The Alliance for Health Equity is conducting a Community Health Needs Assessment. This assessment includes an anonymous, five-minute survey that asks about your community health priorities and the impact COVID has had on you and your family. The survey is intended for residents of Chicago and Suburban Cook County and is open to all ages.
Craft Circle is back, weather permitting! Come recharge your creative muscle. We want to see what everyone has been doing and making. Things are really looking up when the Craft Circle comes out to show and tell. Bring a chair and your handwork.
3rd Wednesdays 10:30am Queen of Angels, 4412 N. Western, 2nd floor
We are so done with Zoom for lunch! Let’s get back outside! It’s like a potluck, but everyone brings their own food and drink. Don’t forget a chair. Let’s celebrate by seeing each other again!
Third Thursdays at 12:00pm
September 16, 2021 October 21, 2021
Welles Park, west of the playground, on Sunnyside. Welles Park – 2333 W Sunnyside
We are so done with Zoom for dinner! Let’s get back outside! It’s like a potluck, but everyone brings their own food and drink. Don’t forget a chair. Let’s celebrate by seeing each other again!
Second Thursdays at 5:00pm
September 9, 2021 October 14, 2021
5:00pm
Welles Park, west of the playground, on Sunnyside. Welles Park – 2333 W Sunnyside
We’re stepping away from this pandemic-era program. Hopefully, we can see movies together very soon.
We’ll watch a movie or documentary (at our own convenience) chosen by the group and then discuss it on the
First Wednesday of each month at 5:00pm
You’re encouraged to bring your critiques and your favorite refreshments. Come with one or two suggestions of what to watch so we can vote on it.
August 4, 2021 – “Diane” – A 2018 movie with Mary Kay Place.She plays a woman trying to keep her world together while coming to terms with her past life choices.
June 2, 2021 – “Bagdad Cafe” – The 1987 film centers on two women who have recently separated from their husbands, and the blossoming friendship that ensues. It is a comedy-drama set in a remote truck stop and motel in the Mojave Desert.
May 5, 2021 – “Quartet” – Once-popular opera diva Jean Horton (Maggie Smith) creates a stir with her arrival at Beecham House, a home for retired performers. Most of the other Beecham residents are delighted, and try to convince Jean to join them in a performance of “Rigoletto.” Jean, however, knows that she is long past her prime and is reluctant to sully the memory of her once-lovely voice. Directed by Dustin Hoffman – synopsis by Rotten Tomatoes
April 5, 2021 – “Poms” – It’s a comedy about an introvert who befriends an extrovert and they decide to start a cheerleading squad. Starring Diane Keaton and Jackie Weaver, plus lots of other great actors.
March 3, 2021 – “The Lady in the Van” – This film is our next choice. It tells the true story of Alan Bennett’s somewhat strained friendship with Miss Mary Shepherd, a crabby, eccentric and unsanitary homeless woman whom Bennett befriended in the 1970s before allowing her to park her Bedford van in the driveway of his Camden home “for three months”.
February 3, 2021 – “Noises Off” – The film follows the rehearsal and performance of a dreadful farce called Nothing On, a hit British show that is preparing for its American debut in Des Moines, Iowa, with a second-rate, Broadway-bound theatrical troupe.
January 6, 2021 – “The Good Liar” – Watch two masters of the acting craft joust in what should be an easy con. Helen Mirren was our inspiration, also starring Ian McKellon. (available on various video platforms)
December 2, 2020 – “Age of Adeline” – (available on various video platforms)
If you were born after the advent of television or maybe you were very young when that technology took over the planet, you might have never depended on your ears for entertainment. Oddly enough, in this highly technological age, listening is back, and it’s all free.
People are too busy to sit down and watch a show or read a book. They need to be multitasking. Doing dishes while there’s a podcast in the background can help us stay up to date on the news. Listening to your favorite comedian while you make a bed or fold laundry turns it into something you look forward to, instead of something you dread.
Listening as a “second task” is enjoyed in many different ways. Some like to listen to sports experts while they do something else. Some people listen to politics and news. Others like a good crime drama or a how-to podcast. Everyone has a podcast these days. Oprah has a podcast. NPR has about a dozen podcasts. Even Rudi Guilani and Joe Biden have podcasts.
