The Same River, Twice

by Pam Mandel

Liv Fun: Vol 2 – Issue 3

He was tall, good looking, and had attended an expensive prep school where he learned to talk pretty. He liked dancing to pop music, drinking beer and traveling. His father wanted him to be a real estate agent; he was not interested in a desk job. He was sarcastic and smart — a reader. I sometimes imagine going back in time to talk to my former self. “He’s attractive, but he’s bad news. Run for it.”

I did not run for it. I was so young, unconstrained by gravity or common sense. I went to London, his home, and together we went to Paris, Tel Aviv, Karachi, and finally New Delhi, where wasted with giardia and salmonella, I blew what was left of my money on a plane ticket back to the U.S.

I returned to the U.S. a different person. After my travels in India, I would encounter other people who had done the same and we would have a moment. We had seen things, we had taken very long walks, we had earned the same badges. It was not country-counting snobbery, or a competition, it was a nod, an acknowledgement that we had shifted. Nothing bad happened to me in India beyond a difficult-to-treat but typical case of traveler’s gut. But I had walked the markets of Old Delhi without a guide and stumbled over the rocky high passes of the Himalayas, and I was changed for the experience.

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Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Autumn 2013
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I’m Still Here
Dr. John Zeisel

Today, communities around the country are giving people with dementia a life worth living and alleviating the burden of their care partners by joining a movement called It Takes a Village.
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The Same River, Twice
by Pam Mandel

He was tall, good looking, and had attended an expensive prep school where he learned to talk pretty. He was sarcastic and smart — a reader. I sometimes imagine going back in time to talk to my former self. “He’s attractive, but he’s bad news. Run for it.”
Read More

Advice for the Journey
by Evan Kimble

Q: Our son married a crazy, needy woman with no boundaries and no recognition that other people have needs too. He and I end up fighting every time we try to talk about it. How do I deal with this?

A: Once you are clear on your needs and hopes, and you have flexible options if solutions fall through, you are ready to attempt communication.
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