There is a term that senior citizens are becoming familiar with. It's called "the donut hole.” In real English it means you have exhausted your Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage and all of your medication costs come out of your own wallet.

My previous blog, "My thoughts about angry bloggers and why they exist," seems to have resonated with quite a few people — pro and con.  I enjoyed the largely respectful discourse, but I'd like to experiment with one of the points made by the readers. 

Serving Our Seniors has started to study Erie County's older population (65 to 75-years-old) and those "soon-to-be" senior citizens (55 to 62-years-old). The responses to the surveys have been returned and the data is now being tabulated.

There was a time when older people didn't have rights. When their mental or physical capacity started to deterorate, it wasn't uncommon for someone to step in, take over and give little or no respect to the wishes of that older person. Decades ago that was what aging was like.

Because there was so much interest in the blog, "Aging, memory impairment and driving," I wanted to look into a related topic.

How permanent is memory impairment in later life?

This blog is in response to Rick Studer's question, "Can you explain the current prescription drug situation compared to the state it was in before Serving Our Seniors got involved?"

In July — after Serving Our Seniors exhausted its Utility Assistance fund helping older people who received shut-off notices — I was fretting about the cost of home heating for the 2008/2009 heating season.

I think most of us who are at middle age and older wonder to ourselves, “Am I getting forgetful?”  “Is my forgetfulness normal – or not?”

I find it interesting that even though people are unhappy with their circumstances, they stay there. (I’m referring to circumstances BEFORE the recent economic downturn.)

I’ve always found it interesting that it seems so easy for people to be/become negative, but it takes effort to be/become positive. I wonder why that is?