Ageism - This word may or may not be in your vocabulary, but it's certainly a word that is getting more and more attention as those of us that find ourselves in the generation of the "Baby Boomers" move into what was once our retirement years.  We've often been called the "Silver Tsunami" or the analogy has been used that it's like "the snake who swallowed the elephant" when you consider that 75 million of us are moving into the Medicare/Social Security age of our lives. 

But let's get back to Ageism.  Wikipedia defines it as the "stereotyping and discriminating against individuals or groups on the basis of their age".   If this career has taught me nothing more than this, it's that we can never define someone based solely on their age.  Case in point...as you can see by a feature in this newsletter, one of our residents recently celebrated her 110th birthday!  She is funny, she is engaged, and she has every intention of celebrating 111!!  She currently resides in our Personal Care area which is our mid-level of care; only needing minimal assistance with her daily activities.  I celebrate her; I cheer her on....and there are so many others that are similar to her.  Age is something surely to celebrate.  We have in our culture, unlike other cultures, defined age as a time when we might be ignored and our ideas might not be taken seriously.  This unfortunately is where the term Ageism became relevant in our society.  We have residents who range in age from 65 to (now) 110, but the disparity in their abilities for everyday life have little to do with that number.  It's their attitude, it's their spirit, and it's their joie de vivre!!  Their approach to life and its challenges have sculpted their approach to aging....and believe me, they won't be ignored!

So last Friday, we raised a glass to aging gracefully!  We will bring understanding and patience to the beautiful way we move from birthday to birthday.....and we will all understand that WE will not want it any other way!!!

Happy February!