long and Prosper

That seems like a good idea, but growing old is not for the meek. Challenges galore as one ages, and I’m here at 86 to confirm that adage. Hearing, sight, balance, aches and pains, all get more and more compromised. There are always exceptions, often chronicled in media, of 100 year old channel swimmers or high jumpers, but they are few and far between. 

The worst, it seems to me, is mental decline. We can forget things all through life, but at a certain point one worries that the inevitable decline has begun. “OMG it’s dementia”.

Cognitive decline is often a normal part of aging or a mild transitional state, whereas dementia is a clinical syndrome that disrupts daily life. 

I mention this especially because living in such a diverse community, we are seeing declines in some of our friends. Mostly obvious when the same information is repeated several or even many times in one conversation. These observations are often confirmed with other friends. The quandary is deciding whether to communicate our fears to the person. We have dealt with relatives and intimate friends with Alzheimer's but these are neighbors.

We received an invitation to attend an event at a local Medical Community, which offers multiple levels of care, especially memory care. We plan to attend as a learning experience, and there’s a free lunch which promises to be very good. It’s good to discover what’s out there, plus perhaps we can get advice regarding our neighbors and friends, and maybe us when the time comes.

 

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Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.