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| Seattle-King County Edition | ||
| February 1, 2006 | ||
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Welcome to the February 2006 Seniors Digest!
I'm excited to be greeting you for my first issue of Seniors Digest. Previous Chair Timmie Faghin did a terrific job, and I'm hoping to follow in her capable footsteps. This month, the focus is all about "heart." February is Heart Month, and Vice-Chair Houston Brown will tell us about taking care of our hearts in the kitchen. We're looking forward to trying his recipes from time to time as he authors a new column: "Houston Brown's Healthy Cooking Corner." The human heart also figures prominently in "Portraits of Healing: Celebrating the Gift of Hospice," a look at a moving end-of-life photography exhibit by local photographer Nancy Medwell. For more about the caring hearts of hospice workers, patients and their families, see "The Hospice Philosophy," also in this issue. If you read the Seattle Times or Post Intelligencer, you might have seen a recent guest editorial and letter to the editor written by yours truly about the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. I will also be appearing on a panel about the topic on Channel 9's KCTS Connects on February 9 at 8:00 p.m. The debut of Medicare Part D hasn't gone as smoothly as many had anticipated, but we hope our series of articles on the new program has provided some helpful information. This month we take a look at some online resources offered by various agencies in "Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Choices." For More Information... Check out SeniorsDigest.org, our national companion website. The Seniors Digest Resource Center is a great place to begin your search for information about issues of interest to seniors and their families. We hope you will refer to our electronic pages often to obtain advice, to learn of new and exciting services, and to offer us your constructive feedback. Read Seniors Digest and tell us what you think. We are here to help. Don Moreland, Chair * More About Houston Brown Houston is the new Vice-Chair of the Advisory Council on Aging. Having been on the Council for over a year now, he is looking forward to learning more and doing whatever he can to help elders and people with disabilities. Houston's story should be an inspiration for many. "I was tired of my doctor yelling at me to lose weight, and then I saw a promotion in AARP's magazine for a contest intended to encourage physical activity," he says. "If I attended a participating health club or fitness center for four days in a row, I would qualify for a free two-week membership. At the end of two weeks, whoever made the most progress in terms of their fitness goals was declared the winner." Houston wowed the judges with his dedication and commitment, and he won an all-expense-paid trip to the AARP convention in Las Vegas and a membership at a health club. He is now committed to his exercise regimen and wouldn't miss his regular workouts. His health and his outlook have improved dramatically. His success story will be the subject of an upcoming documentary film for the Pike Market Clinic. Houston's two passions are cooking and flying. Having been grounded due to health problems, he hopes to renew his license soon and get back in the air. Family is also very important to Houston, who is the oldest of 14 children 8 brothers and 5 sisters. Every other year he attends the Brown Family Reunion in Virginia, held for descendents of a slave named Scipio Brown from Newport News, VA. This is no small affair the last event was attended by 2,600 people from all over the world! The group books entire hotels and convention centers to accommodate the crowd. Houston, a retired chef, is naturally assigned to be in charge of the food. He works with the hotel and restaurant staff to come up with delicious menus for this large and diverse group.
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| © Seattle-King County Advisory Council on Aging & Disability Services | |
Electronic newsletter design and publication by IlluminAge Communication Partners |
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