March 2019 “Celebrating Age and Maturity” End of Life Plan Today to Ease Burdens Tomorrow Write Your Own Obituary Hospice Care Will vs. Living Will Save on Funeral Costs Communicate Effectively with Aging Parents What can you get for $1,563 a month? • One-bedroom apartment • Convenient parking outside the door • Delicious daily lunch with multiple choices • Free transportation to shopping, appointments • Variety of free entertainment, educational, health, spiritual and religious programs from which to choose • Wonderful friends to share your life • Beautiful, secure gated campus And, most important, peace of mind. Don’t wait until you need a nursing home to free yourself of the burden of a large home. Continue to live independently. Take charge of the decision and make a move on your terms. Larger apartment homes and additional amenities are also available. Visit our website, oaksofla.com, or call to speak with a leasing specialist, (318) 212-OAKS (6257). Live here and love it! 600 East Flournoy Lucas Road • (318) 212-OAKS (6257) • oaksofla.com • Leasing Office open 9 to 5 weekdays. After-hours/weekend tours by appointment. 2 March 2019 www.TheBestOfTimesNEWS.com Inside this Issue Special Section Briefs 28 15 Hospice Care Enhances 6 Stat! Medical Quality of Remaining Life News & Info Columns by Gary Calligas 12 Shreveport Then 8 Page by Page 17 Counseling Corner & Now Leading Men Ways to Communicate More by Christopher Castellani Effectively with an Aging Parent 26 Our Favorite 5 reviewed by Jessica Rinaudo by the American Counseling Association 30 Snapshot Sleuth Tinseltown Talks 4 Tips for Writing Your 10 18 Carl Reiner Says Keeping Own Obituary In Every Issue Busy Keeps You Going by Sarah (Sally) Hamer by Nick Thomas Laws of the Land 34 Save the Date 20 Nepal Will vs. Living Will? 28 36 Puzzle Page Changing Lives One by Lee Aronson Crossword & Sudoku Library at a Time From the Bench 22 38 Parting Shots by Fyllis Hockman Save on Funeral Costs 32 Family-Favorite by Judge Jeff Cox Comfort Foods 24 Eat Well Live Well Dairy-inspired Dishes for Beneficial Nutrients Weeknight Dinners by Abigail McAlister by Family Features DR. CHRISTOPHER SHELBY is the man to ‘See’ Always incorporating the newest technology for clearer vision. • Laser cataract surgery techniques with the latest in multifocal and toric lens • I-Stent technology for glaucoma • The implantable miniature telescope for age related macular degeneration • Laser treatment for removal of floaters Trust your eyes to Dr. Shelby. For more information, call or go online to: 7607 Youree Drive (318) 212-EYES (3937) wkeyeinstitute.com The Best Of Times March 2019 3 THE BEST March 2 OF TIMES Dealing with Struggles, Frustrations, and Losses RADIO Andy Sibley, Licensed Professional March 2019 l Vol. 28, No. 3 Counselor and Therapist Founded 1992 as Senior Scene News ISSN Library of Congress HOUR March 9 #1551-4366 The Malta Exchange HOSTED BY Steve Berry, Author and Historian A monthly publication from: GARY CALLIGAS TBT Multimedia, LLC March 16 P.O. Box 19510 Proudly Presented by: Parenting Your Parents – Making Shreveport, LA 71149 Tough Decisions (318) 636-5510 Kyle Moore, Elder Law Attorney and www.TheBestOfTimesNews.com Vickie Rech, Client Care Coordinator www.hebertstandc.com Publisher March 23 Gary L. Calligas Streaming live on the internet End of Life Planning Decisions [email protected] at www.710KEEL.com and on Live Remote Broadcast from Editor Radio Pup App Diamond Jacks Casino and Resort in Bossier City with Special Guests Tina Miaoulis Calligas Also broadcasting live on [email protected] March 30 101.7 FM Design Protect Yourself Against Jessica Rinaudo Archived programs at Investment Fraud www.TheBestOfTimesNEWS.com Lisa T. Roberts, Chief Attorney Account Executives and on APPLE Podcasts at The Best of Advisor with the US Securities and Mary Driscoll Times Radio Hour Exchange Commission [email protected] Broadcasting every Saturday morning 9:05 to 10 a.m. on News Radio Webmaster Dr. Jason P. Calligas 710 KEEL, a Townsquare Media radio station in Shreveport, LA. Writers Gary Calligas, Sarah Hamer Fyllis Hockman Contributors American Counseling Association, Lee Aronson, Judge Jeff Cox, Family Features, LSU-Shreveport Library, Abigail McAlister, Jessica Rinaudo, Nick Thomas, Twin Blends Photography THE FINE PRINT: All original content published in THE BEST OF TIMES copyright © 2019 by TBT Multimedia, LLC, all rights reserved. Replication, in whole or in part by any means is prohibited without prior written permission from the publisher. Opinions expressed are the sole responsibility of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect those of the publication, TBT Mulitmedia, its publishers or staff. Always con- sult properly degreed and licensed profession- als when dealing with financial, medical, legal or emotional matters. We cannot accept liability for omissions or errors and cannot be responsible for the claims of advertisers. 