Why I Walk…Natalie’s story

My dad’s behavior began to change in 2010. He was always a quiet, reserved man, but his demeanor transformed and his communication lessened. As a family, we became very concerned when Dad began to forget things, like his route home from church or his picking up Mom from the train. He became withdrawn and seemed depressed. Changes were happening in his behavior. My dad is forever changed, and so is the entire Ziemba family.

Dad’s behavior began to change in 2010. He was always a quiet, reserved man, but his demeanor transformed and his communication lessened. As a family, we became very concerned when Dad began to forget things, like his route home from church or his picking up Mom from the train. He was not just quiet, but he was actually not verbalizing much at all. Dad became withdrawn and seemed depressed. Changes were happening in his behavior: he was eating off of others’ plates, providing unusual answers to questions, ignoring the ringing telephone, misplacing household items. My brothers and I urged my mom to take Dad to the doctor. After a physical examination and a battery of memory tests, the diagnosis was Alzheimer’s.

Since 2011 and that diagnosis, Mom and my brother Jon have been Dad’s caretakers. Up until about a year ago, Dad was able to use the toilet on his own, move about with just simple verbal queues, put on his pajamas, and provide the answer of “Yeah,” even when on most occasions he likely meant “No.”

So much has changed in a year.

Dad hasn’t prepared a meal on his own, chosen his own clothes, dressed himself, bathed himself, used the bathroom on his own, spoken a sentence, used the telephone, gotten a glass of water for himself, opened the refrigerator, shaved himself, said “Hello” in over a year.

We are convinced that further professional analysis and examination will provide a slightly different diagnosis, perhaps Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). We are still waiting on this to be official, though.

My dad is forever changed, and so is the entire Ziemba family.

This 2016 Chicago Walk to End Alzheimer’s will by my fourth Walk. Why do I walk? I walk because I am convinced there is a cure. I walk because I am convinced that further research is required and that we’re on the brink of a major medical breakthrough. I walk because I demand both action by and funding from policymakers. I walk because it’s a way to bond with others who are experiencing what we are. I walk because it’s meaningful. I walk to be part of a community. I walk to raise awareness, to advocate, for this cause.

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Olympian delivers on promise to bring a gold medal to mother with Alzheimer’s disease

Prior to leaving for the Summer Olympics in Rio, long jumper Jeffery Henderson dedicated his journey to his family. Henderson promised to bring back a gold medal for his mother, who’s living with Alzheimer’s disease, and he delivered.

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Please help end this global epidemic.

For the sake of future generations — and for the millions affected by Alzheimer’s right now — we must unite and fight for methods of treatment, prevention and, ultimately, a cure. Today, you can stand with us by making a generous gift to our 2016 Annual Fund.
Your donation will help fund innovative research for Alzheimer’s, as well as important care and support services for the more than 5 million people in the United States living with this cruel and fatal disease and their 15 million caregivers.
Alzheimer’s remains the only cause of death among the top 10 in the United States that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. It’s an escalating global epidemic — you can help us end it by donating to our 2016 Annual Fund today.

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Famous & 65

Look Who’s Turning 65

Aug. 3—Jay North

North is best known for his role as Dennis the Menace in the 1960s CBS situation comedy based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham. He started his career at age 6 on his favorite television program, local Los Angeles children’s show Cartoon Express. North’s first professional acting job was a live appearance on the game show Queen for a Day. He continued to work as a child model and actor in commercials, as well as landing small parts on numerous popular NBC variety shows of the 1950s, before auditioning for the role that made him a star. Dennis the Menace premiered on October 4, 1959, and quickly became a hit. In addition to filming the series, North appeared as Dennis in commercials for the show’s sponsors and regularly traveled around the country on the weekends to promote the show.

In the fall of 1960, the second season of the series was ranked among TV’s top 20 shows, and North’s portrayal of Dennis had become a beloved pop culture icon. With the series’ success, North’s guardians, his aunt and uncle, Marie and Hal Hopper, had become strict taskmasters and stern disciplinarians. He wasn’t allowed to socialize with other cast members on the set and missed being around children his own age. Many years later, North revealed that his aunt physically and verbally abused him when he made mistakes on the set or didn’t perform to her standards. By the end of the fourth season, ratings were down, and in the spring of 1963, Dennis the Menace was cancelled.

