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The year 2021 is almost done

Categories: Family General Lifestyle New Parkinsons Tags:

While I’d love to say “time flies when you are having fun.”, that’s not the reason that I haven’t done a blog post since April 2020.   I’ve written many  articles in my head, they just don’t get down on paper.  There are  a variety of reasons why including Parkinsons.  In general, I’d say my Parkinson’s has been stable for the past 18 months but I do have some neurological symptoms that appeared to be getting worse but have recently improved. Sometimes the fear of getting worse does hold me back. 

Whenever I start a task, I think, am I in an A,B, or C place.  If I’m very comfortable, little stiffness, thinking straight, I tackle harder projects like reading an instruction manual, moving files on the computer, anything creative and things that require mobility.  I don’t sleep more than 5-6 hours so between that and Parkinson’s medicine cycles, my “A” time has to be planned carefully.   If I’m not quite at an “A” level , I try to do tasks that are standardized like paying bills, or simple research.  When I’m at a “C” time, I usually pedal the stationary bike, read a book or play computer games until I feel better.  Even as I’m writing this I was an “A” moving towards “B” ; my right ring finger is feeling tight and triggering, so I have to correct lots of typos. One word of advice is to always have the keyboard at your optimum height (I believe this is 25-27 inches from the floor.)    I have considered the possibility of hiring a typist so that I can get all the documentation and photography that I want to do, done.  I think I talk faster than I now type.

We would have never expected a pandemic in our time but while we want to comply, “sheltering in place” is exactly what a Person with Parkinson’s cannot do.  So I continue to take live exercise classes,  physical therapy, water exercise and outdoor bicycling as much as I can but I will use Zoom when necessary.

So my personal goal is to get my blog caught up.  Parkinson’s is such a strange disease and I want to tell whomever is interested about my unique case.  My husband and I never dreamed that I would be as “good” as I am now, even 10 years ago.   I keep thinking of more aspects of Parkinsons that I want to write about but I will them to another day and get to another “A” task before my 6:30pm water aerobics class.   I’d like to move the blog entries on www.gsfriedman.com to www.pdsupportgroup.com so watch both sites for more.

My goal is to AXE Parkinson’s (Advocate, Exercise, Education).

55+ Part 3 – Learning How to Retire

Categories: Lifestyle New

So, we retired when we were 57 years old and married for 35 years. What are we going to do for the next 4 to 40 years.  (My grandpa Scherr was retired more years than he worked).  The circumstances of our retirement were complicated but briefly it involved our office building accidentally being destroyed and we had to relocate it, changes in the credit card processing industry and how it would affect our clients and our own health.  So with selling/insurance from the building and business and other sources we actually purchased two vacation homes.  One as  a family retreat and meeting place, a six bedroom home on a non-motor boat lake in the Catskills and the winter home in Florida which is a 2 bedroom plus den and 2 bath.  We have a nice soft bed with no metal frame in the den so we sleep more than 6 if needed and the regular guest room is on the opposite side of the house from the master so guests can have a private space.

So how do we keep busy when we are in Florida,   Well there’s the repetitive things like Ron plays racquet ball 7-8a twice a week and tennis at 9 or 10:30 3 days a week.  I have water weights everyday at 9:30 and boxing at 3-4 twice a week etc,  Then there are clubs like photo club, arts and crafts, drama etc that meet from once a week to once a month and then there are shows, some brought in by the homeowners association and some by the clubs (some you can bring guests and some it is only for people in that complex. My son’s in-laws purchased 4mi away but we  hardly see  them because we are doing stuff at our complex and they are at theirs.)  Among the stars we’ve seen are Don McClean, Joan Baez and Peter Noonun, we’ve seen lots of tribute bands and even bigger groups like Capital Steps and also a variety of  local/regional entertainers that also do the cruise boat gigs.  And in on top of that we’ve had several concert and theater venues which we’ve either purchased individual or season tickets.   WE had two years where we juggled two or three Tuesday night subscriptions.  Some sites are better than others on returns and exchanges But you can see how we keep busy.

