Story and photo by Van Mitchell. Staff Writer

Nelda Fister, M.S., R.N. was born into nursing, and she continues that path today at age 80, as Assistant Professor for the Department of Nursing at the University of Central Oklahoma.
She is serving in her 48th year of teaching at UCO, where she works with 150-170 students each semester.
“I always wanted to be in nursing,” she said. “I grew up on a farm and there were a lot of good doctors/farm families/role models that helped me look at that road.”
Fister was the only member of her family to go to college. She graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1965.
“College was never not going to be an option,” she said. “Neither of my parents completed high school. My mother quit school when her mother died so she could stay home and care for her younger siblings. My father served in World War I, and was preparing to prepare for duty for World War II, when he was notified, the war had ended. Following my parents’ marriage, they settled in the Oklahoma Panhandle and began a hard life of farming during the Depression. It was important to them that their daughter receive a good education, as they believed it would bring opportunities they did not have. They (parents) were going to make it work and they did.”
Fister said her parents’ faith helped shape her desire to help others.
“My parents’ belief in God guided their life, and I learned at an early age that the development of a strong value system, and caring for others was important,” she said. “I was very lucky to have a stable home that provided positive guidance as I navigated the developmental tasks of childhood.”
Prior to beginning her teaching career, she was pediatric supervisor at Wesley Hospital in Oklahoma City. She joined UCO after several years on the faculty at Oklahoma Baptist University.
“I have seen a lot of changes,” she said. “I have worked under six presidents at UCO, and have (taught) thousands of students.”
Fister serves on multiple committees as well as the UCO Faculty Senate.
Her focus on the importance of community involvement was pronounced through helping establish pediatric triage following the April 19, 1995 Alfred P. Murrah bombing.
She has served as Mace Bearer for UCO Commencement Ceremonies, and has multiple honors including the first Excellence in Education Award for Sigma Theta Tau Beta-Delta-Chapter-At-Large. She received the Neely Annual Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019.
The first nursing class from the nursing department at the University of Central Oklahoma graduated in 1972. Since that time, more than 3,500 graduate nurses have entered the workforce.
Students interested in earning a nursing degree from the University of Central Oklahoma now have multiple options for their education. Students may obtain their BS through the Traditional Track Bachelor of Science in Nursing, the Fast Track B.S. in Nursing and the Online R.N. to B.S. track. UCO also offers a two-year Master of Science in Nursing degree.
Fister said success in and out of the classroom requires hard work and dedication.
“Success in the nursing program and later in the profession requires a high degree of responsibility,” she said. “Success in the professional domain is the final outcome of this education. “My goal has been to provide students with an intentional direction to develop study methods that will ensure success as they expand their knowledge base, think critically about concepts, and apply knowledge in a variety of settings. I want them (nursing students) to grow academically, but I also want them to grow professionally.”
Fister’s care for her students reached a new peak this year with the implantation of a “worry envelope” that is posted on a bulletin board outside of her office.
She said it allows students to write down their worries in private.
“They write down their concerns, and if they want me to, I will pray for them,” she said.
Fister said she isn’t sure if this will be her last year teaching at UCO, but adds she has plenty of outside interests including cooking and sewing that would keep her busy.
“I think I am making a difference,” she said. “I keep saying this is going to be my last year, and then I have students send me a note that says you made such a difference. That is what keeps me here. This place has been so much a part of my life. I don’t know what I am going to do, but I have a lot of interests, so I will be okay.”

For a full list of events/details visit: www.okhistory.org/calendar/ohs

Will Rogers Days and Motion Picture Festival November 4, Will Rogers Memorial Museum, 1720 West Will Rogers Boulevard Claremore, OK 74017. The Will Rogers Memorial Museum (WRMM) and Birthplace Ranch will celebrate the 143rd birthday of Oklahoma’s Favorite Son with the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival. From November 2 through 5, four days of activities will be held to honor the memory of the Cherokee cowboy, philosopher, and movie actor who had starred in 50 silent movies and 21 talkies by the time of his death on August 15, 1935, in an Alaska airplane crash.

