Opinions

Dear Savvy Senior, My dad has dementia and has gotten to the point that he can’t live at home any longer. I need to find a good memory care residential facility for him but don’t know where to turn.

About halfway through my recent trip to Italy, a friend back home asked me if I was eating a lot of pasta. The answer, surprisingly, was that pasta wasn't as much of our diet in Italy as most people might expect.

From the Editor’s Files This past week, Kim and I returned from a much-anticipated, heartfelt trip to Italy to celebrate our 10th anniversary together. While most of our days were spent in Rome, exploring the powerful history of the epicenter of the Roman Empire, one day out of our overall adventure involved taking a day trip to Florence, Italy.

Random Thoughts I love Thanksgiving meals, and am planning on at least four different meals before we get into December. The start was Goddard's Community Thanksgiving Dinner, which took place last Thursday at The Goddard Church.

Paul Rhodes | Publisher & Editor Editor's note: With Thanksgiving happening almost a week later than usual, publisher Paul Rhodes found a column from five years ago when a similar situation happened with holiday schedules. He thought it would help set the tone for this year's approaching holiday season.

Random Thoughts Late Monday night, I touched down in the dark at Eisenhower National Airport after a few days on the West Coast visiting my California family and seeing other friends. On Thursday, my brother Justin and I went into San Francisco for the day, which is just a short drive from his home in San Mateo.

Outside of holidays, the most important date on the calendar when I was growing up was always the second Saturday of November, or the traditional opening of pheasant and quail seasons. While I did plenty of quail hunting in east Kansas, we always headed west for the opening day to chase ring-necked pheasants.

Savvy Senior Dear Savvy Senior, What’s the best way to go about writing a living will? I’m approaching age 73 and in poor health and would like to get this done without spending a lot of money. Need Help Dear Need, Preparing a living will now is a smart decision that gives you say in how you want to be treated at the end of your life.

From the Editor’s Files Kim and I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our first date this past weekend, and our celebratory efforts were just as unpretentious as that first day together. We had met each other like so many people in this era...on an online dating site.

Insight On a recent trip to Ireland, our AirBnB host, Morgan, was shocked at the schedule my friends and I had put together. We had plans to see iconic places in all corners of the island over a fiveday stretch.