By Steven Sibley, MBA/Healthcare Administration

Last week I received an envelope from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It was my Medicare Card, over 4 months from August 1st, my 65th birthday. I also discovered that, since my birthday was the 1st day of August, the effective date for my Medicare was the 1st day of July. It was news to me and I’m a Medicare agent! There’s always something new to learn about the insurance business.
It reminded of another envelope I received over 15 years ago. Just months after my 49th birthday in 2005, I received an AARP card. I didn’t know you could join at age 50 and learned something new again. Well, I had to call my mom to tell her. With tongue-in-cheek, I let her know I was about to reach the half-a-century mark. She immediately told me, “Send it back, I am too young to have a child with an AARP card!”
In 2005 mom was an active 70 year old. She had raised 5 children, had 7 grandchildren, lost her husband 20 years earlier and her second son 10 years earlier. She expected to live into her 90’s, just as her own mom did. In fact, she had a long term care (LTC) policy for that reason, but she didn’t have any life insurance. Unfortunately, only 6 months later, in April 2006, my mother passed away.
At the time I was a novice in the financial services industry, but I learned some important lessons from moms death about planning for life’s inevitable events. I learned the importance of having a will and trust. Ironically, 5 months before her death, I convinced her to update her will and do a trust. It really helped with smoothly settling her estate. I also learned about LTC. While it’s important to have, it doesn’t help if you die suddenly and never use it. Today, LTC is expensive with limited options as a standalone policy, but I learned about affordable strategies which combine LTC with life insurance. It pays when you pass and pays if you need LTC before you pass.
Now, years later, my wife and I are partners and brokers in the insurance business. She specializes in Medicare and I specialize in Life insurance, LTC and healthcare planning especially for retirement. I’ve also partnered with a team of advisors at Mass Mutual of Oklahoma. Our clients rely on us for strategies to protect their health, wealth and assets. I’ve learned having a team of advisors is immensely important, have you? You just can’t be an expert on everything, especially in these important areas of your life.
I’ve learned this at an even deeper level. I read a book daily, I believe is filled with the knowledge of the wisest man to ever live. It has 31 chapters, so for every day of the month, there’s a chapter to read. I recently gave a small paperback version of the book to my advisor partner Mike, who told me a story about a wealthy man he had met. He asked the man, “What’s been the secret to your success?” He answered, “I read a chapter from Proverbs every day and have done so my entire adult life”.
There is so much to learn about life from this book. It has changed my life and the lives of others. This is what it says about having advisors: Chapter 15:22, Without consultation and wise advice, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they are established and succeed. Chapter 11:14, Where there is no wise, intelligent guidance, people fall and go off course like a ship without a rudder, but in the abundance of wise and godly counselors there is victory. Chapter 24:6, For by wise guidance you fight life’s battles, and in an abundance of wise counselors there is victory and safety.
If you want this kind of advice concerning protection for your health, wealth and assets for your family, or your parents, please give our team a call: 405-850-1569. See us online at sibleyinsures.com.
Ps: Thanks mom, I love you and miss you.