In 1965, North landed the lead role in the MGM family comedy film Zebra in the Kitchen. A year later, he starred in another MGM family adventure film, Maya, and, in 1967, its subsequent television series adaptation. Both made North a popular teen idol of the era, featured in numerous teen magazines, but the series was cancelled after one season.

North found work as a voice actor for animated television series. In 1974, he appeared in his last starring role, in the R-rated coming-of-age suspense thriller The Teacher. By early 1977, disillusioned with his career in show business, he left acting and enlisted in the U.S. Navy but was harshly treated by his shipmates and superiors for being a former child star and left within two years. While he found small roles during the 1980s in television and film, he was unable to make a steady living.

In January 1990, after former child star Rusty Hamer from The Danny Thomas Show had committed suicide, North started seeing therapist Dr. Stanley Ziegler, who specialized in helping troubled former child actors. In 1993, with the release of the feature film Dennis the Menace, North publicly disclosed the abuse he’d experienced as a child star. After moving to Florida, he became employed as a correctional officer, reportedly working with troubled youth within Florida’s juvenile justice system.

Aug. 23—Queen Noor of Jordan

Born Lisa Najeeb Halaby in Washington, D.C., Queen Noor is the American widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was his fourth spouse and queen consort between their marriage in 1978 and his death in 1999. She is also known as Noor Al-Hussein. In 1977, while working for Royal Jordanian Airlines, she attended various high-profile social events and met Hussein of Jordan. Upon her marriage in 1978, she accepted her husband’s Sunni Islamic religion and the royal name Noor Al-Hussein (“Light of Hussein”). Although initially regarded as a stranger to the country and its people, she soon gained power and influence by using her role as King Hussein’s consort and her education in urban planning for charitable work and improvement to the country’s economy.

Behind the scenes, Noor’s involvement in politics was sometimes criticized by fundamentalists. In 1984, she supported her husband when he criticized the Americans for their one-sided commitment to Israel, while Americans criticized her for siding with the Jordanians. Following a long battle with lymphatic cancer, King Hussein died in 1999. Noor is a board member of Refugees International and has been advocating for the protection of civilians in conflict and displaced persons around the world. She has spoken out for Iraqis displaced in Iraq, Jordan, Syria and other countries after the 2003 Iraq conflict, and for the millions of Syrians displaced since the onset of the 2011 Syrian civil war.

She is the longest-standing member of the Board of Commissioners of the International Commission on Missing Persons. As of 2011, she is president of the United World Colleges movement and an advocate of the anti-nuclear weapons proliferation campaign, Global Zero. In 2015, Queen Noor received the Woodrow Wilson Award for her public service.

Aug. 25—Rob Halford

Best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Judas Priest, the English singer and songwriter is famed for his powerful wide ranging operatic voice. AllMusic says of Halford: “There have been few vocalists in the history of heavy metal whose singing style has been as influential and instantly recognizable, possessing a voice which is able to effortlessly alternate between a throaty growl and an ear-splitting falsetto.” In 2009, Halford was voted No. 33 in the greatest voices in rock by Planet Rock listeners. In addition to his work with Judas Priest, he has been involved with several side projects, including Fight, 2wo and Halford. In 1998, he came out as gay in an interview with MTV news, making him the first openly gay singer in heavy metal music.

Raised near Birmingham, England, Halford joined Judas Priest as a singer, and the band debuted in August 1974 with the single “Rocka Rolla,” before releasing an album of the same name a month later. The band’s Stained Class and Killing Machine (1978, released in America as Hell Bent for Leather) heralded the first style change when Halford (and Priest) shifted from gothic style robes to a leather and studs image. The year 1979 brought their first live recording with the now classic Unleashed in the East. Their 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance had a song, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” which garnered strong U.S. radio airplay, and the popular follow-up Defenders of the Faith released in 1984. In September 1990, the Painkiller album dropped the 1980s-style synthesizers.