4 March 2019 www.TheBestOfTimesNEWS.com The Best Of Times March 2019 5 Stat! Medical News & Info Music and Memory Controlling Can music improve anxiety and Cancer depression for people with memory A drug originally disorders? That’s the aim of a new approved 65 years ago to collaboration between the Penn control blood pressure has Memory Center at the University the potential to serve as an anti- of Pennsylvania and the Curtis metastatic drug, according to new findings from a study in an animal model Institute of Music. The program of melanoma. The drug, reserpine, prevented gives patients with any level of what are known as tumor-derived extracellular cognitive impairment - from mild vesicles from fusing to healthy cell and sharing their cargo of disease- decline to Alzheimer’s disease promoting molecules. Led by researchers from the University of - the chance to interact with Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, the study found that undergraduates, grad students, moderate doses of reserpine before and after surgery to remove a and musicians in a comfortable primary melanoma tumor virtually eliminated lung metastases and setting. The success of the recently significantly prolonged survival. completed pilot program led to two additional seven-week sessions. End-of-Life Care Everyone wants a dignified death, yet few actually experience one. Research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing shows that more than half of 13,000 nurses rate their hospital’s end-of-life care unfavorably. And that same study reveals that though most older adults prefer to remain at home, they often spend their final days in hospitals, where they’re likely to undergo medical care that neither improves survival nor quality of life. 6 March 2019 www.TheBestOfTimesNEWS.com The Best Of Times March 2019 7 Column Page by Page Non-Fiction by Jessica RInaudo Books About Williams & Capote Leading Men Williams writes an by Christopher Castellani intimate tale of his own private and public life. eading Men is an alternate history of an incident Castellani uses to inspire one of sorts, a fictional book about real people. Tennessee’s most successful plays, Frank and In this novel Castellani re-imagines the Anja eventually form a friendship that lasts Llives of famous playwright Tennessee Williams through the decades. It is because of this and his life with longtime partner Frank Merlo. friendship, we learn, that Anja in her sunset Other “leading men” make years is in possession of Tennessee Williams’ appearances as well, including last written play that she has hoarded for years, writers Truman Capote and showing no one. Her story and life after all Jack Horne. those famous faces have passed on and what The narrative zips and she will do with the play in her possession are moves through time, sharing told alongside the story of the past. By doing stories of Tennessee and this, Catellani paints a beautiful portrait of these Capote's partner of Frank going to Truman Rinaudo leading men in all their glory and shame. more than 30 years Capote’s parties in Portofino When I picked up Leading Men, I expected pens a tale about their in the 1950s, to viewing their life’s story after to read about the lives of the rich and famous: tumultus lives. both men have died through the eyes of their parties, people, tragedies and excitement. And now aging dear friend and famous actress, Anja while this book neatly houses those things, Bloom. it’s much more than that. It is a story of Castellani presents Tennessee as a man vulnerability and fidelity. It’s a story of love, consumed by his writing, often jovial, but beset both romantic and platonic, and about what we with periods of dark depression that he attempts are willing to do - and not do - for those we care to cure with the help of pills. Frank, on the about the most. other hand, is the book’s light. He is loved by The writing in Leading Men is beautiful all he meets, empathetic to his own detriment and the characters so well developed that I at times, and an inherent rescuer to those he found myself researching Tennessee, Frank senses he can help. Despite that, he struggles to and Truman to examine their faces closely, to find his own place in the world while living in listen to their voices, and was amazed at how the shadow of Tennessee’s bright and famous well Catellani matched the real people to the spotlight. fictionalized versions of themselves in this book. A friend to Capote in When Anja walks into the men’s lives with her Grade: A- his early career and parasite of a mother, Frank sees an opportunity Jessica Rinaudo is an editor and writer who has to Williams near the end of his, Windham to rescue and help Anja do something more fostered a love of reading since childhood.