I’d been putting it off for months but, once my health club reopened, I saw the fancy, digital scale still tucked in the locker room corner and realized I had no choice. I shed my clothes, climbed on and sucked in my stomach while waiting for the numbers to appear.
It read 203, a 6-pound gain since my last club visit in, uh, wait a minute … March? April? All I remember is that snow was still on the ground.
Much like first-year college students must grapple with the freshmen 15, a 15-pound weight gain typically attributed to late night pizza orders, dime beer specials and unlimited dorm cafeteria desserts, “the COVID 15” has become part of our physiques. And, as states retreat from their reopenings, forcing us back into our homes where a television, a couch and a giant bowl of French Onion potato chips await, we can do one of two things:
A. Start that rigorous home exercise program we should have begun in mid-March
B. Become more creative in our excuses for weight gain.
If you chose B, allow me to comfort you with these five reasons your pants fit about as well as the glove OJ Simpson tried to force over his hand during his murder trial:
1. Masks add weight. If you stepped on a scale, yet were simultaneously practicing social distancing, you wore a mask, am I right? I said, AM I RIGHT? Subtract a few pounds for that. True, my mask weighs less than an ounce; but I didn’t bedazzle it with slogans, sequins and the like. Those additions add unnecessary pounds. It’s not your fault you gained weight. Blame Dr. Fauci.
2. You didn’t know which products would be in short supply. Remember when we were fighting with one another over toilet paper? When we left the store with not one container of anti-bacterial wipes but an entire pallet? You became anxious, correct? You started wondering what else might disappear from grocery shelves and never return. It could be M&Ms. Or peanut butter. Or that heavenly, buttery toffee you only treat yourself to at Christmas time. So, during that Costco run, you purchased the industrial sized container of all three. Then you went home and consumed all of it because, “If I die during this quarantine, at least I’ll die happy.” Good for you!
3. Repairmen are booked solid. It’s true, the coronavirus has made it harder to find a technician willing to come out, promptly, and service those vital appliances like air conditioners, dishwashers, washing machines and, perish the thought, refrigerators. Suppose your trusty fridge decided to die when it was housing the dozen cartons of Ben & Jerry’s you purchased? (See No. 2 for why you made that purchase). That’s why you ate the ice cream so quickly; you hate wasting food.
4. The Food Network. Leave it to this easy-to-find cable channel to expand our waistlines during quarantine. Don’t Food Network executives realize that more than 10% of this country is out of work and has nothing to do except watch “Ridiculous Cakes,” “Girl Scout Cookie Championship” and “The Three Chocolatiers”? And take notes? We may no longer be able to see our shoes when we emerge from quarantine, but we can take comfort knowing we became avid Girl Scout supporters.
5. Liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries. Both were deemed “essential” businesses by most states once it became necessary to decide which types of establishments to shutter during quarantine. That left millions unable to see a doctor for routine wellness checks or incapable of getting their hair cut for that upcoming Zoom job interview but able to get drunk, high and, subsequently, hungry at any moment. If your liquor or weed consumption spiked during the pandemic, it’s your governor’s doing.
So, you see? It’s not your fault you’re an overweight, slovenly mess. So many factors beyond your control contributed to your “COVID 15.”
Which, based on recent developments, may soon become the “COVID 20.”
(Greg Schwem is a corporate stand-up comedian and author of two books: “Text Me If You’re Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad” and the recently released “The Road To Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS From a Corporate Comedian,” available at Amazon.com. Visit Greg on the web at www.gregschwem.com.)
You’ve enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Greg Schwem’s monthly humor columns in Senior Living News. But did you know Greg is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian? And he loves to make audiences laugh about the joys, and frustrations, of growing older. Watch the clip and, if you’d like Greg to perform at your senior center or senior event, contact him through his website at www.gregschwem.com)

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

In his sermons and in person Terry Hill, pastor of the Canadian County Cowboy Church in Yukon, tells his congregation and this writer our church is in a good place. He says things are better than ever because God is sending them more good people.
The board recently has been kicking around the idea they may need to expand the non-denominational Cowboy Church on East Main, on property donated by the Yukon Round-Up Club in 2013.
“You do not have to be a cowboy to worship with us,” Hill said. “We just want our visitors to know we are not overly formal in our dress and our fellowship includes many who are not cowboys or wear cowboy hats.” (story continues below)

Hill is grateful for all the new people seeking fellowship in God’s name who are attending the church since it shut down for eight weeks during the height of the COVID-19 surge in the area.
He wonders if the availability of their extensive online ministry is attracting more people to come in person. He thinks some of his early congregation members are watching the sermons online.
The ministry streams services both on YouTube and Facebook.
Hill shares a story about how he got back to his roots as a cowboy and pastor during their eight-week shutdown for COVID-19. He and his wife Evelyn took their video camera down to the Holy City of the Wichitas in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, northwest of Lawton. He was inspired to record his sermon on the 66-acre area that looks much like Israel during Biblical times. A few weeks later, trying to change this up, Hill did his sermon on horseback in his round pen. These sermons can be found in the church’s Web site archives.
The church has a practical ministry giving away Cowboy Bibles and Bibles for all ages to whomever wants one. The church supports local, state and foreign ministries. Hill say their mission is “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ: Galatians 6:2.”
Every Sunday the service begins with the presentation of the American and Christian flags. The congregation stands with hats removed as they sing God Bless America, followed by their theme song, Yes Lord, We Will Ride with You.
Another direct service to the flock is providing spiral notebooks on each row for the recording of prayer requests or a praise report if God has done something for members. The church prays over the needs expressed in the requests later in the service.
Again Church websites have become the new front doors of any church. Before visitors step inside the church itself, they can get a sense of the community and determine if they would belong. When a church streams its services online, it invites potential newcomers to join the service from afar to see how the sermon resonates with them.
Pastor Hill credits streaming for bringing many new families to the church within a few months. He happily says streaming “has been a huge success and we hope to have even more families join.”
Hill thinks the congregation attends services on Sunday and then some watch the archived stream later to deepen their understanding of that week’s lesson.
Founded in 1947, the Yukon Round Up Club owned the 13 acres now the church campus. The rodeo arena still emphasizes the cowboy heritage with club’s name part of the original metal archway over the road leading to the arena. The church has made the venue a part of the ministry, offering community events.
On Sunday mornings, CCCC kicks off their services at 550 E. Main Street with fellowship, coffee and doughnuts at 9 a.m.
Sunday school classes for all ages start at 9:30 a.m. The church service begins at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday evenings they serve a fellowship dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm for a voluntary donation. Bible study classes for all ages begin at 7 pm.
They now offer a LIVING FREE class, small group sessions for those who need inner healing and help to stay away from life controlling problems.
Hill, owner of El Reno Steel, along with his wife Evelyn, founded the church in 2010.
“We welcome you to our weekly Cowboy Church Service, where hats are welcome but not required,” Hill said. “We pray you will be blessed as we worship and fellowship in the “Cowboy Way”.”
For more information on this “Cowboy Ministry”, find them on Facebook and YouTube or visit: www.canadiancountycowboychurch.com.

Fifty years ago, immunologists were just beginning to understand a newly discovered type of white blood cell that would come to be known as the T cell. Decades of research have since shown these protective cells to be so crucial, we couldn’t survive without them.
Fast-forward to today, and research stands at a similar infancy with a closely related immune cell called innate lymphoid cells, or ILCs, says Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Xiao-Hong Sun, Ph.D.
The National Institutes of Health recently awarded Sun a $3.4 million grant to continue unraveling mysteries about these cells, including whether they may offer clues about the differences in immune reactions between children and adults.
“It’s far too soon to say whether we will someday discover ILCs play a role as profound as T cells,” said Sun, who holds the Lew and Myra Ward Chair in Biomedical Research at OMRF. “But I hope this research will begin to answer that question.”
Sun joined OMRF in 1999 and studied T cells until pivoting her research to ILCs when scientists discovered them about a decade ago.
Initially, researchers believed ILCs originated only in bone marrow. In 2019, Sun discovered the thymus, a gland near the heart, can also produce them. The thymus trains the immune system to distinguish friendly cells from invaders. It tends to shrink and become less active as we age.
“Our previous discovery was important because it may shed light on why immune reactions differ between children and adults,” Sun said. “Childhood onset of asthma and food allergies are just two examples. This new study may help explain the underlying causes and suggest new therapeutic approaches.”
“It took a half-century of painstaking work by scientists around the world to get to our current understanding of T cells,” said OMRF Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer Judith James, M.D., Ph.D. “That’s often how science works. Dr. Sun is applying similar approaches to understand ILCs in an accelerated way. I’m excited to see where her research leads.”
Sun’s grant, No. 1R01AI178947-01, was awarded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the NIH. Oklahoma City’s Presbyterian Health Foundation provided funding for Sun to collect preliminary data for this research.

By Nick Thomas

Joe Cornet never initially considered now 92-year-old Don Murray for a role in his 2021 western film “Promise.”
“I wanted an iconic actor for one of the roles and approached two other veteran western stars, but for one reason or another neither worked out,” said Cornet, from Los Angeles, who wrote, directed, and co-produced the almost 2-hour-long western drama.
Already acquainted with Murray’s son, Cornet explained his dilemma to the younger Murray who proposed a simple solution: “Why don’t you get dad?”
“So, I sent Don the script but wasn’t really expecting to hear from him – I just didn’t think he would do it,” explained Cornet. “However, he called the following day to say he loved the story, calling it a classic, and asked when the shooting started!”
Murray’s previous big-screen appearances had been a pair of 2001 films two decades earlier, but he required little convincing to dude-up in cowboy gear for Cornet’s film which depicts a desperate search for lost gold and lost love, both linked to the Civil War.
“It has elements of the classic western but it’s also not cliché-bound,” said Murray from his home in Santa Barbara. “It was just a great concept, very imaginative with good writing.”
Murray, on set for a week to shoot his scenes at a Southern Californian ranch, “was a gem” according to Cornet. “He has three large, important scenes, two with me. He added a lot of quirks and nuances to create an interesting character.” Currently available on Amazon Prime, “Promise” was entered in Tucson’s Wild Bunch Film Festival last October, receiving 11 awards including Best Picture.
Don Murray is no stranger to award ceremonies, having been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his first film role in 1956’s “Bus Stop,” co-starring Marilyn Monroe.
“It was a total surprise, I couldn’t believe it,” said Murray of his reaction when learning that the film’s director, Josh Logan, insisted the producers cast him as a rambunctious cowboy alongside the notoriously difficult Monroe.
“I was aware of her reputation, but didn’t let that bother me,” recalled Murray. “I didn’t pay any attention to what people thought of her. I was just involved with the work and working with her which was a great experience. She was very supportive of me and we got along well, no problems ever.”
Murray also remembers Logan going to great lengths to put Monroe at ease. “He was always very supportive and made her feel comfortable,” he said. “He was very positive and didn’t criticize what she was doing.”
After “Bus Stop,” Murray went on to work in numerous TV shows and appeared in some 40 films, often tackling challenging roles that portrayed compelling characters. He appeared in several westerns and believes the genre, though far less common today, can still attract audiences.
“There’s always the classic theme of the western but there’s also room for creative changes in the screenplay, giving a better sense of western reality,” he says. “(Joe) actually took advantage of that and created a classic piece all its own and I was very proud to be part of it.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. See www.tinseltowntalks.com.