Imagine having to choose between paying your electric bill or paying for your life-sustaining medications or food. For many seniors living on a fixed income, that is a difficult reality.
The price of medications continues soaring — over the last decade, research shows many of the top-selling, brand name medications have increased more than 50-percent, with more than half of them doubling in price, that’s according to the National Library of Medicine.
The cost of medications alone can leave them facing difficult choices every month.
“We never want a patient to have to make that decision of am I going to eat this week, am I going to have air conditioning this week, or am I going to pay for that blood pressure medication,” said Justin Henson, a nurse practitioner at Valir PACE in Oklahoma City.
September is National PACE Awareness Month. PACE stands for Program of All Inclusive Care for the Elderly. It is an approach that aims to bundle. It is a relatively new model of care that is gaining momentum across the United States. Valir is one of the first to implement the model in Oklahoma
The goal is to help more seniors, who otherwise would require nursing home care, continue to live independently in their own homes. It does that by bundling their medications, meals, transportation, physician visits, and therapy needs under one umbrella care plan, that also provides opportunities to socialize and be a part of the community.
The results are impressive – reducing hospitalizations and improving quality of life.
PACE participants, like Nick Felix, say the program has helped them to enjoy the life, despite the issues that come with aging. For Felix, heart issues top that list.
“My heart fibrillates whenever it wants to. It’s like dancing a Cha-Cha to a Waltz. You know you’re not in sync at all,” said Felix, a 90-year-old former dance teacher and movie choreographer, who still enjoys dancing at his favorite studio.
Henson has worked closely with Felix, helping him manage his health and medications to stay healthy and active.
“He’s had a very complicated cardiac history,” Henson said. “But he is a guy who will wake up every single morning doing his push-ups. He loves to go out and walk, he loves to go dancing every week.”
Managing the challenges of a complicated regimen of medications without the worry of cost is one aspect of PACE Felix likes best.
“Well, it’s lifesaving. I mean you’re talking about my heart medicine, my joint medicine, I’ve got all kinds of arthritic conditions — and they tell me when to take it, what to take and how much to take,” he remarked.
Medications are packaged and labeled for each day, and time of day for each participant and
Valir PACE provides those medications — helping eliminate the financial pressure off of rising drug costs for seniors.
“We do get a lot of patients who want to join our services and we note as they’re coming onto services that they have been without their medications for three months, four months,” Henson said. “Diving into why they have been without these medications, often it is they’re trying to pay for electricity or they’re trying to pay for food.”
Henson added ensuring seniors have their medications and take them as correctly can lead to better health outcomes and a better quality of life.
“If you have a medical condition, even if it’s a small medical condition, but it’s not treated, it can grow into a large medical condition,” he said. “Taking medications as prescribed, when prescribed is going to be the best way to keep you as healthy as possible, and as young as possible as long as possible.”
Valir PACE is located at 721 NW 6th Street in the heart of downtown and has just opened an Alternative Care setting at 2411 Main Street in Choctaw, expanding services to seniors living in that more rural part of the metro. To learn more, visit ValirPACE.org or the National PACE Association at NPAonline.org.

https://scissortaildermatology.com/

Story by Darl Devault, Contributing Editor

In the early hours, just after dawn on October 25, 1944, the Japanese sent the largest naval battle group ever assembled to destroy the landing of a quarter million men on Leyte. Their goal was to push the American forces off the beaches and out of the Philippines. Never had one man’s actions diverted the burden of attack from so many American service members.
The Japanese forces attempting to surprise the overmatched Taffy 3 task force in the Battle Off Samar were introduced to the unwavering courage and self-sacrifice of one of the U.S Navy’s finest. The destroyer escorts, commonly referred to as “tin cans,” were in for the fight of their lives against a superior force.
U.S. Navy Commander Ernest Edwin Evans, Commander of the USS Johnston, assured himself a place in U.S. Naval history with his courageous initiative in the face of the enemy. Before the order to attack could be issued, against a far superior force, Commander Evans fulfilled his duty to his country and his fellow man by navigating his vessel into harm’s way, deploying his torpedoes and laying a smoke screen to protect his fellow ships.
Evans’ bravery, leadership and historic sacrifice delivered the immediate first blow that let the enemy know the Americans had begun the battle. Instilling chaos within the Japanese naval ranks, his torpedoes tore the bow off the Japanese cruiser Kumano. Commander Evans relentlessly displayed the power of his crew as he continued his forward attack on the enemy.

