{"id":14956,"date":"2016-08-10T17:23:19","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T21:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=14956"},"modified":"2016-08-10T17:23:19","modified_gmt":"2016-08-10T21:23:19","slug":"senior-scape-its-time-to-build-bridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/senior-scape-its-time-to-build-bridges\/","title":{"rendered":"SENIOR SCAPE: It\u2019s time to build bridges"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christina Doyle<\/strong><\/p>\n

To those of you who are NOT seniors, I sincerely hope you enjoy this read.
\nAs the temperatures soar and children are off from school, there are holidays planned for some, camps for others. Exams are but a memory so let\u2019s take a moment and think of those whose life is not so hurried.
\nOur seniors are here \u2013 spring, summer and fall and winter \u2013 in retirement homes, condos, hospitals, nursing homes, and apartments. For many, they live alone.
\nThere were days in my younger years when I wished I was alone, alone from the kids, the job, the ridiculous schedule I kept, constantly searching for the \u201cme time.\u201d How much I tried to find some kind of quiet. In desperation I would go to my bathroom and just take a bath, for just a few minutes, not too far from the children but enough to savour a little peace and some sanity.
\nNow, as a senior, I wait for my daughter to call, at any time of the day, just to hear her voice. Whether it\u2019s about her sometimes frustrating job, her responsibilities or just life in general, it\u2019s so good to hear her voice and for her to say, \u201cHi Mom, how are you?\u201d
\nI miss her every day and pray that all is well with her. It\u2019s her turn to be busy, to say \u201cgosh mom, I have to go, I have a meeting that I am already late for.\u201d
\nIn our community of Aurora, it\u2019s time to build a bridge, between you and a senior. These precious souls are just waiting for you to enter their doors and spend but a few moments of your time, to be with them.
\nStudents, please, if you can, go beyond the community hours, make a new friend.
\nYou cannot imagine the good you will do by giving of your time to our seniors. If you need some good advice, need a history lesson, a lesson on quilting, chess, bridge or even poker, our seniors demonstrate an incredible amount of talent and knowledge.
\nI can see how much time my mom spends watching TV.
\nIf it wasn\u2019t for my frequent calls during the day, I wonder who else she would talk to during her long day. And when those days sometimes come when I cannot come and see her, I call and together on the phone we will watch the Price is Right, sharing some laughs, and making our own bids on the prizes.
\nWe will make predictions as to who is going to win the showcase, all the while I know that she knows she isn\u2019t alone, that there is someone who cares about her. It is the best hour of my day spending it with my mother either on the phone or visiting her at her condo or having lunch together.
\nAll of you who are not seniors, if you want to do a good thing I encourage you to visit a senior. I know already many of you volunteer. I have to seen the great multitude of volunteers for the numerous causes in which many of you take the time to run, bike and raise funds for needed research in a medical field.
\nI am a product of research. I survived cancer thanks to you and your good works and Terry Fox.
\nHowever, our society has a huge number of seniors in every town and village. They need just a little of our time, to say \u201cHey, just thought I would like to sit and chat or have a game of cards with you.\u201d
\nLook within yourself and see the talents you possess and try and think of how others may truly enjoy and appreciate your gifts.
\nFor that moment, you\u2019ll bring such joy and a great healing, a precious moment where they aren\u2019t thinking about what ails them, rather the laughter and joy you can give. It just starts with one heart at a time.
\nAs a professional country music singer who no longer plays at bars or festivals, I have been singing for the palliative care at the hospital as part of a Sunday service. You sing a hymn that is familiar to them, and you can see their eyebrows rise or a grin appear on their faces.
\nI feel so privileged to be able to sing to them and that isn\u2019t always easy at 9 in the morning!
\nOur communities need bridge builders. So many seniors are widows, who feel so lost without their lifelong partner and friend. They just need a reason to smile again. This July build a bridge with someone, and remember one day you will be a senior. How do you want to live your life?
\nSeniors Centre News
\nActivities are ongoing during August. Why not play badminton or ladies\u2019 pool on Monday mornings? Alternatively, you could play Bid Euchre on Tuesdays or Bridge on Wednesdays. Come out and get involved.
\nFor more information on the Aurora Seniors\u2019 Centre and all it has to offer, drop by 90 John West Way, visit the web site www.auroraseniors.ca, e-mail asa@auroraseniors.ca, or call 905-726-4767 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christina Doyle To those of you who are NOT seniors, I sincerely hope you enjoy this read. As the temperatures soar and children are off from school, there are holidays planned for some, camps for others. Exams are but a memory so let\u2019s take a moment and think of those whose life is not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-3Te","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-31 21:22:51","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14956\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}