And then of course there are the visitors and actually this is something you need to check before you purchase,  Our complex does not allow diapers in the pool so my kids really can’t come down again until the 2 year old is out of diapers.  But another nearby complex does not let children in the pool at all. In general Valencia Shores is kid friendly The Men’s Club does all sorts of kids programs (ages 5=17 ish) during the December school break and people often pass around high  chairs, car seats and Pack n Plays

So moving is never easy, finding new stores, new practitioners, doctors, etc, but Ron and I personally made a good choice with Valencia Shores. We’ve formed nice friendships for the future and every once in a while make an acquaintance with some one that shares our past history

55+- Part 2 – Not Your Grandparent’s Condo

Categories: Lifestyle
PI Day 2019

Purchasing a unit in one of these units new can be a full time job.  It takes 40–60 hours to pick all the colors and fabrics, landscaping and more. We opted for a resale unit that was about 10 years old. The disadvantage was that most original owners are 10-15 years older than  ourselves but the advantage was that the clubs existed and had leaders, whereas the new construction was just starting to organize clubs, etc.

There are a lot of little things that might not seem importanto but could cause you to love or not love the new home in the long run.

So in no particular order, here is a list:

  • Orientation of house, where does the morning sun and evening sun hits the house.
  • General landscaping  what does the HOA take care of and what can you customize
  • Mail delivery-to home or central pick up (newer communities are central)
  • Sports – type of court surface, procedure for court times and how to find players . How competitive. Teams?
  • Sidewalks, bikes, shopping
  • Clubs, how to join, etc.
  • How to buy tickets, any special seating or other things you should know
  • Unique customs like how to buy cards and certificates for condolence and happy occasions
  • Card playing- – how to find and join games, what expected
  • Do people entertain or go out , who pays who drives (frankly I don’t mind going out and splitting down the middle unless one side h s drinks or wine and other, but I prefer Friday nights homecooked. (Of course there was the time that we accepted an invite from someone wo said she used to be kosher and I said we were kosher style.  Ron especially wasn’t too happy when she served chicken parmigiana).
  • Closets (how many, layout – the difference between a bedroom and a den is that a bedroom has a closet and door and a den doesn’t have to have either
  • Colors (Dark woods that you love up north may not work.)
  • Flooring (open layout – we wanted to be able to do a table for 20 for seder if necessary)
  • Kitchen
  • Street names  (Our complex has really odd street names generally two unrelated words  but our street is on of the funniest – Playa del sur Blvd – which translates to South Beach Blvd.  We are a standard E-W street in the northeast corner of the complex)
  • Grandchildren Friendly (Valencia Shores has special Kids Week events including entertainment and field trips)

55+ Part 1 – What is a 55+ Resort Style Community

Categories: General GSF Lifestyle New Tags:
Valencia Shores
Valencia Shores, FL

So  this essay is a long time in “the making”.  I’ve written and rewritten it many times over.

We retired at the beginning of 2016 but we actually started looking at 55+ “resort style” communities a year or two prior.  We looked in the greater Phoenix area (Sun City, Canto Mia), and The Villages(central Florida) and the Valencia groups in western Palm Beach county.  We ultimately purchased a resale unit in VALENCIA SHORES.  But let me share some of our thoughts, experiences, and observations. There are so many factors to think about, I hope these notes will help you in making a next stage of life decision.

So first there was “our grandparents condo”.  In the late 1960’s and through probably the early 1980’s our grandparents, many of whom started their lives in the US in tenement houses, purchased condos in places like Century Village and Kings Point.  These were apartments in three to five story buildings.  There were pools and a clubhouse and some activities.  Some had golf courses.  Shopping was often close by.

The next generation were the grown up free spirits of the Woodstock generation.  Most of them had pensions and/or early IRA accounts and did well with their investments in the 80’s.  Their 55+ complexes often had golf/country clubs and townhouse or attached homes

Now the end of the baby boomers are retiring.  They are spoiled.  This generation of “resort style”55+ features single family homes of 3 to 5 bedrooms (often bigger than the homes where they raised their families) with top of the line appliances and lots of activities to participate . 

The website https://www.55places.com/florida/ is a good starting point to compare facilities.