After spending nearly 20 years with Judas Priest, Halford left the band in May 1992. He first formed the band Fight, then returned to his metal roots in 2000 with his band Halford and the widely acclaimed album Resurrection (2000). In July 2003, Halford returned to his former band, and they released Angel of Retribution in 2005. The world tour that accompanied the release marked the band’s 30th anniversary. In 2011, Judas Priest embarked upon what was billed as their final world tour as a group, but Halford and Judas Priest recorded another album, Redeemer of Souls, which was released in 2014. Halford and Priest were on the road in support of that album through much of 2014 and into 2015.

Aug. 30—Timothy Bottoms

The actor and film producer is best known for his role as Sonny Crawford in The Last Picture Show(1971) where he and his fellow co-stars, such as Cybill Shepherd and Jeff Bridges, rose to fame. Bottoms made his film debut as Joe Bonham in Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun. In 1973’s The Paper Chase, he starred as a Harvard law student facing the fearsome Professor Kingsfield (John Houseman). Among other films, he has also appeared in Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing (1973), Rollercoaster (1977) and Elephant(2003).

Bottoms has the unique distinction of portraying U.S. President George W. Bush in three widely varying productions. In 2000–2001, he played a parody of Bush in the Comedy Central sitcom That’s My Bush!; he subsequently appeared as Bush in a cameo appearance in the family film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course. Finally, following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Bottoms once again played Bush, this time in a serious fashion, in the telefilmDC 9/11, one of the first movies to be based upon the attacks.

He also co-produced the documentary Picture This—The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1991), a behind-the-scenes work about the making of the films The Last Picture Show and its sequel Texasville. He was also heavily featured in the Metallica video for “One,” which featured footage of the film Johnny Got His Gun.

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Find Your Niche in the Right Senior Community

Whether being with others who want to learn, create art or share a common faith or culture, there’s a retirement community for you.

Find Your Niche in the Right Senior Community

Whether being with others who want to learn, create art or share a common faith or culture, there’s a retirement community for you.

As baby boomers start to age and look for their ideal retirement communities, many express a general dissatisfaction with traditional senior housing, which they perceive as endless rounds of bingo, shuffleboard and making crafts. Whether that’s an accurate representation or not, your choice of retirement housing options is getting bigger. Now there are places exclusively for those who are LGBT, seeking faith based communities, or want to continue college careers.

Go Back to College

One of the more popular niche housing options is a university-based retirement community (UBRC). In 2014, PBS NewsHour found about 100 UBRCs, though the number will likely grow as baby boomers enter the senior community market. UBRCs vary widely but share certain characteristics (from A Place for Mom):

• Proximity to a university campus.
• Formalized programming between the university and the community, encouraging intergenerational diversity and a range of activities.
• Full senior housing services offering a continuum of care, from independent to assisted living.
• A strong alumni base, with at least 10 percent of the community consisting of alumni, former faculty or past university employees.
• Sound financial planning, with a documented financial relationship between the senior housing provider and the university.

Typically, UBRC communities are located near a college campus, affording seniors the opportunity to learn from top university professors, either at classes within the community or on the college campus. Other senior housing communities offer their own curriculum that can include everything from fitness and nutrition to computers, history or creative writing.

Residents at Kendal at Oberlin, in Ohio, can audit classes at Oberlin College free with permission from the professor. They can also attend lectures and go to concerts and recitals at the Conservatory of Music (more than 500 offered during the academic year). There’s even a Kendal bus that transports residents to several on-campus activities each month. Kendal residents have collaborated with students and professors on energy and environmental initiatives.

Although about 37 percent of Kendal at Oberlin residents are alumni or former faculty and staff, others are drawn to the college-town atmosphere and the Oberlin environment. Kendal offers everything from independent living to nursing facilities.

At Lasell Village, on the campus of Lasell College in Newton, Mass., the 210 residents are required to participate in 450 hours of education a year—about nine hours a week. Residents can choose classes from French cinema to social psychology to current events to fitness and volunteer work. Each of the 16 buildings at the village has a classroom. Lasell residents also have the usual retirement activities, such as a pool and fitness classes, plus choices of different levels of care.

