Silver Linings from the COVID Pandora’s Box

Photo: UNSPLASH

As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, left in Pandora’s box after all the death and destruction, there is hope. Though many of us will think it pointless to hope for the best when things seem so bleak, what we can do is hope for ‘the better’. There is no doubt that this global event has brought forth our ‘better angels’, as we can now more clearly see life around us. The lives carrying on right under our own roofs; lives from which we got disconnected when work and the busy grind of the day to day took us away from family, from spouses/partners.

While there seems no escape from the pain and suffering, we find hope in the resilience of our children as they adapt to this new normal. A normal that finds them really getting to know their Mom and Dad, as they shelter and stay safe in place. Mom and Dad find hope in acknowledging that the shift in their circumstances has reshaped how they think. What used to be important, the ‘stuff’ of life, isn’t so much. They’re finding reinvigorated joy in the small things. the things that create memories.

Within each of us is the capacity to hope for better days though some may not be able to return to the job they once had, venturing out to find something different. Paying the bills is obviously the prime motivator, but finding ‘job joy’ is also important.  Perhaps people will explore self-employment drawn from a long abandoned hidden talent. Lots of bakers were born during the pandemic. So, too, many among us revisited hobbies of our youth. How many Van Goghs brushed off their smocks and berets? Maybe there are folks who got back into sewing, quilting, knitting and crocheting. Hand crafted smocks and berets could be big sellers. And then  there’s gardening - both vegetable and flowers. 

  Because of interruptions in food supply chains, there will be a need for fresh  fruit and produce. Might there be men and women  out there thinking bigger, with a resurgence in the age of the gentleman/woman farmer? Dairy farming. Beef cattle farming. Getting back to the basics of daily living. Up at dawn to do old fashioned chores, out in the barns. in the fields. Think of the possibilities. Might the COVID-19 pandemic have the silver lining that New Brunswick has been  looking for? Technology turned  us into emotionally isolated ME people, as we Facebooked, Snapchatted, Facetimed our way through our days. Self-isolation taught us a lot — mostly about ourselves and our need for that  people connection.

The hope left in Pandora’s box turned our attention to our children and what would become of their turned  upside down worlds, as many schools will be closed for the rest of the term, and those that will open in September will be changed — possibly for years to come. That, my friends, may not be a bad thing. Many parents are looking to the Little House on the Prairie schoolhouse days as a guide to educating children. What children learn and how they learn it doesn’t have to be tethered to technology, to high speed internet. COVID-19 family time found parents and grandparents revisiting their own distant past with the resurrection of board games, puzzles, story telling, reading. Cooking, baking, music and art appreciation can all be enjoyed as a family, all the while being teaching tools.

Speaking of Little House on the Prairie, I learned that a storyline from that series actually predicted what we are experiencing today. In 1975, Little House On The Prairie aired an episode called 'Plague', which sees Laura's father Charles Ingalls, played by Michael Landon, attempt to control a breakout of typhus in Walnut Grove, Minnesota.   Charles is left isolated as he doesn't want to spread  disease; he turns the local church into a hospital to look after those infected.  In a 1977 episode, ’Quarantine', the whole town goes into lockdown after there is an outbreak of mountain fever.  Earning power/bartering came to a  standstill.

Today, we have different ways of earning an income, of providing for our family, but all of that came to a screeching halt and we were actually thrust into a pared down life, a simpler life. I suspect there will be many who say they’re enjoying the slower pace in spite of the impact not working is taking on their bank accounts. There will be so many who are not financially equipped to function without a sustained source of income -  enough to cover ‘necessities of life’  would be the ideal for the disenfranchised and struggling.

A universal basic income, even in the short term will brighten the light on hope, so that people can make new plans, or tweak the old ones. While our federal and provincial governments strategize, we all know one thing   — how we educate children could benefit from the ‘old ways’ more than we realize.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornt.ca

The COVID-19 pandemic blew the lid off Pandora’s box

The COVID-19 pandemic is not going away any time soon so people need to accept this new reality if we are to overcome and get on with things. The co-operation of every single one of us is critical to that end.

What the pandemic has done is blow the lid off Pandora’s box with evidence of all manner of inequalities spilling out; front and center are the deficiencies in the lives of our children — they are our future, right? Why are we not doing more to ensure that they get the future they deserve — the kind the ‘haves’ don’t worry about too much because they’re already on track to a life that won’t experience a lot of worry about where the next meal is coming from, can Mom pay the rent this month? or will Dad still have a job in the fall?  Children in financial crisis, because their family lives on the edge day in and day out, worry about things young people should not have worry about.

