At the end of December, I fell and fractured my left ankle, rendering me “non-weight bearing” on that leg. Suddenly, handicapped parking, accessible bathrooms and wheelchair ramps all took on new significance in my life. While my new disability is temporary, I began to consider what the world and our physical...

A visit to the doctor or diagnostic clinic may take a few hours of preparation, travel and execution, but the home care one provides for a partner with any kind of permanent disability is 24/7. My wife is among the first group of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) sufferers lucky enough to age with this debilitating dis...

Okay, we’re in our 80s. We’ve outlived the average lifespan, but we don’t know how much time remains. Maybe the question to ask ourselves is not, “How long do I have left?” but “How do I want to live the years I still have?” For example, I’m 83 and feel pretty good. My blood tests look good, I exercise every ...

After 46 years in the profession, I retired from my last nursing job in June 2025. Though retired, I will keep my license, both to keep future nursing options open but also because becoming an RN requires much blood, sweat and many tears. I’m not ready to let it go just yet. Did I LOVE it? Yes! It was a great...

Ihate waiting! I have protested. I have asked to speak to the manager. I have even been known to make a scene and scream. Ask the folks at our local Humboldt Medical Eye Associates or the over-worked and underpaid people at our Walgreen’s Pharmacy. Because of my disdain for being kept waiting, I always arrive...

In March, I had spinal fusion surgery to align and stabilize misaligned vertebrae and reduce pain from stenosis. And so begins another “organ recital” — a sharing of my aches and pains that come with the territory of aging body parts that don’t function the way they used to. It’s not my intent to bitch and mo...

Nutritious food is essential for health, but for individuals managing chronic illness or recovering from serious medical conditions, the right food can be as important as medicine. The Humboldt Senior Resource Center’s Senior Nutrition Program originally provided medically tailored meals designed by registere...

A Memory Café is a fun, welcoming gathering for people experiencing memory loss and for those who care about them — caregivers, family members and friends. These informal get-togethers are a place to relax, connect with others who have shared life experiences and challenges, and to enjoy companionship in a co...

Once again, the Senior Nutrition Program at Humboldt Senior Resource Center (HSRC) is grateful for the generous support from McCrea Subaru in Eureka and Subaru of America.

The 2026 Supporting Healthy Aging Conference, sponsored by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, will take place on Thursday, May 14, at the Sequoia Conference Center in Eureka.

If you live on the North Coast, you’ve likely experienced how challenging it can be to access healthcare services. The state designates our region as a “health professional shortage area,” meaning there simply aren’t enough providers to meet the needs of our population. Across the Redwood Region — Del Norte, ...

Have I got an exercise plan for you! No health club, no barbells, no cute leotards. No fancy equipment. And just 10 minutes. No sweat. It started with office workers who ran from one meeting to the next, or at-home telecommuters with days full of Zoom sessions. For people with neither the time nor the inclina...

Join the Redwood Interfaith Gospel Choir with special guests, the 50-member Oakland Interfaith Community Choir, on Saturday, May 30, for a night of high-energy gospel and spiritual music.

Is it money? Inertia? Lack of political will? Is it corporate domination? All of these are impediments to changing our degraded, torturous healthcare system, but the underlying dysfunction has more to do with our national perception of who should have health care and why. Until we see a fundamental change tha...

Last July 4, President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (H.R. 1) into law. This bill creates a difficult new environment for California’s working families, hospitals and health systems, and state and local governments. More than one-third of Californians (and 44% of Humboldt residents) rely on Medi-C...

Dear John Heckel: I am an avid reader of the Senior News here in Santa Cruz. I, too, am a carepartner. I am so truly sorry for your loss. I am so happy, however, that Lucy has come into your life [“Lucy the Lifesaver,” April Senior News]. We have two dogs and five cats, and they are a great addition to our li...

I have a date with Death, It cannot be postponed, He’s walking up my steps, He’s come to take me home. I have a date with Death, It cannot be ignored, He’s calling out my name, He’s knocking on my door. I have a date with Death, I try to hide my fear, I smile as I let him in, I know the time is near. I have a...

To the Editor: Throughout various professional and civic roles, Mary Burke has shown that she knows how to bring people together to improve our environment and our communities. One of her recent accomplishments here in McKinleyville is the Baduwa’t Project at the end of School Road, which improved salmon habi...

We usually have a hard time finding good things to say about a person we find humorless. Beyond acknowledging that he or she is, perhaps, “hardworking” or “dependable as the day is long,” we end up at a descriptive loss for these folks pretty quickly. Since we know, as Thumper the rabbit used to say, if you d...

Just saying “April Fools’ Day” makes me smile. In my life, every day is already pretty darn foolish. But it’s nice to have a special day to laugh — an especially rare commodity over the past year or so, given that the world feels like it’s going to hell in a handbasket. I never did understand that saying, but...