Make Music, Create Art

Senior housing communities dedicated to the arts—music, painting, theater—are burgeoning. There’s a good reason: A growing body of research suggests that creativity and artistic expression contribute to healthy aging, including fewer heart problems and less depression. An April 2015 Mayo Clinic study found that making art is tied to fewer cognitive problems as people age.

If that’s true, the residents of the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, in Burbank, Calif., should be thriving. There’s live entertainment in its Performance Theater, writing and art classes, a choir and a Hollywood-themed clubhouse for socializing. There are also computer and anti-aging exercise classes.

One instructor, Oshea Luja, offers a similar curriculum to the one he teaches at charter schools in the Los Angeles area: creative expression, spoken word, poetry and rap, except at Burbank, his students range from age 75 to 95. They call themselves Oshea’s OWLs, for “Old White Ladies.”

Many niche communities can be expensive, but the nonprofit group EngAGE runs the 200-person Burbank and other art colonies, which target low-income residents. Building on Burbank’s success, EngAGE has established 37 communities mostly in Southern California. The model is now expanding into Minneapolis, Minn.; Portland, Ore.; and Winston-Salem, N.C.

An additional bonus of these arts communities is possible revenue. Senior centers, state arts grants, nonprofit arts groups, foundations and other creative-minded organizations frequently pay older artists to teach in elderly communities.

Live with Your Kind of People

Many retirees want to live with others with whom they share a culture, whether LGBT, Jewish or Chinese.

Postal Workers, RVers Unite

Often, people want to retire with others like them. What’s your group?

Postal workers. Nalcrest, in south central Florida, was created in the 1960s as an affordable place for letter carriers to retire. There are 500 one-story apartments with around 700 residents, as well as a recently renovated pool, shuffleboard area, bocce ball courts, a 75-acre lake (for fishing, kayaking and boating) and a small restaurant.

RVers. At Escapees Care Center, in Livingston, Tex., you can park your recreational vehicle on the grounds and get nursing care, medical treatment and meals.

Spiritual. Elderspirit Community, in Abingdon, Va., is dedicated to supporting others in a community of diverse spiritual paths and encouraging each other to live simply and care for the earth.

Country music. Near Nashville, Tenn., plans are afoot for a retirement community “designed to complement the lifestyle goals of aging country music veterans, as well as other seniors.” Besides the usual amenities, Crescendo at Westhaven will have a theater with a sound booth so you can record your music.

Fountaingrove Lodge in Santa Rosa, Calif., is the nation’s first lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) independent senior community (with the option of continuing care services). It’s costly—a $740,000 entrance fee, plus a $5,150 monthly fee. The community includes a 10-acre campus, gourmet dining, concierge services, pet parks and a bocce park. Straight people are allowed, but the focus is on providing a place for LGBTs to relax without worrying about discrimination or having to hide their preferences. According to SmartMoney, at least a dozen such communities exist across the country, mostly in big cities.

ShantiNiketan, near Orlando, Fla., caters to older Indian-Americans. The food is Indian with extensive vegetarian options, and there’s a prayer room, Bollywood movies and, of course, yoga.

Aegis Gardens, in Fremont, Calif., targets Chinese Americans. Its architecture and interiors follow the Asian principles of feng-shui, its staff includes health care providers from China who speak multiple languages and dialects, and it offers Chinese (as well as American) cuisine. Activities include tai-chi, calligraphy and mahjong, as well as American pastimes such as bingo, ballroom dancing and bridge. A second Aegis Gardens is slated to open near Seattle in 2017.

As of 2013, there were about 1,000 Jewish or Jewish-affiliated nursing homes and assisted living communities in the United States. Jewish retirement facilities generally offer Shabbat services, kosher menus, Jewish holiday celebrations and an on-premise synagogue or access to local Jewish religious services.

Similarly, Catholics can find retirement communities where they can share their faith with other Catholics and partake in daily Mass as well as celebration of the holy days.

For other kinds of niche communities, see the sidebar.

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