Recovery from Rotator Surgery

 

Image from Creative Commons /
Wikimedia 

I am not lifting heavy items anymore because of my injured rotator cuff (right shoulder). 

I have done rehab and recovered about 85% of of the function of that shoulder. I don't need to be carrying huge boxes of books for the library anymore. I can break down loads to smaller bags.  I really do not have the time to do a year-long recovery when I have achieved a lot of function through rehab. 

People keep encouraging me to have surgery, but I am resisting for three reasons:

Walking Lowers Risk of All-Cause Mortality

 

It's a mile walk each way to the new
LDS temple in Ephraim

Since experiencing problems with my rotator cuff (right shoulder), I have dialed back on exercises that focus a lot on the shoulder. I am cleared to do so, but I am being cautious. For the time being, I have stopped doing strength training (aka weightlifting), yoga, and swimming. Instead, I have started walking, which does not make that many demands on my shoulders. 

In 2013, I posted about walking rate as a biomarker of longevity. I decided that it's a topic worth revisiting with a slightly different focus. 

Note: This post is not offering medical advise; it is only to raise awareness. If you are planning to start a fitness regime, please discuss your plans with a licensed medical professional. 

To help motivate me, I downloaded an app that uses the fitness tracker on my cell phone, one that includes medals as a reward for completing a walking goal. I am striving to walk somewhere between 5,000 steps and 10,000 steps a day.  If I walk to the public library where I work part time, that helps me to achieve my daily goal. 

Falls Can Lead to Death

 

Image by Alexander Delaunoy
via Creative Commons

In the fourteen years that I have been maintaining this blog, I have written about falls just a handful of times.  In 2026, the issue is more salient for me because three of my six children's grandparents have been falling with serious consequences. 

• My mother (in her late 80s) is falling about once a month that my sisters and I know of. In February, she fell and broke her arm in three places near the wrist. A decade earlier, she fell and damaged her knee. 
• My step-mother (in her mid 80s) has muscle wasting and dementia. She has falling repeatedly, causing a broken hip and several broken teeth. 
• My step-father (aged 91) fell and hit his head in January, causing a brain bleed that led to his death eight days later. He was living with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (which includes gait problems and cognition problems). Additionally, he had the flu that made him even more unsteady.  

These falls, however, are not just limited to my own aging relatives.  This is a problem that many older adults experience. According to 2024 data provided by the CDC and reported by the National Safety Council  aka NSC (an NGO), "43,020 individuals aged 65 and older died as a result of preventable falls."  To put this number in context, this represents an upward trend for deaths: 

"Over the past 10 years, the number of fall-related deaths among older adults [in the US] has increased by 51% while emergency department visits have risen by 38%. In contrast, the number of fall deaths among individuals younger than 65 has increased by only 8%, and emergency department visits for this age group have decreased by 26%." 

To see a graph depicting this trend, visit this link (which is the same NSC link above).  

Why the upward trend?  

The Housekeeper and the Professor: Book Review

 

Published 6 April 2005

I read newly released books; however, I do like to dig around for hidden gems from prior years, even prior decades. I found this novel, The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa probably while searching for books about late life. 

The novel features a quartet of characters: obviously, there is a professor. He is a retired mathematician who requires care because of age-related frailty. His sister hires a woman to come cook and clean for him in addition to being a companion.  She has a school-aged child whom she brings with her.  The sister is largely out of sight for most of the novel, so it's really the trio who are in the spotlight. 

Over the course of the book, the mathematician warms up to the housekeeper and the son by talking in an animated matter about math. The housekeeper has some innate ability to understand some of the more philosophical aspects of mathematics.  The boy is interested in baseball generally.  The mother has a better understanding of baseball statistics.  

It is a heartwarming book about how strangers can form meaningful bonds under peculiar circumstances. 

Related: 

Books on Aging. 

Going to PT -- Again: Rotator Cuff This Time

 

I spent March going to PT

While I was working for Newman University in Kansas, the VP of Student Affairs observed that her parents were aging under different models: "My mom is rusting out, and my dad is wearing out."  I have long expected that I am on the "wearing out" trajectory.  And so here I am at age 64 with a torn rotator cuff on my right side. 