My brain is boggled. Yes, it is! I just cannot understand how so many people are stuck on the notion that a universal basic income is  tantamount to paying people to do nothing. How very wrong they are.  Frankly,  it’s an insult to those who, very often through circumstances out of their control, have lived on the financial edge for years; for decades. You’ve heard the  statement — most people don’t have $400 to cover an emergency.

The single mother working two minimum wage jobs trying to keep a roof over her head and food on the table for herself and 4 kids is the one working for nothing, if we define working primarily in dollars and cents. Stop and think  about that. After all the costs of necessities of life are met there is very little left over for even one of the things most of us take for granted. Her 4 children are missing out on lots of experiences and tools that could enhance the quality of, for example, their learning life. How many children in this province do not have access to the internet let alone a computer, laptop or tablet? The call for organizing distance learning so children can keep up during the COVID-19 pandemic effectively shuts out huge chunks of our population - not just in this province, but across the country. 

We’re too quick to make the bold statement that  women (and men) who don’t work outside the home to earn money are not working, are lay-abouts, are milking the system, are abusing resources that they  don’t deserve to access. That self-entitled attitude espoused by those who already ‘have’ is insulting on so many levels. It’s got to change if we have any hope of coming out the other side of this hellish nightmare with our souls and sanity intact. All of us are in this together. Let’s not forget that now, and let’s not forget it when some semblance of normal starts to return to our world.

Our  current social assistance programs essentially put recipients into a forced/government state of poverty out  of which there seems to be no climbing. There’s no incentive to rise above when even basic needs are not met on a consistent basis, with the underpinnings of stress and fear driving every move.  No way to live, it’s not surprising that people living in poverty are sick, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

During the weeks of  being tossed and tumbled in the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, there have been lots of kitchen table discussions about guaranteed basic income also known as universal basic income. More and more people are coming to the conclusion that it may be the most efficient/effective way to assist those who are trapped in poverty and living on the fringes. Fortifying their financial base will improve health and wellness which will reduce stress on the health care system. 

Based on a 2018 study, providing a nationwide safety net for low-income Canadians in the form of a guaranteed basic income would cost roughly $43 billion a year, a report from Parliament’s fiscal watchdog suggested.  “The guaranteed income for disability would range between $3.2 billion and $3.5 billion.”

The school closures across the country  very clearly illustrates huge gaps between the haves and have nots as breakfast programs, school lunch programs, after school programs, designed to offer relief to families of limited means, were stopped. As best as they could corporations, local businesses and community groups came together to ensure that children didn’t go hungry, while they, too, are struggling to make family and business ends meet. Some will not be successful. That’s the reality of what COVID-19 has  done to our world, our lives, our sense of self.

In the coming weeks, perhaps representatives of the various branches of government will do the math on universal basic income and say YES to success.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

COVID-19 pandemic shines a light on medical ethics

John Wood, Order of New Brunswick recipient lives With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy 

(Photo: Savannah Awde/Legislature Bureau]

Persons with disability across the globe have been keeping an eye on trends in various countries with regard to how clinicians on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic are treating, or in some cases, not treating persons with pre-existing disabilities that may impact survival.

Has this pandemic brought us to the point where a doctor might decide which life is more worth saving if one becomes infected with COVID-19? 

There’ve been various reports on social media that people with learning disability and older people with various comorbidities are having DNR orders applied to them with little discussion with family or other designated caregivers. Various reports out of Ontario and one document in particular, The Clinical Triage Protocol for Major Surge in COVID Pandemic, are disturbing at best. 

Robert Lattanzio, executive director of Ontario’s ARCH Disability Law Centre, a specialty legal clinic that practices exclusively in disability rights law, said the document provides three levels of triage for health-care providers based on demand and resources. Using the “frailty scale,” the framework doesn’t just look at who would benefit most from the care, but also calls on health professionals to consider factors like the quality of life of those with a disability, he said. “That is where we cross a line that we cannot cross,” he said.

How at risk of not receiving timely treatment are persons in nursing homes, group homes, independent living residences? Are GPs conferring with patients and encouraging the signing of DNR orders for those who are at greater risk of complications and death? I am inclined to think not.  

