Is your senior voting in this election?

Over the weekend, Grandma waits until the weekend to ask me about how to go about filing an absentee ballot. I told her that the deadline probably passed to file, but she still insisted that I go ahead and research it anyway.

I did a search for my state’s absentee ballot  and sure enough, I did and the deadline was a month ago.

Last year, I escorted her to the voting place, so she was able to vote.

My advice, if your responsible for an elder, and as soon as you hear the word “election”, file an absentee ballot, even if the elder is in OK health, because you  never know.

I did fess up to Grandma, and after the usual “Focus!” and “Concentrate!” litanies, she told me that Grandparents Day is anyday that I bring over something for her. Whew!

Most days, when I visit her I feel like I’m batting .300 and that’s a good day. It helps to know she’s still there for me despite myself.

Several months ago, after coming from an errand, me and Gram were crossing the street. I wanted to cross at the stop light because, well, that’s what most people are supposed to do.

However, Gram insisted on turning the corner and seeing the garden. I hesitated because on the street where she lives, its not a major road, but buses do go down on the street and cars turn and whip around so quickly that I have my senses on super high whenever I’m crossing the street.

Sidebar: I had to give a motorist the evil eye when they tried to turn the corner and the see me with the old lady crossing the street. Don’t they know what’s its like to have a mother and/or a grandmother. Sheesh!

Anyway Gram got upset because I wanted to take to a crosswalk. I told her that I’m concerned for her safety and I had to put my foot down.

I never thought that I would have to discipline my grandmother, but when it concerns her safely and/or health, I have to step it up. Gram was annoyed, but she eventually understood.

One thing that Gram is adamant about is the local post office.  She’s had a lot of issues with the post office. Well who hasn’t.

She once had a mail person once who would not deliver the mail because the address was not complete, i.e. didn’t have an apartment number on it, or the name of the street was spelled wrong.  She even had to call a utility company to tell them to include the apartment number on the bill or risk not getting paid due to the bill not arriving there.  It took me filing a Better Business Report on her behalf to get them to put the apartment number on the bill.

Are there any other administrative pitfalls that elders should be careful to avoid? Let us know in the comments.

Recently I went to an organization store to get some supplies and I noticed when the cashier said the amount that the typical price was a bit higher. This is because the retail tax went up.

Grandma recently gave me a talk about taxes and how they started, as a way to raise money for World War II. The intention was to relieve the tax after the war, but it stuck.

Its always nice to get historical perspective as to how come things are the way there are and what it means today.

Every evening at 10 pm,  the local FOX station asks parents do they know where their children are.  However, in this case the question is do you know where your elder is.

I call Grandma several times a day, even when I’m out of town. Some people think  I’m a bit too obsessive, but with Gram being the only connection I have to my Mom. I’m not taking any chances.

Its important to establish routines with children, but it is just as important to also have routines with the elderly.

For instance, I  call in the mornings and evenings to make sure that everything is working, nothing needs repair, and that the stove is off.

What do you do to make sure that at 10 pm that you elder is safe?

I recently went out of town for a conference and *some* vacation. Of course I hesitated going in the first place, but after reassurance from other family members that they would check in on Grandma. I was somewhat relieved.

I made sure Grandma had everything she needed including an extra trip to the supermarket so that she would not be low on food.

In addition to my family, neighbors also call her to make sure she was OK. I am still somewhat leery after what happened a couple of years ago.

Instead of the up to six calls a day, I eased up to 3. As long as I heard her voice in the morning and in the evening. I was able to better enjoy my trip.

We all heard about child-proofing the home after hearing news of a pregnancy or when the child’s about to walk, but what about elder-proofing a home before an incident?

I elder-proof by forbidding her to use a ladder, answer the doorbell after dark, or deal with any electronics but what other precautions one can take?

The New York Times had an article today that contains some tips and resources to consider when an elder does not want to move out of their home due to not only economic, but comfort and security reasons as well.

Read the article…

Full mailbox.

I know we hate to think about it, but there will come a time when we have to deal with the inevitable. Unfortunately my time can came way too early when I lost my mom.

While browsing through the USPS site, I found a page about the options of the handling a deceased persons mail.  One of those options includes a link to the Deceased Do Not Contact Registration page.

Event though it has been a number of years, I am still slightly annoyed when some company that my mom did not have a previous relationship with sends a sales circular. I signed her up and I hope that my mailbox will see some much needed relief and finally allow me to continue to  move through my grief.

I was going about my business online like normal, when Gram insisted that I watch the show about how to install a DTV converter. I already installed one for her like 3 months ago, but she somehow thinks that I can learn something else.

Now I know what mothers go through when their kids, show them the same thing over and over.