During this season of generosity, the best present that you can give a senior is your presence. And I don’t mean the kind of crappy presence that some of my family and friends displayed at our recent Thanksgiving dinner. Of the 17 people present, more than one-third of them spent time engaged on their cell phone—several for more than an hour. And they weren’t all young people either. With the stock market closed, I know that they didn’t have to confirm some million-dollar trade. None of them are first responders, and we had no news of a relative dying. When you visit someone, please, leave your cell phone in your car!

Be present

One thing I’ve learned during my time with the BEACON is that people want to be heard. Often, older people long to connect with someone. For many of us who are still working and raising families, life has become super busy—rushing here and going there with little time for ourselves, let alone others. Take the busyness of the holiday season into account and it becomes much easier to give a loved one a present instead of your presence.

2017 BEACON Guide

Our staff has spent the last several months putting together our 2017 BEACON Guide, which is included in this month’s BEACON. Known for many years as the BEACON Senior Resource Directory, we decided to change the name as several other less-established publications sprang up and used that term to describe their sparse offerings. Plus, our resource directory has evolved into more of a guide to aging well in Mesa County. If you need more copies, they’re free, and available by calling us at 243-8829.