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Heavenly Help
When cancer strikes, keeping up with everyday tasks such as house cleaning can often be overwhelming and even physically impossible. Local cancer patients can now receive a helping hand from the organic cleaning company Green Darlene, Inc., in partnership with Angel Foundation. Angel Clean service is available free or at a discounted price to cancer patients living in the seven-county metro area who are currently undergoing treatment and need cleaning assistance.
After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999 and undergoing treatment, Cindy Bearman, founder of Green Darlene, experienced great fatigue and extreme sensitivity to odors from cleaning products. This and a growing knowledge of the toxicity of those chemicals prompted a switch to using all organic products. Cindy, whose cancer is in remission, is now able to offer assistance to others. For more information or to volunteer to help, call Angel Foundation at 612-627-9000 or visit www.mnangel.org/angel-clean. You Want to Play What!?
Don’t miss out – the first week of June is International Pickleball Week and senior citizens worldwide will be celebrating. Pickle what? If you are not yet in the know, Pickleball is a fun sport played on a badminton-sized court with the net lowered to 34 inches. It is played with a ball similar to a whiffle ball and paddles about twice the size of ping-pong paddles. It can be played indoors or outdoors, singles or doubles, is easy for beginners to learn and can develop into a fast-paced, competitive game for experienced players. In addition to being fun, the game has developed a reputation for its friendly and social nature and is becoming a fitness activity of choice for many seniors. Ready to sign up? The USA Pickleball Association has over 300 regional and local ambassadors who promote the sport through clinics and tournaments and connect players looking for places to play or playing partners. Visit www.USAPA.org to find locations throughout Minnesota
How to Succeed at Aging
Without Really Dying
By Lyla Blake Ward
As “they” say, getting old is not for sissies and reading even a few paragraphs from sharply clever and ultimately wise Ward confirms her status as a non-sissy. In the tradition of Erma Bombeck, Lyla Blake Ward makes wonderfully wry observations in this series of essays on topics such as aging in a culture of youth, the somehow funny-when-she-says-it treatises on health issues germane to the mature and the ever-evolving challenges of technological advancements. Her playful puns and witty banter keep you smiling as she manages to reveal the truths of aging. Who knew they would be so funny? AmazonEncore, $18.95.
Bestseller Express
Can’t wait to read the latest James Patterson or Sue Grafton thriller, or other super-hot bestseller? “Bestseller Express” service offers ready access to the most popular bestselling titles for a minimal rental fee. Available at all Hennepin County libraries, the cost to rent a Bestseller Express book is $4 for 10 days. All bestseller titles are also available in the general collection for free checkout. To find out which titles are currently available, go to BookSpace on Hennepin County Library’s website, www.hclib.org and select “New Titles,” to see links to Bestseller Express current titles on the right side of the page. Books cannot be reserved or renewed, but may be re-rented for another 10-day period. Check your local library’s Bestseller Express shelves to see what’s available.
Uncross the Stars
In this age of big, bigger, biggest blockbusters, it is a treat to come upon a “small” movie that actually has a story to tell and engages you in that tale with fine acting, measured pacing and captivating characters, not to mention a cast that is largely on the backside of sixty. Uncross the Stars falls delightfully into this category.
Bucking the Hollywood trend that gives short shrift to mature characters, this picture stars Academy Award nominee Barbara Hershey (lovely at 62) and Golden Globe winner Ron Perlman, age 60, and is set in and filmed at a 55+ community near Phoenix, Arizona.
Hershey’s youthful nephew (Daniel Gillies) finds himself in the Happy Valley retirement community in response to a final request from his wife before her untimely death. Her simple directive to have him help his aunt build a porch sets events in motion that not only impact his grief, but open the door to past sorrows and a chance to set them right. Ron Perlman adds mystery to the story as a gruff neighbor and a lively ensemble of senior gals, who help put the pieces together, are a delight.
Like a good book, this charming film offers the satisfying combination of characters that not only ring true, but who are also richly entertaining and fine tellers of the story. Good things do come in “small” packages! . return
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