In fact, any anxieties I might have had have been assuaged, as Premier Blaine Higgs has assured citizens of New Brunswick that persons with disability will receive the same level of care as all others  with regard to treatment should they contract the COVID-19 virus. That is absolutely as it should be.

Will the COVID-19 pandemic bring about or force changes in attitudes as to how persons with disability, the frail and the elderly are treated? I certainly hope there are huge changes that will improve their lot in life. What I’d also like to see is universal basic income. Let’s just get that done. In other countries, it’s already been shown to break into the poverty cycle by allowing the poor and the working poor to accumulate a float/savings to support costs of improvements to quality of life and improved health.

In staying home, we are protecting others, notably the health and wellness of doctors and nurses who put their own lives on the line treating COVID-19 patients. The quality of the life of persons with disability is front and center as the health care community is focused on treating those infected with COVID-13. Many clinicians often have a years long relationship with patients who live with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, MS, MD, Parkinson’s, dementia and so on; they’ll be doing all that they can do to ensure quality care.

Recently, I received a letter from the Vice-President of our Extra Mural Program which outlines their protocols when making home visits. In the event that testing is required, the visiting clinician will arrange it. Since my last visits from Extra-Mural were rehabilitative in nature, I will not be requiring a consult as I have no active medical complaint that would require attention. I’m gratified to know that they are out there caring for patients during these challenging times.

As the days and weeks have passed during my confinement, I am really doing nothing differently than I had done before. Now, as then, my goal is to keep myself healthy by staying well hydrated and eating well. Given that there’s not been and will not be a lot of people traffic in my home, I am confident that my environment is safe.

It’s not likely that I will find myself in a position that so many persons with disability find concerning   — the ‘what if’ question that the pandemic poses with regard to treatment  should they become ill. Thankfully, we have the Human Rights Act that protects us broadly. Will it be taken narrowly in these times to ensure that, for example, the vent dependent, spastic quadriplegic child who presents with  a few symptoms of COVID-19 will receive the same level of care that a 12 year old non-disabled presenting with those same symptoms receives? Our Premier has ensured that it will. Persons with disability have nothing to fear.

Human rights, set down internationally, and put into our domestic law through the Human Rights Act, belong to every single person in the Canada, whether they have disabilities or not, whether they fall into COVID-19 vulnerability or not.

Such legal standards and protections will make it easier for medical care providers to do what they know they need to do. That being so, I am confident that families who are concerned about whether their relative with pre-existing, life altering disability can relax. Their loved one’s care will be equal access.  Sit. Stay. Safe.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

Confinement during COVID-19

From the Chez Rockwell Kitchen: Cream of Asparagus with Salmon Soup

with Toasted Herb Bread
(recipes available upon request)

A recent email from the Iowa cousin: “You have years of experience in self isolation. I consider you somewhat of an expert in this area. Have you considered writing an article instructing newbies the best procedures to follow? With so many world wide now requested to self isolate, you could be a very valuable guide for their safe  survival.”

Wow! It’s official I’m an expert on the hermit life! Who woulda thunk that my bulk buying, bulk baking and cooking would come in so handy and actually be quite necessary tools to my continued health and wellness during these past weeks and going forward.

  No, I don’t have a stockpile of toilet paper in the spare bedroom, so don’t even bother thinking about showing up at my door with your hand out! What you can do, though, if you do go out and about from time to time, is to check on neighbours. Most city dwellers have a mailbox beside their front door, so leave a note, offering to collect a few essentials if they need them. It’s a great way to get to know those who have been isolated for years and you never knew. 

Prior to these very serious and yes, deadly times, I didn’t ‘self-isolate’ in any real sense that suggests I am a hermit. Admittedly, I do enjoy being alone but I also enjoy being out and about. Alas, I don’t drive and after the death of my husband in 2007, I relied upon the generosity of neighbours to include me on outings to the city when their own schedules allowed. Sometimes, a few neighbours would actually make themselves available to take me to Fredericton to pick up groceries at Victory; groceries that were waiting for me because, for years, the kind staff there have done my shopping based on an email I would send them a few days before I showed up at the market. I cannot thank them enough for their generosity. No doubt you’ve read about their expanded services during COVID-19. They are owed a huge thank-you, people! They’re making the lives of seniors and shut-ins so much safer. 