But how do you access this wonderful world of listening? It can seem like it’s another world, if you’ve never done it. Here is a guide to accessing podcasts.
How to Access Podcasts: Step-By-Step
Choose your device. You can use a smartphone or a computer. All of these links work on both. If you use your smartphone, you will be more mobile. Identify if you have an Android or an Apple phone. On a computer, do you have a Mac or a PC?
The simplest app option is right on your smartphone. You have a “Podcast” app, whether it’s Apple or Android. You can Search your phone for that app. On Android, you can also use Google Play Music. There are other apps that you can use on your computer or smartphone:
Stitcher
Spotify
Pocket Casts
Overcast
Podcast Addict
Within that app there is a Search function. Look for a podcast that sounds interesting, and you’re off to the races. You can “Subscribe” or just listen to one episode. Unsubscribe anytime.
One note of caution: if you find that the memory on your phone begins to fill up quickly, don’t be alarmed. Delete podcast episodes you know you won’t have time for or make sure to unsubscribe from any podcasts you no longer listen to. This will free up memory for other things.
Some Podcasts We Love
This list will take you to a website, and the website will take you to the Podcast app on your phone to listen to the podcast. Warning: if you prefer not to hear the occasional expletive, make sure you check closely for “Explicit Content” ratings in the Podcast app before you listen.
NPR has all of your favorites for you whenever you want. Did you miss the first 10 minutes of Terry Gross? No more planning your weekend around Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me. In fact, This American Life has won Peabody and Polk Awards. These are the winning episodes.
Politics and news are big topics for podcasts. Some are from NPR and all of them feature great personalities that you will grow to love.
Mysteries are also popular options. One of the most popular podcasts ever is called S-Town about a small town Alabama eccentric who thinks someone in his town got away with murder, and then someone ends up dead. It’s amazing that it was even recorded. Other mysteries include:
Serial – High schooler, Hae Min Lee, has been murdered and her boyfriend, Adnan Syed, is the prime suspect. Did he do it? This is a series of 12 episodes, but there are three seasons, each dealing with a different crime.
My Favorite Murder – This “true crime comedy podcast” features the best murders ever committed, with great commentary from two women who are rockstars in the podcast world, with sold out tours all over the world. The beautiful thing about podcasts like this is that they are always adding new content. You can go back to the beginning and listen to a trove of great, timeless content, whenever you have time.
History podcasts are enriching. Public radio produces great content, but they come from every corner of the internet.
Making Oprah is from right here in Chicago by WBEZ’s former star, Jenn White. She followed that up with Making Obama and Making Beyonce. These are amazing gems. (The webpage says “Making Beyonce” at the top, but all three podcasts are on this page.)
Malcolm Gladwell is a well-known author of great books like Outliers, Blink and The Tipping Point. His podcast, Revisionist History, goes “back and reinterprets something from the past: an event, a person, an idea. Something overlooked. Something misunderstood.”
Comedy podcasts can introduce some badly needed endorphins to your body. Podcasts are such a trove for great humor, from big stars to little-known prodigies.
Some of your favorite late-night comedians have podcasts. If it’s hard to stay up late, get the down and dirty version from the podcast.
2 Dope Queensis a great option for finding new comic talent.
Sports are normally fun to follow on podcasts. Get the breakdown of NFL, MLB, NBA games. Figure out who to draft for your fantasy teams. Find out how to play Fantasy Sports. It’s also fun to hear about the game you just saw from a new perspective or with a comedic twist. A favorite website for sports (and pop culture fans) is TheRinger.com.
Many people anticipate the end of the year holidays — Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year’s Eve — as joyful occasions to exchange gifts, savor yummy goodies and kick up their heels with friends and family. But for others — especially many older people — the holidays aren’t merry occasions. Friends and family members, with whom they once gathered on holidays, may no longer be able to join them for traditional elaborate festivities. Consequently, they may wind up spending lackluster holidays home alone. Recognizing this, Make Room @ The Table has put together a list of economical and easy ways people can observe an enjoyable holiday by themselves. In addition, Make Room @ The Table has created a second holiday list. This list is a cornucopia of low-cost ideas to encourage folks, who have a full plate of jolly companionship on the holidays, to dish out helpings of festive connectivity to those engaged in solitary celebrations.