This “preemptive retaliatory strike with extreme prejudice” was a product of Evans’s fierce fighting spirit.
The Japanese thought they would have a far easier beginning to any battle off Samar. They were bringing a far superior number of ships and were surprising their enemy. What they did not account for was the fighting spirit of the tin can Sailors sworn to protect the rest of Taffy 3. Echoing the war cries of their earliest Naval ancestors, the Sailors of Taffy 3 had not yet begun to fight.
Evans and his only 2,000-ton warship, the newly built Fletcher Class USS Johnston, promised to be the readiest-for-battle warship in the Navy.
As he took command at the USS Johnston’s commissioning in October 1943, Evans let his assembled crew know his intentions. “This is going to be a fighting ship,” he said. “I intend to go in harm’s way, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along had better get off right now. I will never retreat from an enemy force.”
Evans’s tactical blitzkrieg was everything a ship that size could accomplish in that short a time. The Johnston rejoined the additional frigate line of destroyer escorts as they made their torpedo runs at the far superior forces. This action meant the small Taffy 3 task force presented a “larger than real” profile in the water. Although his ship had already fired her torpedoes, Commander Evans wanted to protect his fellow sailors as much as possible with his five-inch guns, firing 800 rounds in the battle.

This second suicide run met with far less success against the enemy. After almost three hours of battle, the Johnston eased over on her side for 20 minutes until finally sinking. Her destruction was for a good cause. The enemy, confusing the aggression as a genuine effort made by a more significant force, broke off the attack and headed for home.
Evans earned a Medal of Honor for his courageous actions but lost his life that day along with 185 members of his crew.
As Veterans Day approaches November 11, Oklahomans proved their servicemen and women are never forgotten in a recent solemn ceremony. The emphasis was family, in both those gathered and those mentioned during the ceremony dedicating a monument to Oklahoma’s most famous Navy hero of WWII in Muskogee, Okla., on October 25, 78 years to the day after he died in the Battle Off Samar.
Several families connected with the effort to commemorate Evans’ courageous Medal of Honor defining effort made the trip to Oklahoma to attend the event.
A retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and dentist, and Norman, Okla. resident Stephen Reagan spearheaded the effort to honor Evans. His family, including his son, an active-duty U.S. Air Force Colonel, surrounded him at the bust unveiling.
In giving credit for the final push to make the event happen after a three-year and nine-month campaign to raise funds and resources to create the monument, the mayor of Muskogee mentioned by that time he felt as if he had become a brother to Steven Reagan in the effort.
“It was a humbling experience to unveil Commander Evans’ memorial bust in the City of Muskogee,” said Muskogee Mayor Marlon J. Coleman. “Retired Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Reagan led a herculean effort recognizing Commander Evans’s role in World War II. As a graduate of Muskogee High School, Evans’ place in history is one that Muskogee should be proud of. Evans’ leadership, tenacity, and love for his country showed the Japanese naval fleet what it means to challenge American democracy—that our principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are worth dying for. Stephen Reagan is a modern-day hero, a champion of causes for Sailors such as Ernest Evans, whose legacy would otherwise go unknown or told incorrectly. I am proud to call Stephen a brother.”
University of Oklahoma Naval ROTC Commanding Officer and 30-year veteran Capt. Paul Young spoke about a typical day as a captain of a surface ship on patrol and his respect for Evans.
During historian Larry Floyd’s detailing of Evans’ life and courageous actions, he spoke of the families. He said Evans had two children with his wife during his 17-year career in the Navy leading up to that critical moment in the history of the United States Navy.
On Sept. 28, 1945, not long after World War II ended, Commander Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Presented to his wife, Margaret, in San Pedro, California, the ceremony included his mother, sister and sons Jerry and Ernest Jr.
The first Navy Native American to earn the Medal of Honor, Evans is one of only two World War II destroyer captains to attain it.
Evans’ exploits have now been interwoven into the Navy legacy as his name has gone on to grace a warship and a U.S. Navy Academy building.
“I consider my work to help Muskogee honor Commander Ernest Evans one of the most significant things I have ever done,” Reagan said. “It’s a good feeling to help others. I am very proud of my three sons, their families and my wife Alice and to have Alice and all three sons present helped make it a great day for me.”
His son Col. Eric Reagan, active-duty US Air Force, summed up what he saw as his father’s motives. “Over the last three years, I’ve asked myself, ‘what interest does a retired Air Force dentist have in relentlessly pursuing recognition of a Navy ship captain?’ The answer is service,” Eric said. “My dad still serves veterans, his community, Oklahoma, and our great nation. This project was a reflection of his service. My brothers and I are proud of him, and we were so honored to be in Muskogee today to honor Ernest Evans…and our father.”
Reagan volunteers to help all service veterans to ensure they receive their full benefits from their military service with the Dale K. Graham Veterans Foundation in Norman. This event in Muskogee is just another example of the wrap-around concept of our nation’s gratitude and attention to the families left behind while their loved ones are serving and those families deprived of their service members through death. Gold Star families of the U.S. Armed Forces have lost loved ones since 1776. Nationally noted Paul Moore of Norman sculpted the bronze bust of Evans wearing his Medal of Honor. It sits atop a square black granite pedestal. Below his image at the front of the bust is a miniature model of the USS Johnston firing her five-inch guns and creating a smoke screen. The front of the pedestal features Evans’ significant dates and his Medal of Honor Citation on the back.

https://www.lindseymedicalsupply.com/

Story and photos by Darl DeVault, Contributing Editor

By Steven Sibley, E7 RET/DAV, MBA Healthcare Admin Licensed and Appointed Health Insurance Agent

As a Military Retiree we enjoy many great benefits, affordable healthcare is one of them. As a civilian now working in the senior health insurance industry, I appreciate that value even more. I’ve discovered that Tricare for Life (TFL), is not just a healthcare benefit, it’s also a financial benefit. Unfortunately, many veterans don’t fully understand what Tricare for Life is or how it works. What they do know is when they need healthcare their copays are low or non-existent. As a professional in the industry, and someone on TFL, I’d like to shed some light on TFL.
TFL is a benefit that works with Original Medicare Parts A & B. Part A is for Hospital/Inpatient Care and Part B is for Primary/Outpatient Care. For retirees, TFL starts when they become eligible for Original Medicare at age 65. The big surprise comes when they discover that they are going on Medicare and that it has a much higher cost than the low premiums they had for Tricare Prime or Select. The new premium for 2023, which is for Medicare Part B, will be about $165.00 per month for most people with an average income.
Original Medicare generally only pays for 80% of the cost of care, so the remaining 20% is the responsibility of the patient. Plus, it does not cover prescription drugs, dental, or vision. The solution for many civilian retirees is to add a supplement and a drug plan. Together those premiums can cost about $200 per month and adding Vision and Dental plans will increase their monthly cost. Then they find out their plan’s premiums can increase every year.
During your 20 plus years of retirement, they’ll pay as much as $80,000 or more for each person on Medicare. Here’s why TFL is a financial benefit, there is no premium. Technically, TFL is called a “Medicare Wrap Around benefit”, practically it acts like a premium free supplement and drug plan. So, a retired military member and their spouse are not going to be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of their retirement income on insurance premiums. It gets even better.
What most veterans on TFL don’t know is, they can access even more benefits from the Medicare part of their TFL by choosing to have it administered by a commercial healthcare company. These are called Part C plans, aka Medicare Advantage, and they must cover everything that Original Medicare does. These plans can bundle additional healthcare and wellness benefits, which may even include a Prescription Drug Plan. However, Military retirees can use special Part C plans that do not offer a drug plan, since their prescriptions are covered by TFL through Express Scripts. I am on such a plan, I pay ZERO dollars for it, and significantly reduces my Part B premium payment. It also covers Vision and Dental, so there’s no need to pay FEDVIP extra for those benefits. It also offers a host of other benefits worth hundreds of dollars a month. Using a Medicare Part C plan with TFL is like turbo- charging your benefits. These plans will also work for most Medicare eligible Veterans who use the VA for their prescription drugs. Less cost, more benefits, and money back is what we’ve earned and deserve as Veterans. Find out more and get your questions answered by giving me a call. Steven Sibley, E7 RET/DAV, 405-850-1569.

https://www.sibleyinsures.com/

Required disclaimer: We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.

Story by Joyce Clark, Executive Director – Saint Ann Retirement Center

When asked what is the most significant thing that makes an elder feel loved and included in the Thanksgiving & Christmas season, most people say they desire to spend time with family. Residents of Saint Ann Independent Living were asked for ideas to help make holidays for seniors more joyful and festive. Most replies indicated seniors simply want to spend time with loved ones doing just about anything. Ideas for activities families and seniors can do together are outlined below.

THINGS TO DO TOGETHER TO BRIGHTEN HOLIDAY SEASON FOR YOUR ELDER LOVED ONES

• Attend a Christmas ballet or theatre show
• Hold a virtual get-together using Facetime, Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet
• For those who have difficulty getting around or need personal assistance, hire an aide to transport & assist her at a family event.
• Play Dirty Santa or other games
• Take a drive to view Christmas lights
• Enjoy a spa day
• Write Christmas cards
• Include the elder in meal & event planning
• Cook favorite items in a festive setting
• Assist with gift wrapping
• Help decorate the senior’s home. Also, help take down & store decorations.
• Go gift shopping with a stop for brunch
• Play holiday music & sit by a fire while visiting
• Assemble a holiday or family photo album or scrapbook
• Bake cookies
• Make holiday cards or crafts
• Watch Christmas or home movies
• Create a cookbook with recipes from all family members
• Organize old photographs & share memories about them
• If it is difficult for the senior to get out of the home, take a small festive family party to her residence.
• Attend church or Mass on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
• Go caroling or have a sing-along
• Help the senior primp for a special event or get ready together. Manicure nails, style hair, do makeup, trim long hair in nose, ear, or eyebrows, and get dressed in fancy clothes. The senior may need to rest before going to an event or some primping could be done in advance.

Saint Ann Independent Living residents agreed it is wonderful to have people stop by for a visit all year and not just during the holidays. Folks who are hard of hearing prefer personal visits over telephone calls or video chat. The residents also suggested some gift ideas for seniors:

GIFT IDEAS FOR YOUR FAVORITE SENIOR

• Help out by shopping, running errands, picking up gifts, mailing package or cards
• Arrange for a beautician or masseuse to go to the senior’s home
• Postage stamps
• Cup holder for walker or wheelchair
• Gift card for a local grocery store, restaurant, favorite brand, Walmart, coffee, manicure, etc…
• Crossword, Sudoku or jigsaw puzzles
• Basket of fruit, snacks, or groceries
• Latest book from a favorite author
• Night lights or motion sensor lights for hallway, bedroom, bathroom
• Coupon redeemable for running errands a few times a year
• Note offering to do chores around the house
• Monthly subscription for a gift box, flowers, or magazine
• Warm & snuggly throw
• Bidet
• Easy-to-use mobile phone or tablet that can be used to video chat
• Smart picture frame that allows people to upload pics, video call, or send notes
• Amazon Echo with voice calling
• Custom photo puzzle or calendar
• Medical alert system
• Memory foam or gel seat cushion
• Adaptive devises like a long handled shoe horn
• Large print playing cards
• Succulents
• Shari’s Berries
• Bird feeder & seed
• Wall mounted magnifying mirror
• Fall-resistant slippers
• Wine
• Assortment of birthday & greeting cards with stamps

Another suggestion is to simplify traditions and routines to reduce stress and accommodate the elder’s physical or mental needs. Sometimes it is more about the people and simple things than celebrating exactly as done in previous years.

Holidays can be particularly sad for some folks. Pictures or memories may bring up tears or grief. This can be a healthy way to release normal feelings and should not be shamed. Share a safe space to remember and celebrate lost loved ones.

Joyce Clark is the Campus Director of Saint Ann Retirement Center, which offers independent and assisted living. She says watching people regain their strength, balance, and health is one of her team’s greatest rewards.

Clark encourages people to be extra careful at home getting in and out of the bathtub, where many people tend to fall. Call Lisa at Saint Ann Retirement Center, (405) 721-0747 Ext #322, if you would like more tips and helpful information. https://www.saintannretirementcenter.com/

Helen Grace Olson

Helen Grace Olson of Bethany was born & grew up in Weeping Water, NB. She has traveled to 43 states as an RVer, was always very active in the Nazarene church, loves fried chicken, holidays and family reunions. Her words of wisdom: Never go to bed angry with your spouse. And follow the words of Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and HE shall direct thy paths.

Frances Lovena Weger

Frances Weger was 100 in January and we’re still celebrating in Luther. She and her husband were residents of Lawton for 73 years and traveled with Campaigns for Christ on two trips to Germany and all over the U.S. She made baby quilts and wedding quilts for each of her eleven grandchildren. In her later years, she visited nursing homes, taking banana bread to the “elderly,” although she was in her 80s.

Doyle H. Clenney

World War II Army Air Corp Veteran Doyle Clenney will be 100 tomorrow, October 30! An ordained minister with the Assembly of God Church, Doyle had the special honor to preach at the historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia. Doyle’s words of wisdom are the bible verse “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5). Happy 100th Doyle!

KNOW A CENTENARIAN?
If you know of a Centenarian you would like to honor, please visit
http://centenariansok.com/ and download, complete and submit our form. One of our team members will contact you directly with the next steps.

https://www.cremation-okc.com/

by Greg Schwem

At last check, the time spenI recently turned 60, a milestone accompanied by physicians telling me my various aches and pains are most likely the result of…existing.
Pain in the top of my left foot recently sent me to a doctor who diagnosed a partial stress fracture.
“What caused that?” I asked, struggling to put my shoes on. “What did I do?”
“You don’t have to do anything” he replied, as if his last 20 patients had asked the same question. “These things can just happen to someone your age.”
Ouch. Literally and figuratively, ouch!
Sensing my confusion, he offered a partial explanation.
“Stress fractures are often the result of active lifestyles.”
Fellow sexagenerians, take note. Pain and suffering are your rewards for trying to stay healthy. Now go lay on the couch immediately and crack that fourth beer. Doctor’s orders.
I also am struggling with memory, an affliction that comes with age but one I will remedy with the help of Pennsylvania senate candidate John Fetterman.
One of the most hotly contested, and entertaining, races this November pits Fetterman, the Keystone State’s lieutenant governor, against (loudly clear throat) DOCTOR Mehmet Oz. The latter was hilariously mocked on social media recently after airing an ad blaming President Biden for the rising price of crudites (aka little carrots). Fetterman, meanwhile, suffered a stroke mid-campaign, raising questions about his health and fitness for the job.
Fetterman’s forearms also have become a source of scrutiny, specifically, his multiple tattoos. Fox windbag Tucker Carlson called them “silly” and “a costume” while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, (R – Yeah, he’s still alive), seized on Fetterman’s no longer visible “I Will Make You Hurt” tattoo. Gingrich somehow equated the phrase to heroin and the notorious Crips street gang in another comical tweet.
Seeking to put his ink to rest, Fetterman explained the meaning behind his tattoos in various media outlets. Most, he said, are calendar dates marking the day someone died violently while Fetterman was mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania. Fetterman said the dates are reminders of the crime-ridden country he hopes to change if elected senator.
Thankfully, I don’t personally know of anyone who met a violent death. But I could use a permanent cheat sheet on my body. So, in the event I summon the nerve to visit a tattoo parlor, I am compiling a list of “reminders” I can refer to in moments of confusion:
My computer login password. True, I don’t have the body space to list ALL of my passwords. But this one at least gets me initial entry into the system that holds the rest of them.
11-27-93. I won’t divulge the exact meaning behind the date, but I was wearing a rented tux that day and a minister was involved. Also, my wife could become angry if I ever forget it.
24-12-36. It’s my first junior high locker combination and a reminder that, while I struggle to remember the date I was married, I still proudly recall inane information like this.
The name of my first pet. No longer will I get locked out of my online bank account after five failed attempts.
My bank’s phone number. You never know.
The warranty expiration dates on every major household appliance I own. When somebody points to it and says, “What does that one mean?” I can say, “It means it’s time to buy a new refrigerator!” Then I can easily log into my bank account and determine if I have the funds to afford one.
Finally, “Elton John, 1976,” a reminder of the first concert I ever attended. Considering the 75-year-old Rocket Man just performed at the White House and will continue packing stadiums until calling it quits later this year, it’s a testament to doing what you love for as long as you feel like it. I plan to do the same with my current career.
After that, maybe I’ll retire and continue to live an active, healthy lifestyle.
I had better leave some space on my arm for a crudite tattoo.
(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)

Three faculty members have joined the TSET Health Promotion Research Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center: Katelyn Romm, Ph.D.; Erin Vogel, Ph.D.; and Meng Chen, Ph.D.
Romm comes to HPRC from George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Her research aims to identify factors that predict substance use initiation, escalation and cessation to inform prevention and cessation efforts among individuals at greatest risk for such use, including youth and young adults, as well as minoritized populations.
Vogel comes from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Her research examines psychosocial influences on youth tobacco use and the use of digital tools and social media to address tobacco and other substance use among priority populations, including youth and the LGBTQ+ community. Her research program employs experimental, observational, and qualitative methods to address health disparities and emerging trends in technology and tobacco product use.
Chen joins the HPRC from University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on using computational algorithms for dynamic model fitting and the development and use of flexible dynamic models in behavioral sciences. She will work with HPRC faculty by providing biostatistics support and assisting with research study design.
According to Darla Kendzor, Ph.D., co-director of the HPRC, “These talented new additions to our team will enhance our ability to address tobacco and substance use across the state. Their research offers a focus on youth and young adults, and other at-risk populations along with advanced biostatistical expertise. Their skills offer a valuable complement to the expertise of our current faculty.”
The HPRC receives funding from the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center via an NCI Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA225520) and an Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust contract (R23-02).

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