I’m glad my bulk shopping has not been a problem for one friend who has been amazingly support of my needs. Sometimes, the dogs are with us, crated, to be dropped off at the groomer — on those occasions, I can’t get a lot of groceries. My current wheelchair won’t fit in the back seat as my old one did. Accommodating my needs within the parameters of my disability poses some challenges particularly as my friend is older than I and I cannot help her get the chair in the trunk; I feel like such a slug at time, but she reassures me that she’s happy to help. Before we left the city, we’d swing by Victory to grab the grub and hit the road to booniesville. For now those outings are on hold.

For those with children who are singing that ‘I’m bored, Mom’ song, consider turning this isolation time into something like the Olympic Games. Organize the days based on things each person in the home is good at and enjoys doing so that everyone will have his/her day. Hold a competition to see who’s prepared the best dinner meal. For younger children, turn baking and cooking into a reading and math lesson. Yes, it’s do-able with a bit of creativity. I’ve come across many articles about folks actually embracing home baking and cooking. What is sort of sad really is the number of young adults who actually don’t know how to cook. It wasn’t  part of their growing up the same as it was for me and others of my generation. Now is their time to shine, learning how to make an exquisite braided bread, baked to perfection. Hey, that’s an idea. Home made pizzas with a medal awarded for the most creative. Pizza dough is really easy to make and is weird topping friendly. Get in touch and I’ll give you my favourite dough recipe.

Try to keep to a routine of personal care and go with 3 different sets of PJs - your work at home jam-jams, a  pair for when you’re curled up on the couch binge watching favourite shows, and the ever popular ‘I’m stylin’ in my dinner at the table jammies’. Don’t become a total slob. That’s so unbecoming.

Remember! If you don’t HAVE to go out, STAY IN. Lives depend on the co-operation of EVERYONE during these trying times. Binge watch BritDrams; Darling Buds of May and Rosemary and Thyme are very good.

Take care and be well, all.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at camacrockwell@xplornet.ca

To reduce poverty, curriculums must change

Students at the New Brunswick Community College's Trade Education Centre (Photo: NBCC)

“Be ambitious on poverty reduction,” was the recommendation of a recent headline in The Telegraph Journal.

I’m confused. Are you? Wasn’t there grand plan decades ago to reduce poverty, to level the playing field, to make lives healthier and happier? What happened with all that? Certainly the poverty rate has fallen to 7.9% from a 2015 14%, but the ever-elusive ‘they’ and we need to be doing more. So much more.

I’m sorry, but this government, like its predecessor, is failing miserably. One thing that many among us are opposed to is the penalizing of persons on welfare who work/earn money/improve their financial lot in life to meet the needs of their family by having their pittance of a monthly ‘social assistance’ check attached. That’s not okay. It was never okay. It never will be okay.

Current and past governments just don’t get it and I’m not alone in wondering why that is. We have a labour shortage because our education system needs a huge shake-up to the curriculum; it was needed decades ago. Bring back all of those vocational education classes — all of them, updated  to mesh with the times in which we live. We need more tradespeople. We need more nurses’ aides, more people educated and trained in nutrition, health and wellness, particularly focused on elder care health management, in the home, given we have a significant population of elderly and advanced geriatric citizens. The ideal and what they want is to stay in their homes. 

Hands on/learning by doing or kinesthetic learning, beginning in kindergarten and following students right on through to grade twelve and beyond may well be the solution to reducing school absenteeism and the all too predictable dropping out into a life of poverty.  Kinesthetic learning is ideally suited to children with challenges as opposed to the traditional,’sit down, sit still and pay attention to me’ model. Keeping hands and minds busy reduces classroom disruptions and acting out.

In grade school, we start with visual/book learning; read, remember, recite — a commonly practiced method for teaching young children where information starts with picture books, followed by flash cards, and then on to textbooks and all that reading, reading, reading and regurgitation. Take the tests, pass the tests and then move on to the next grade/year until the final destintion is reached. Twelve and done! 

In university, the  teaching and learning landscape changes, with a move to auditory learning, most easily observed in the lecture formats of certain college courses, where students aborb information through listening and note taking. Lively discussions further enhance learning and retention.