All of these Make Room @ The Table recommendations consider the possible continuing need for mask wearing, social distancing and other appropriate restrictions necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Feel free to post these lists on your website or publish them in your newsletters. But please make sure, if you do, that you credit Make Room @ The Table as the source for the Lists.
Make Room @ The Table is a Chicago-based affinity group comprised of experts engaged in the aging field. MR@TT’s mission is to identify, share and develop strategies to alleviate social isolation and loneliness among older people.
TIPS FOR SPENDING THE HOLIDAYS ON YOUR OWN
Invite someone you know will also be alone to share a holiday meal via Zoom or in person. Talk about the dishes you’ve made for each course and why you included them on your holiday menu.
Bake some goodies to share with friends during the holidays. Experiment with new recipes. If they are a success — or a spectacular failure — display them on social media.
Schedule a Zoom date or in-person meal with friends on the day before a holiday or the days immediately after the holiday. Make that your “holiday celebration.”
Settle back in your favorite chair and become absorbed in a book you’ve been wanting to read.
Stream a film. Fix a snack that carries out the theme of the movie — an ice cream soda if watching Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney or some warm croissants, if catching a French film with subtitles.
Dive into a project — like cleaning your closets — that you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t had time to tackle.
Go through photo albums, diaries and calendars and relive holidays past when you celebrated with friends and family and were not alone.
Take a walk by yourself or go for a ride. Or ask a friend or neighbor to join you on a stroll, staying socially distant and masked, if that seems prudent.
Write a note to people you are thankful are in your life and mail it, so your greeting arrives on the holiday. Or reach out to them by phone, e-mail or text and wish them a “lovely day.”
Sign up to participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count that takes place from December 14, 2021, to January 5, 2022. The bird count is free, but you need to register in advance. For more information, visit https://www.audubon.org/conservation/science/christmas-bird-count.
Begin a journal or add to one you’ve already begun. Consider starting work on a memoir. Emphasize gratitude and the things in your life for which you are thankful.
Attend a religious service either online or in person.
Get tickets to a virtual or in-person play, musical, jazz performance, dance recital or concert during the holidays.
Offer to take care of a pet for a friend or neighbor, who will be spending the holidays out of town. If feasible, volunteer at an animal shelter on the holiday.
Plan a micro “adventure” — take a bus or cab or drive to a different neighborhood and view the holiday decorations outside the homes and in the stores. Sample hot chocolate and a pastry — or a holiday treat — in a local café you’ve never been to before.
Check to see whether Mather Telephone Topics or Well Connected or other learning or social programs designed for older people are available via Zoom — either by phone or online — on the holidays.
Write a story… create a poem… or make up a song. Begin knitting a sweater or scarf. Engage in a craft to make special presents for those on your gift list.
Invite friends and neighbors to your home — or to Zoom — early on New Year’s Eve. Share champagne or wine and snacks to launch a New Year’s celebration. If you’re going to be home alone at midnight, arrange to call a friend or family member who is also alone as the clock strikes 12 to usher in the new year.
Offer to fill in for a volunteer, so that person can celebrate with family. If it’s feasible to volunteer in person, you can do so. If not, see if there is a way you can volunteer online or by phone.
If you are spending the holiday on your own as the caregiver for an older loved one, who is physically challenged or cognitively impaired, try brightening up your festivities by singing familiar seasonal songs, listening to holiday music together, or collaborating on simple projects like stringing popcorn garlands, decorating wreaths or wrapping presents.
Contact a local university alumni relations office or community liaison department and ask if there are foreign students or faculty members, who won’t be traveling to their home country for the holidays. You could offer to host an informal get together with them, such as a virtual or in person caroling party on Christmas Eve or a Christmas or New Year’s Day virtual — or real live — open house.
Plan ahead to cook a special holiday dish or entire meal for yourself. Or place an order for a holiday banquet from a restaurant or grocery store. Set the table with your favorite china and glassware. Make a centerpiece of brightly colored gourds, a Hanukkah Menorah, Christmas poinsettia, or Kwanzaa Kinara with Mishumaa Saba candles. Dress in your holiday best.
