Rushing's Ramblings

  Starting with an undergraduate degree in Rehabilitation Science and a graduate degree in counseling psychology and business in the mid-70s, my career was spent managing various rehabilitation units, hospitals, and outpatient clinics until I retired seven years ago.  I thought I knew everything related to disabilities, equipment, and treatment. Still, I wasn't as knowledgeable as I thought, or it's possible that there have been major advances in equipment in the past seven years.   We had finished our midday walk on the beach. As we were heading toward the door to our condo building, a massive, amphibious wheelchair that contained a much older man and what appeared to be his son working diligently in deep sand to navigate the wheelchair was inching toward us.  I had never seen such a marvel of invention as that wheelchair, even though the price of the chair, at $3000, is out of reach for many people.   The man in the chair was in poor physical shape, ...

  I’ve lived my life with integrity, compassion, and honesty.  I don’t back down from a controversial subject and will always speak out against injustice and prejudice.  I received many benefits from being White, although I was still short-shafted regarding equal pay as a woman.   Case in point: I was replaced by two men when I retired from overseeing a 36-bed rehabilitation hospital and 6 outpatient clinics serving children through adults. The man who replaced me had great difficulty managing the inpatient rehabilitation services. Hence, the Healthcare System overseeing the services promoted a male physical therapist to manage the outpatient facilities.  Each of the men was paid more than I.  It’s probably not a stretch to guess that had I been a person of color with the same credentials, I would not have been hired, and doubly so if I had been a woman of color with the same credentials.   A tenured UT journalism professor was...

So...our "pro-life, Christian" Governor has decided to install gigantic buoys with spikes on top to deter people from crossing the border via the Rio Grande River. The buoys cost taxpayers $1 million and were purchased from a South African company. This latest death-inducing deterrent is the newest atrocity following six miles of razor wire placement along the river and underwater several years ago. Additionally, there have been anonymous reports by law enforcement employees that they were told to push migrants back into the river if they crossed into Texas and to not give them any water. Oh, the irony…Texas bought potentially deadly equipment from a country known for atrocities against people of color under apartheid that ended only 30 years ago. (Full disclosure: I lived there in 1998, and Whites still committed atrocities because it took a while to clean up law enforcement.) By the way, South Africa was ruled for centuries by a White minority. (Don't think it won...

I traveled to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, in July 2023 with a friend who was once responsible for installing surveillance equipment all along the Texas border.  He retired 10 years ago and has lived in South Padre Island for many years, so his observations may be dated and no longer valid.  He rarely saw any Border Patrol agents when he was supervising the equipment installation.  There are agents at the entry points to the US, but only a few.  It took us almost an hour in the car to cross back into the US, as there was a long line and only two lanes open.  During the wait, we never saw any car searches.  Our time at the booth only took about 15 seconds for him to glance at our passports and wave us back into the US.  Of course, this could be due to both of us being geezers. I told my travel buddy that we would be perfect drug smugglers and could make good money.  He didn’t find the humor in my observation....

It’s taken me a year, but I finally understand what’s happening here.     99.99% of us are retired, and the majority are also widowed.    A few  have had successful professional lives and are no longer consumed by making a living, with most women residents adjusting to life without a partner.   Many  are good-hearted and lovely. I consider some of them as treasured new friends and find quite a few annoying. Our world is much smaller than a short time ago.  Many of us live here to be close to our children, but they have active lives, and we are no longer the center of it.  Nor should we.   In that context and background, groups gather at various times and complain about the lack of free coffee, the closed pool and hot tub due to safety and repair issues, etc.  There’s always someone talking about finding a lawyer.  You get the picture.  It drives me crazy to listen to constant complaining. Still, I ...

  As we age, we deal with our aging and health issues and watch as our friends and family have the same experiences.  Our memory isn’t like it was when we were younger. With each lost word or memory, we fear it’s the beginning of dementia or Alzheimer’s.  Many of us have artificial parts implanted: knees, hips, shoulders, or stents, all of which slow us down.  Recovery from illnesses or surgeries takes longer than it did even a decade ago.  It isn’t easy to accept that nothing will be like it was when we were young.   The worst part of aging is the frequency of losing friends and family.  One of my friends died last month after a short illness.  She wished to die and refused to eat or drink shortly after they removed a tumor from her brain. Fortunately, I told her I loved her and heard her echoing the same sentiment before she started slipping away. I’ll cherish our last moments together forever.   My next-door n...

  None of us know when we’ll take our last breath.  Everything must be in order before we die. The following are items needed to prepare for our final day on earth: A Last Will and Testament or Living Trust, Power of Attorney, Living Will or Advance Directive, ensure beneficiaries are current, update digital assets like Facebook, plan your final arrangements, and give copies to your heir or Executor.  Keep all documents, passwords, and instructions not covered in the documents above in a safe and secure place.   I know someone who battled cancer for many years and knew she was in the final phase of her life a few months ago when cancer had spread to many parts of her body.  There was nothing more doctors could do for her.  For the past year, she spent most days alone in her home with a few trips to the hospital.  Her friends phoned her daily and would come over a few times a day when she was hospitalized to take care of her dog...

All we could hear was the crashing of the waves as they hit the shore, but suddenly, the faint sound of a woman frantically calling, “Skittles…Skittles…Skittles!” that grew louder as she quickly paced back and forth on the sidewalk outside our condo building.     A dense growth of native bushes separated the narrow walkway from the beach.     I could imagine the animal either exploring the bushy area or being trapped and unable to emerge from the thick undergrowth.   When the thin, bronze-tanned, older woman passed in front of us, she was becoming more desperate by the moment while calling for her pet.  At last, a well-nourished, beautiful tabby cat with shimmering fur from the sunlight came running toward her.  The woman’s face was filled with ecstasy and relief simultaneously.  The next half-hour was spent cuddling her cat, then grooming him with a special glove that eliminates loose hair.  He seemed content to be in her...

A nice-looking, friendly, well-kept gentleman moved into the Geezer Apartments a few weeks after I arrived.     At that time, I participated in most group activities.     Jerry immediately joined the all-women group that met in the morning for coffee and in the evening for drinks.     They welcomed him into the group, which immediately changed the dynamics for the better.     There were still complaints about the lack of coffee, but the health discussions were minimal, thank God.   Jerry didn’t share much background, even though he was thoroughly quizzed.  He told us that he was a retired school counselor and coach from out-of-state that had graduated from Texas Tech even though he was born and raised in upstate New York.  One of the residents saw him walking with another man and assumed he was gay. However, for the life of me, I cannot understand why that was any of her business or why it would matter to her.   Jerry...