It is clear that there are certain situations in which hands-on learning is the only way to teach something. There is no use trying to teach a child to ride a bicycle in a traditional classroom - they need to get outside to try out a bike. Many people argue that doing something is the best way to learn about it, rather than attempting to learn about it from a book. No matter how many books you read about cycling, you are still sure to fall off the first time you try! Miracle of miracles, even I learned how to ride a two-wheeler. But then as I got a bit taller, the balance went to hell. I wasn’t terribly proficient but at least I was able to cross it  it off the ‘to learn’ list. Then there was the learning to skip rope, but we won’t go there. I was all about learning by doing. Skipping wasn’t pretty.

That is why it’s important to bring back the full slate of vocational courses so that those who learn best by doing will have a better chance of staying the course and staying in school. Hanging in and hanging on will improve outcomes. The earlier students learn to think for themselves the better prepared they are to forge ahead as adults when faced with new challenges. Reading and writing and learning facts have their place, obviously; there are any number of professional specialised careers that speak to that, but those who part of that stream appreciate the need for skilled labourers who are good at their jobs and enjoy the work. So, everyone works together to make a community thrive. 

Governments, as they budget for education across the province and across the country need to just stop and look around at what’s missing and what is needed to fix it. All hands on deck for all hands on learning.

There is no doubt that actively involving students will enhance their education. However, hands-on learning is always effective when combined with traditional learning from books. When students see that they’re getting what they want and what they’re interested in, their curiosity naturally expands and they will go on to read and learn more on their own. Teachers need to let go and let grow.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

Dethroned! My Ms. Fixit crown has been tarnished

For persons with disability, home ownership has challenges not experienced by the non-disabled (NDA).  I cannot mow my lawns, so I don’t! Being countrified, I let them grow wild. The deer and the rabbits and the foxes, oh my, are often seen roaming around the back yard; it’s always fun to watch the deer as they venture closer to see what the dogs are doing in their pen. Recommended as a fire-prevention protection, I do have the back of the property sheared down once a season. I can’t clear the snow in winter, so I don’t! For many years, Wilson Peacock, a lovely gentleman on my road, has been meeting that need. I really appreciate his kindness to me and my dogs;  he goes above and beyond and clears out their pen, making a little path off the ramp that gets covered with snow. Again, something I cannot easily do but I have done it a time or two. Any and all movement that keeps me uprightly mobile is a good thing, so shoveling a bit of doggie ‘do’ off their porch and pen, though not poetry in motion, is a great spine stretching exercise.

Inside the house, I’m able to accomodate the Ms. Fixit role well enough. I haven’t blown anything up yet, having repaired a few lamps and small appliances over the years — once replacing the hose on a portable dishwasher. I can resurrect a crashed computer with a few tweaks. It paid to listen to Stewart, my friend with knowledge of all things computery! If I was more able, with better balance, I think I could really get into carpentry. We need more trades people.

Recently, on a Sunday, I was unceremoniously dethroned and it was entirely my fault. I was cleaning calcium deposit from under the rim in the toilet bowl — a routine task. I also used a screw driver to scrape down into that space in the bowl where deposits collect - the goal was to correct sluggish flushing. Prior to the scrape down, I poured one cup of soda and one cup of vinegar into the toilet and let it rest for an hour. I should have gone for two! I also poured some vinegar  into the over-flow pipe. I learned that trick years ago. Then, it happened.  I got cocky! I should have left well enough alone and gone with the tried and true and exhibited more patience.

Alas, I over-estimated my abilities. I did a stupid, yes, a stupid thing! I used a hammer and ever so gently tapped down into the hole in the bowl. Gently, gently. As I was tapping, I heard what sounded like something falling into the bowl. That wasn't good. Even I knew that! I stood up. Then I noticed something. Water was leaving the bowl and there was puddling on the floor. Oops. What have I done?

Getting down on my hands and knees is a challenge at the best of times, but I had to investigate again. A big towel took care of the water on the floor and it stayed dry. 

Back to the computer, a scrabble game and online chat with the gang from one of my favourite haunts to share my tale of woe. One guy said “You broke the trap! Turn off the water at once.” Two others chimed in with the same instruction. Check. An internet search found me the one company in Fredericton that was listed as open so I booked an appointment for first thing Monday morning. Morning came so  thought I’d call to confirm. It’s a good thing I did — turns out the guy I spoke with the day had my phone number wrong. As well, they couldn’t fit me in for over a week; that would never do! They referred me to Leachman's Plumbing.

