Sweet Summer Encouragement for Boomers and Seniors

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Hot Time In The Almost-Summer Time

Happy June! Summer is almost here though the hot sunny days make me think it IS here! For my grandkids it already seems like summer since most are out of school. Which is good, since most head back to school before summer is over. 🙂

It’s REALLY hot here – we’re in the midst of a heat wave in the Sacramento Valley, that’s for sure! The photo above was taken on my walk this morning at 8:06 when it was already 75 degrees! Sunglasses would have been a big help on that walk too!

I used the same photo with my Instaweather app on my iPhone to show you the temp right now, as I’m busy typing this. In less than two hours, it’s already 10 degrees hotter. And my weather app is predicting it to top out at 102 degrees today! Yikes. Time to grab the sunglasses, hat, and LOTS of water. Especially for tiny grandkids and elderly parents!

Joseph’s Example is Great For Boomers Seniors Grandkids

In spite of the early summer heat, it’s a season of calm after a few seasons of challenges this year.  As I was walking this morning, I was listening to a Bible study on the life of Joseph intermingled with prayers for myself and my loved ones to be able to follow his great example. I personally think he truly exemplifies a life lived in surrender to God and following the principles that would later be shared by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Isn’t this a cute camel – smiling away in spite of his heat that is probably as high as ours – and a lot more often! I thought he made a great background for these verses from the Bible. 🙂

I’m going to have to share this with my grandkids as well. I might even hunker down on this sweet story of Joseph and do a few more Scripture pictures for them. In the meantime, I’ve also added some resources – coloring pictures, stories, and even a video – about the story of Joseph to my Pinterest Board – Grand for Kids and Grandkids.

Hospital Tips

I’ve shared tips for hospitalization in the past at:

• Keeping Your Sandwich Generation Family and Friends Updated During Aging Parents Hospitalizations
• When Snailmail Isn’t Fast Enough & Phone Calls Aren’t An Option – Hospitals May Have an Encouraging Solution for the Sandwich Generation
• Love Pink Things? Maybe Not At The Hospital Though! One of Those Tiny Practical Tips For Taking Care of Elderly Parents +
• And more!

Now I have three more tips to add:

1. In the past I’ve suggested taking a warm cozy blanket throw to the hospital, even in the midst of summer (air conditioning). That has turned out to be one of the biggest blessings of all. It is much warmer than the heated blankets they give you (which cool down pretty fast!). It’s more comfortable and snugglier. And you have it right from the get-go, unlike the heated blankets that may take a while to gather up with all the other testing that may be going on! Of course, don’t take an expensive throw. We’ve never had it happen but it could be easy to get lost. Still, it’s well worth the cost of replacing it!
2. Hospitals and policies differ as far as contact options. Everywhere you go, though, you do need to let them know who is allowed to have permission to receive information about you. BUT when you do, be sure to put an asterisk by one person’s name to be the primary liaison so the nurse on the patient’s floor doesn’t get overwhelmed with too many phone calls. In our case, the nurse required that. I suspect, though, that’s good advice at all times. We picked one person. She called and checked regularly and then texted and emailed updates to other friends and family as well as coordinating visits, calls, etc. That was a big blessing for all.
3. If you have to go to the hospital alone, you will have some items with you – keys, ID, etc. Be sure to immediately request checking in your belongings as soon as possible. Otherwise it’s easy for those to be lost in all the business of being cared for.

Have a Great Almost-Summer Week!

That’s it for now. But how about you? Do you have some tips for when you or an elderly parent has to be hospitalized? We’d love to hear them. In fact, why not pop over to my Facebook page – SandwichINK for the Sandwich Generation – and share them there! And thank you. 🙂