Care Partners News – September 2024 | Issue 20

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We envision a community that is fully supported to navigate our shared journeys of aging and end-of-life.

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The Journey of Aging

Jerry Lilja, Neighbor and Friend of Many

Seriously?…is this really a thing?…a “journey” we take as we get older? 

To my considerable dismay, I recently turned 80.  If I’m on a journey, where am I going?  What if I’d rather not be taking this trip?  Is this a cruise ship or “40 miles of bad road”?

Honestly, this journey includes sometimes waking up scared in the night. What might happen next?   What unexpected twists and turns lay ahead for me and my dear traveling companion, Joan?  How will we be able to just stay on the road, much less enjoy the scenery along the way?

Thinking about “aging in place”, it’s become apparent that we can’t do it alone. We’re counting on family, friends and neighbors, and people we don’t even know, who are willing to be with us when the going gets rough.  And …it’s become a real comfort to realize there is a Cook County organization called Care Partners.

We’ve already dipped our toes in the water by taking two classes for care givers, had a volunteer clean the leaves out of our gutters, attended the Memory Café, and begun meeting with a care coordinator, all provided by Care Partners.

Joan and I are determined to stay here, and in our home, for as long as possible. Clearly, that’s realistic only because we live in a community that’s here for us.  So, I guess you could call it a journey …a well accompanied journey … that may take us to some good “places” after all.

Care Partners Caregiver Programs

Over the years, Care Partners’ Caregiver Program has grown and evolved through the people that share in our mission as volunteers, staff and collaborators, and through the wisdom of our caregiving neighbors.  Over the past few months, we’ve been honored to work with community partners and area businesses in many unique and meaningful ways, lightening the load of those who provide care for  family and friends.

A Caregiver Retreat was held at Studio 21 where staff and volunteers were able to serve these beautiful humans with a lovely meal. We enjoyed poetry, good conversation and delicious food from many of our business partners in Grand Marais. Following the meal, guests rotated through 4 stations: Breathing/Stretching with Barbara Platnick; Journaling with Christie John; Meditation with Betsy Blume; and Massage with Dr. Stephanie Vos. Our honored guests left with a beautiful bag filled with self care goodies provided with the help of Joy & Company. Thank you to all who made this a meaningful event!

The “Art of Health” series in collaboration with the Grand Marais Art Colony and Art Therapist Erin Rafferty-Bugher was a wonderful introduction to the healing power of ART for everyone! Three sessions were held: Weaving Memories at the Memory Café (picture above); The HeArt of Caregiving for family caregivers; Resiliency Trees for Professional Caregivers. Each was uniquely impactful!

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a FREE class designed to provide caregivers the opportunity to further develop their own toolbox for self care. This course is offered periodically and creates a safe space to nurture intimacy and friendship among those who attend. Care Partners’ volunteers have been able to provide RESPITE care so that some of the participants can take time for themselves. Are you interested in becoming a respite volunteer? Reach out to us!

Reframe Aging Workshop – October 26

We get lots of mixed messages every day about our future as older adults – from ads for creams, lotions, and pills guaranteed to stop an inevitable descent into debilitating frailty to articles about super-seniors who become professional models or break ultra-marathon records in their 80s and beyond! It doesn’t help that most “looking ahead” workshops for older adults focus almost exclusively on decline, disease, disaster, and death. (Is it any wonder that we often resist long-term planning?!) Join Care Partners of Cook County, the Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging, and Cook County Higher Education for a different take on preparing to care well for our future selves at a fun, informative, and free  “Reframe Aging” workshop at CCHE on Saturday, October 26th from 9am—12pm. We’ll consider the values that are most important to us, discuss realistic expectations about our aging bodies and minds, allow ourselves to explore our dreams and hopes (not just our fears), and begin to imagine a future that will very likely hold both challenge AND promise! Register online on our website, or call 218-387-3788.

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Ice Cream Social Fundraiser Shout Outs…Thank You!

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