I have already experienced problems with my right shoulder / arm.  While living in Indiana, I saw an physical therapist for an AC joint impingement and another one for a pinched ulna nerve.  In West Virginia, I saw a physical therapist for a torn piriformis, but that is an issue with my hip (but also on the right side).  Now I am visiting a physical therapist here in Ephraim for a torn rotator cuff. 

I knew something was wrong, but I have been busy supporting my mother, which meant that I was traveling to Utah County (90 miles each way) two or three times a week while working two part jobs and doing volunteer work. (My mother was widowed in January. In February, she fell and broke her left arm in three places. She needed help because of being in a cast.) 

I was going to seek help for myself in May after I filed grades for the semester (I teach a class on research paper writing for Snow College); however, I got to the point where I did not want to use my right arm (my dominant side). 

I was switching to using my ungraceful and weaker left arm, because with my right arm, I could not hang up clothes, could not reach for a bar of soap in the bathtub, and couldn't carry anything over a pound with my right hand.  So I caved and got treatment plan after the  diagnosis, which included movement tests and images: first an x-ray then a sonogram. 

How did I tear my rotator cuff? 

The Other 17%: Not All Elders Are Grandparents

 

Image by Tony Alter
via Creative Commons

My children made statements in early 2026 leading me to believe that they are choosing to be child free. Now, this is their decision. Having a child is a huge responsibility, so they need to really want to accept all the roles and responsibilities that come with being a parent. 

I would be lying, however, if I did not admit to the need to "move the furniture around in my head." In other words, the future I have been imaging for myself just radically shifted.  True, I only have two children, but I thought that maybe at least one of them would have one child. Instead, I am going to be a grandparent to cats now and possibly dogs once they can afford a home with a yard.

Did I traumatize them with inadequate parenting to the point that they are disillusioned with the relationship?  Ouch.  My heart is full of cement with the thought that my poor choices may have influenced their decision to remain child free.   

I decided to look at some data to see how many older adults in the US are grandparents, and Pew Research indicates that 83% of those 65+ in the US are grandparents.  That makes me part of the 17% that never hold that role.  

The Secret Scripture: Book Review

 

Published 2 April 2008

I have not read very many books set in Ireland, so when I found a review of  The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry on Goodreads, I decided to reach back to a book published in 2008. It's notable that this book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I was also interested in a protagonist, who was a centenarian, Roseanne (Rose) Clear McNulty, reviewing events from the first quarter of her life. 

The Correspondent: Book Review

 

Published 29 April 2025

Oh, I enjoyed this book. The novel features a woman in her seventies named Sybil Stone Van Antwerp. However, the genre is epistolary, meaning that we read a series of letters that Sybil and a handful of friends, family members, and at times strangers write to each other. Sybil is an avid reader, and some of her correspondents are famous authors, which makes for some fun cameos of sorts. (This is all fiction, however.)  

For me, the more engaging exchanges take place between Sybil and close friends and family members.  Having more than one person comment on past events gives us more than one point of view, and much of the novel's conflicts have to do with these clashes of perception.

Goodbye to Gary, My Mom's Husband

 

Gary M. Lloyd and Donna W. Lloyd
Wedding Reception November 2, 1989

Earlier this month, my mother's husband of thirty-six years was tested positive for influenza. He was already unsteady on his feet due to his normal pressure hydrocephalus. He ended up falling sometime during the first week of January 2026 and was diagnosed with a bi-lateral brain bleed on January 7, 2026.  A week later, he passed peacefully with family at his bedside. A week after that, the family celebrated his life with a viewing and funeral at Berg Mortuary in Provo, Utah prior to an internment in Lehi, Utah. Gary was 91 years old. 

I will remember him for being friendly, diplomatic, dependable, and devout.  He was a great partner to my mother for decades.  

I am providing a copy of his obituary here since it will be behind a firewall at some point: 

2026 WOTY: Listen

 

Photo by Catherine Singleton
via Creative Commons

Instead of making a New Year's Resolution, I adopt a Word of the Year.  If you have not heard of this concept, you can read this post by Jess at her blog Cultivate & Navigate. 

Basically, selecting a Word of the Year (WOTY) helps people to avoid failing in the ways the New Year's Resolutions often end up. Instead of focusing on a specific behavior, the WOTY (aka focus word) can take on different shapes and meanings over twelve months. It's an act of meditation that encourages changes in thoughts, words, and behavior.  What that looks like specifically can transform from day to day.  

I like that better. When I selected a New Year's Resolution, I often gave up four to six weeks into the year. Over the last nine years, I persist through the entire year thinking about my focus word. 

I usually pick something that will stretch me. I may not always incorporate the focus word into my character completely, but I usually learn a lot about myself and adopt some strategies for self-improvement along with self-awareness. 

Happy 14th Blogoversary

 

Image by Scott McLoud
via Creative Commons

Ah, the earth has made another trip around the sun, and this blog has accrued another anniversary, or blogoversary, if you will. 

This post will be number 510.  If my math is correct, this blog has posted on average three times each month (with some wild variation).  My goal is to post at least twice a month. 

Even though people have turned more towards social media posts that have images and posts that are shorter (I'm looking at you, Instagram), this blog still receives about 300 hits a day on days that I do not promote any content. 

Views for this blog
between Jan 2012 to Jan 2026

According to Blogger's statistics, these are the twelve posts that garnished the most views during 2025. Of course, there are a lot of evergreen posts on the posts most viewed during 2025 from all available posts. However, one post (More Community Building) did break through into this year's most viewed posts. 

Without further ado, here are the Top 12 Most Viewed Posts during 2025: 

1. Movies about Love and Sex for People 50 Plus. ( Posted 13 April 2013).  Link

2. More Community Building (Posted 31 March 2025). Link

2025 Top Ten Posts

 

Image from
Boston Public Library
via Creative Commons

It's that time of year where many are taking a backward glance over the concluding year. 

Here are the ten posts written in 2025 that received the most views this year: 

1. More Community Building. Link

2. Tom Lake: Book Review.  Link

3. Cognitive Overload. Link

4. Word of the Year: Meek. Link

5. Happy 13th Blogoversary. Link

6. Dementia: Personal Experience. Link

Memorial Days: Book Review

Published
29 January 2022

I have read three other books by Geraldine Brooks (People of the Book being my favorite), and I had the chance to meet her at a book signing at Watermark Books and Cafe in Wichita, Kansas. Consequently, when I saw that she had a nonfiction book out, I picked it up. 

The occasion of Memorial Days is heartbreaking: her husband Tony Horwitz died unexpectedly on Memorial Day 2019, and this was obviously devastating form Brooks. As many writers do, she worked through her grief by writing about him, his work as a journalist and book author, and their relationship. Additionally, this caused her to stop writing for a time. However, Tony had expressed the importance of her work in progress, so she finally pushed herself to finish the book--which was Horse, which she managed to publish in 2022--despite her persistent grief. 

Remember: Book Review

 

Published
23 March 2021

I had the opportunity to read Lisa Genova's novel Still Alice prior to the release of the film based on her fictional account of a woman living with early onset Alzheimer's. Because she has a doctorate in neuroscience, Genova's novel was informed by science.  

I make an effort to read books about cognition -- fiction and nonfiction, expected age-related changes in cognition and disease-related changes. My octogenarian step-father is living with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, which includes dementia, and my octogenarian step-mother is living with dementia (vascular? Alzheimer's? mixed?). Consequently, when I saw that Genova wrote a nonfiction book about memory--Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting (2021)-- and then bought the hardback so that I could reread parts if not all of her description of how human memory works. 

Three Days in June: Book Review

 

Published on
11 Feb 2025

I have been reading Anne Tyler's novels since the 1980s, and I am delighted that she is still publishing. Her main characters are often middle aged adults or older. I have joined several online sites for discussing books, and most of the novels have protagonists who are 12 to 30.  I have to overtly look for novels featuring protagonists who are midlife or older. (I am very helpful when someone in these Facebook or Instagram groups asks, "Do you know of any books featuring older protagonists?") 

Here is a novel that features a 61-year-old protagonist. 

When the Cranes Fly South: Book Review

 

Published in English
19 August 2025

This book uses a technique that helps readers have increased compassion for older adults experiencing their decline. I chose this book among candidates selected by Goodreads for earning a virtual bookmark for debut author. Because this was already translated from Swedish into English, I though that it must be a good book for the publisher to go to that expense. 