Miracle of miracles, the plumber arrived that afternoon. I’m glad they didn’t laugh when I told them how I was taking care of my bathroom needs since I was dethroned. Mr. Digby, the elder statesdog, supervised plumber Terry from start to finish, following him back and forth as tools of the trade, along with a shop vac, were taken to the bathroom. Then the pièce de résistance — a shiny new ‘throne’ to grace the ‘facilities’ at Chez Rockwell. I should point out that Mr. D never barked once. That is very telling of the character of the guy who replaced the toilet that I broke!

Plumber Terry

Suffice to say, the toilet tale was a learning experience. As to my Ms. Fixit title, I have a bit of work to do to restore my status — perhaps I’ll paint something. No hammer involved.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at  carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

Why mindful eating contributes to better health

Cabbage and kidney bean soup to be served with toasted herb bread

A winter staple at Chez Rockwell

Where did the notion of mindful eating come from? It was defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the original developer and leader of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School  as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.”  His book 1990 book Full Catastrophe Living offered guidance on living mindfully based on his experiences with this program since 1979.

In my world, mindful eating is also related to mindful grocery shopping, meal preparation and cooking, using two old broad-friendly appliances — the slow cooker and the toaster oven. How food is prepared and how it’s presented contributes to an awareness of what we are putting into our mouths. Are we eating to live, living to eat, or comforting ourselves with food to combat stress? Stress eating can easily get out of control and requires effort to address. No doubt there are many among us who would benefit from having a meal buddy, someone with whom to interact while mindfully dining; eating slowly, chewing well, and drinking enough water with the meal to ensure healthy digestion. 

Here at Chez Rockwell, mindful eating is only one component of my daily living as I safely and healthily age with cerebral palsy. That journey began in toddlerhood when it was clear that I’d require a lot of nutritional input each and every day, to accommodate carrying my tiny body around wearing waist high metal braces and using forearm crutches. I learned all about the importance of the grocery list back then, too. A grocery list is critical to nutrition awareness as it helps one to ‘colour within the lines’ if items are organized by grocery aisle or a relationship to each other, as a menu is planned. It also ensure less wasted food and money. 

I rely on ‘the list’, to organise daily menus to include 3 meals/day plus snacks, preparing main dishes that are nutritious and accommodate 3-4 frozen servings which makes them both cost and energy efficient. This is especially important for those among us on fixed incomes who find healthy eating financially challenging. 

Being on my own, it’s critical that food preparation be energy efficient, as I cannot know from one minute to the next when my heart is going to hurt and I go into a fatigue slump, or I’m going to feel nauseated, or my eyes are going to go blurry. I still have to eat well. In that regard, I’m very disciplined, choosing foods that contribute to my continued wellness.

Because I drink a lot of water through the day, I don’t always have it with a meal, but hydration before a meal will ensure mindful eating of what’s on your plate and reduce the risk of over-eating. Insufficient hydration continues to be a major concern amongst the senior set. A few glasses throughout the day improves physical performance as well as mental acuity — win-win. So drink up and do the crossword puzzle.

Easy access to information has acquainted us with the Mediterranean diet, which is fruit, vegetables, grains, seeds, nuts and vegetable oils. In essence, it’s also about mindful eating.  A key feature of mindful eating that cannot be ignored — improved nutrition concurrently reduces dependence on a range of medications used to treat various conditions and diseases. The internet is great for gathering information about vitamins, minerals, benefits of certain foods, and how to incorporate healthy eating into your day, but equally important is having conversations with your doctor and other caregivers about how you can improve nutrition with the goal being to reduce dependence on medications.

I’m fortunate to have a lot of help with meeting my nutritional needs. The bulk of my food is purchased at Victory Meat Market where I’ve shopped since the 70s; they provide me with a helping hand by doing the shopping for me, based on a list I email to them. The fatigue factor associated with aging with cerebral palsy doesn’t allow me to do a big shopping on my own. I have to really think about what I need and what I’m going to prepare as the list is developed, though sometimes I miss a few things. That shopping trip takes care of almost 2 months worth of shopping. Then the batch baking and cooking begins, filling up the chest freezer as previously prepared meals in stackable containers are moved to the fridge freezer. 

Mindful eating, with its various components, has served me well for decades and I am confident that I will continue to do well, home alone, with many years of fine dining ahead.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca