I got to thinking of the U. S  postal system recently , and how things have changed so much how we communicate with one another.  As a young kid I remember sending coupons in for things from cereal boxes and this seemed to take for ever to receive the item.  During those days a one cent postcard went a long way  .  Of course three cents mailed a letter I think airmail was six cents.  I remember the beautiful looking  stamps and of course you had to lick these to get them to stay on!  We did a lot of communication in person on Sundays we would visit the folks we hadn’t seen in a while and of course there is the old Faithfull wall telephone.  We knew the postman   and the bag he could carry on his shoulder over his back.  It was leather and quite nice-looking.  I lived in a small town and in those days post man would deliver the mail to your door and slipped your mail into a slot in the door.   In those days there wasn’t much advertising flyers and Mail it was mostly posts to you.

I must admit I love e-mail .  I keep in better touch with my whole family through e-mail.  After my stroke I couldn’t type and so using Dragon nine has really helped me to keep in touch with every one.  This is the program that lets you dictate what you want to write and puts it into a computer.  I love it.  It also saves a lot of money because postage has  gone so high.   I have 1 foot in the 21st century, and the other foot in the twenty -ith Century.

I love U.P.S. service.  It brings the packages I order quickly and in good shape.  Since I can’t get out to go shopping like I used to it is very satisfying to have this service.  Since most suppliers offer  this service it works out really well for me.

Since I had my stroke in 2005 I have had to face a lot of things.  Going to the movies in a wheelchair was one of them.  It is truly a different experience not being able to walk to your seat and sit down and also go get your popcorn.  When I was first asked to go to a movie here at the convalescent home I thought to myself, how on earth am I going to do this?  Well, being the worry wart I was, it was like taking an adventure in uncharted waters.  As usual, I worried for nothing.  I just had to get myself ready and show up at the appropriate time in front of our home.  Our activities department had taken care of all the details.  I had a nurse that could push me and help me out if I needed it. All of us who were going to the movie were helped to board up their para transet bus.  Now I have seen these buses before but I never thought about riding on them.  They have a lift on the back of the bus that takes you wheelchair and all aboard.  They have anchor belts to tie you down firmly and a safety belt.  It’s really quite nice having someone else drive.  You get a chance to see the countryside.  And when we arrived at the movie we were all unloaded, and went right in [since we're all handicapped].  The nurse pushed us to the movie handicap section and got us all squared way.  We even had popcorn and drink.  It was great fun.  After the movie we went across the plaza to a restaurant and ate out.  This whole thing was paid for by the activities department.

A. It’s a double whammy. You don’t want to impose, and you don’t want to appear needy. Yet we all need community. And here’s the thing: Your community needs you, too.

That’s hard to remember when you’ve lost your loved one, especially if most of your purpose derived from him. It’s as if you have to relearn how to be social. Patterns aren’t easy to break, but you can do this.