Lifelines & The Twist – Seniors Situation Room by Dawn Ford

It was probably in school that we learned the poem:

‘Thirty days hath September

April, June and November.

All the rest have thirty- one,

Except for February, twenty eight.

But in leap year, twenty nine’.

There are versions of it on the web site that rhyme even more. I think we learned it in school because a lot of seniors can recite it easily. Great to have today when you want to know how long a month is going to be, especially looking forward to Spring. The first day of Spring is March 20th which I hope will bring nice Spring weather. And Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday morning March 12th. Can Spring really be far behind???

I take out this old book from my library every now and again to read some of the jokes , ‘The World’s Worst Jokes ‘ by Al Boliska. It was published by McClelland and Stewart Limited, Toronto , ON and the copyright is 1966.

It is 57 years old. Hard to believe I have had it all that time. Lots of fun to read again for a good laugh.

Remember The Twist? Chubby Checker had us all dancing around and up and down. We had waltzes and danced the jitterbug and then, “The Twist” hit us.

He also had the second song, “Let’s Twist Again” which was keeping us up and down for sure. Some kids could go way down as they ‘twisted’. At the “Y” on a Saturday night, things were really ‘hummin’ as our favourite DJ Sidney Horovitz spun the vinyl records for us to dance to. Lots of fun!!

Ah, those were the days!!!

Time to rethink about the need for lifelines. Heard a few more stories about people who could have used one in dire need at the time but didn’t have one. Latest stories I heard were about two separate incidents where a senior fell in an elevator and had to wait until someone came near it to get them some help. If you can’t raise up enough you can’t push the emergency button.

There are different lifelines available and the one with the fall detection would help when and if you should need it. Some people say they don’t need it Good!! But if that moment comes unexpectantly, if you have one, it can be a real life saver. I am looking into finding out again if there are any grants available which would reduce the monthly cost for seniors who can’t afford one

Limericks are always fun:

“An elderly man called Keith

Mislaid his set of false teeth.

They’d been laid on a chair.

He’d forgotten they were there.

He sat down and was bitten beneath.”

A senior, Bob Katz, gave me these photos of the old MacDonnell’s Inn, taken in 1946. He said that he used to go back to the Inn in his family’s car and he sat in the rumble seat, which he loved to do. He said that their hot dogs were the best. At the time you could be served outside in your car, much like the A&W we used to know.

Interesting that we used the word, ‘back’ to the Inn. My sister and her family lived on the Toll Gate and we used to say, “We are going ‘back’ to Coolie’s” Maybe anything beyound the train station at 9th and Pitt was considered the country and probably still had gravel roads. gravel roads, according to Bob.

The restaurant is now called, “City Limits Bar and Grill.” Great food.

Here are a few fun lines from a friend about being HOME SCHOOLED:

1) My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done. “If you are going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning.”

2) My mother taught me Religion.”You better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

3) My father taught me logic. “Because I said so, that’d why.”

4) My mother taught me about Osmosis. “Shut your mouth and eat your supper.”

5) My mother taught me about contortionism. “Just look at the dirt at the back of your neck.”

6) My mother taught me about hypocrisy. “If I told you once, I’ve told you a million times.”

7) My father taught me about justice.”One day you’ll have kids and I hope they turn out just like you.”

Have a good week, Dawn

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