I am glad that I made this selection! When the Cranes Fly South is among my favorite reads for 2025 so far. 

Lisa Ridzén shows us more than one perspective about the main character, Bo, an older adult living by himself with his dog.  Bo is starting to experience some frailty so his adult son--Hans--sets up caregivers to assist Bo with meals, cleaning, and personal hygiene. Primarily, we read imagined conversations that Bo is having with his wife, Frederika, who has recently been moved into town to live in a care center given her growing memory issues. However, Bo's conversations alternate with notes left by four paid caregivers and notes left by the son.   

Oh, the discrepancy between Bo's view of himself and the caregiver's views are strikingly different. 

Fighting Fatigue with Healthy Lifestyle Choices

 

Image by Zaytsev Artem 
via Creative Commons

Anyone who is a teacher understands the shock that happens during the transition from summer to fall.  It happens every year. Usually, I try to keep pieces of my summer schedule once classes start up again.  I have learned to stay home during Labor Day weekend so that I can adjust my back-to-school schedule to be more realistic.  It's hard to let go of numerous exercise classes, lots of reading, working in the garden, and having lunch with gal pals. Nevertheless, some of that needs to be trimmed back. 

I found that this year, I had more fatigue than usual. Is my age a factor? 

Note: This post should not be used as medical advice. It is only meant to raise awareness. If you have any questions about being tired, sleepy, or fatigued, you should see a licensed medical professional. 

These types of habits help me combat fatigue, which I think are good for people of all ages: 

Indigenous Elders

 

Image by woodleywonderworks
via Creative Commons

During the summer of 2025, I had the opportunity to attend two powwows.  In the early summer, I attended one hosted in the ballroom of the student center at Brigham Young University. Then in early July, I attended the powwow hosted by the Ute tribe  outside of Fort Duchene as part of the Ute Reservation. (Ute means "Land of the Sun"). 

Most of the dances were organized by ages, which included competitions of older adults (all men or all women). Additionally, the procession into the arena at the Ute location had both veterans and older adults at the front of the procession.  I was a guest of a woman who is Ute, and she helped me understand etiquette.  She also emphasized the importance of older adults to the culture. 

Of course, I have long heard about the respected role that elders play in indigenous cultures: they are storytellers, keepers of important information for living off the land, healers, leaders, and more.  However, I do not fully understand the role of Indigenous elders because I am an outsider (and I always will be). However, I try to read at least one book a month about indigenous people. I am working at being an active listener to the messages in the statements made by people from the First Nations. 

I find it better if I refer people to reading the works by indigenous people themselves instead of having the message garbled (in content, tone, and style) if I try to summarize.  

Here are a few sources (with an acknowledgement that there may be glaring omissions): 

Hiking Bryce Canyon at 8,000 Feet above Sea Level

 

Bryce Canyon June 2025

I told myself that I was in great shape, given that I lift weights, swim, and attend yoga regularly each week. However, going on a hike in Bryce Canyon humbled me. 

My husband has an annual board meeting at Bryce Canyon each June, and this year I decided to go with him. One morning, a group of about ten of the thirty participants and their invited family members chose to do a hike at dawn before the meetings started. This is also a good strategy for managing the dry heat of Southern Utah. 

I expected the hike to be challenging but manageable. Well, I was the biggest whiner of the group! Why? 

Interest in My Scandinavian Kin

 

Ancestry.com Maps
Your Ancestors for You

Before moving to Sanpete County, my mother informed me that I had ancestors from Denmark on my father's side. 

I did not investigate this at all until I moved to a city that is nicknamed "Little Denmark."  There is a relatively new housing development in northeast Ephraim called Danish Fields. 

I belong to a heritage organization called Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.  During one meeting, the speaker asked all those who had Danish ancestry to raise their hands. 

Denmark is one of the three countries that constitutes Scandinavia along with Norway and Sweden.  Every May, Ephraim hosts the Scandinavian Festival, which is coming on the Friday and Saturday before Memorial Day--as always.  

I confess that in the weeks leading to Scandinavian Days this spring I have been reading voraciously about Vikings even though I have no idea if I have Viking blood. I work part time at the public library, and I am getting ready to help patrons learn more about these infamous Nordic people.