Ignore the holiday and view it as just another day. Stick to your usual routine, take something out of the freezer and savor the gift of quiet time alone.
TIPS FOR REACHING OUT TO THOSE YOU KNOW WILL BE ALONE ON THE HOLIDAYS
Call a friend or family member, who will be alone on the holiday. Perhaps you can coordinate with others who know the person, to space out calls throughout the day.
E-mail someone who’s alone on a holiday. Send a video greeting from you, and, if appropriate, members of your family.
Arrange an in person or virtual caroling party on Christmas Eve that includes friends and family members who will be alone.
Enlist young folks to become pen pals, sending cards and letters — or poems, drawings, and stories — to older people who are alone on the holiday.
Send a beautiful, animated e-card to be delivered on the holiday to a person alone. Have the personal message on the card reflect your gratitude that the person is in your life.
Make time on the holiday to set up a Zoom date with someone who is alone. If feasible, include family members or mutual friends. During the virtual visit, you could light the candles together in a Hanukkah Menorah or a Kwanzaa Kinara, or trim Christmas trees.
Set aside a portion of your holiday dinner for a friend who is observing the holiday alone and deliver it to their door.
Screen share a movie or football game on the holiday via Zoom with someone alone … or view the football game or movie separately and text or talk about what you watched by phone afterward.
Send or lend a book you enjoyed or found meaningful to a friend, who will be alone on the holiday, and then plan to discuss it with the person by phone or Zoom on the holiday or shortly thereafter.
Arrange to have a Zoom date — or in-person meal — the day before the holiday or the weekend after with a friend, who’ll be observing the holiday alone. Make your get-together a “holiday celebration.”
Cook with friends, who will be alone. Whip up innovative holiday delicacies during an in person or virtual latke baking contest — or concoct tempting Yule logs or elaborately decorated Christmas cookies. Then sample some of your culinary creations together and comment on how they turned out.
Sing holiday songs with a friend or friends virtually via Zoom or over the speakerphone.
Write “letters of gratitude” to friends you know will be alone. Mail them so they will arrive the day before the holiday but write “Do Not Open Until” — whatever holiday it is — on the envelopes.
Invite a friend or neighbor who is alone to go for a walk — masked and socially distanced, if prudent — on the holiday.
If someone you know lives alone but has holiday plans, check in at the end of the day to make sure those plans came to pass. If the plans fell through, the person will be disappointed and lonely, and will be pleased to have the human contact. If the holiday get-together took place as scheduled, the person will be delighted to have the chance to share details with a friend.
See if your Village, Senior Center, House of Worship, or older adult social organization can arrange a virtual dinner or open house on the holiday to provide social connectivity for folks who’ll be by themselves.
Make room at your table virtually…or in real life. Add a person who is alone to your guest list to dine with you and your family on the holiday. If it’s too much of a hassle to include someone who’s alone for an entire holiday meal, ask them to share dessert with you and your other guests. Or invite someone who is alone to dine with your family the night after the holiday and join you in a traditional holiday feast of leftovers.
Here’s a grandson talking about a time when his Baube, grandmother to you, knew exactly the perfect thing to say in a tough situation. It’s a story that will be passed down about this gutsy grandma for generations.
Thanks to Words Aloud for reminding us how clever the older generation is.
Make Room @ the Table and Developing Pods for the Winter
We’re taking the fight to loneliness this winter by developing strategies to fight back. There’s no reason to languish alone in a world where we’re all so connected electronically and when there are so many other people who want to connect with you.
Make Room @ The Table is a Chicago-based Affinity Group focused on developing strategies to alleviate isolation and loneliness among older people. Come share your tactics and learn from others how to make the holiday season more meaningful when you can’t be with loved ones. Check out the list they made for thriving during the upcoming holidays and beyond, even though the holidays may not look the same.
Also, for those who want to make a change and feel safe doing it, find out about Pods. Pods (also referred to as ‘bubbles’) are partnerships between people during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read more here.) Come learn how you can actually spend time with other living, breathing humans, if you play your cards right; it can change your life.