by Greg Schwem

I know my memory is ebbing as I age. Why else would I run to the Apple Store at least twice a year to replace charging chords I was CERTAIN I had packed before leaving the hotel room or home share property where I spend so much of my time now that I’m traveling again?
But I refuse to blame the alarming disappearance of wardrobe items on my mental faculties. Especially when my daughters are convinced a haunted spirit, one that seems to grow more annoying each day, lives within my family’s confines.
As I write this, I am still searching for a sweatshirt, adorned with my youngest daughter’s college emblem, that I planned to wear on a recent campus visit. I ended up having to purchase one at the university bookstore. Is it me or do colleges double the prices on souvenirs when parents’ weekend rolls around?
My oldest daughter, living at home while she completes an online master’s degree, is convinced the ghost took it.
“What ghost?” I asked, while tearing apart my closet and finding, among other things, an insurance card from 1997 and a receipt from a local paint store.
“The one that randomly closes my door,” she said. “And turns on the ceiling fan light when I’m sleeping. That happened last week.”
She is also convinced the ghost is male, as evidenced by the low voice she claimed to have heard one night while watching television; a voice her sister also heard from the other room.
“He took your sweatshirt for sure,” she said.
I scoffed at her supernatural beliefs, certain the shirt would turn up eventually.
Until my shorts disappeared too.
I had returned from a workout and, a day later, realized they were missing. Normally I wouldn’t care; I do possess other exercise attire, unlike some of the guys at my gym. I don’t know the name of the dude who spends 30 minutes every morning on the elliptical machine, but I do know he is very fond of his 1985-86 Chicago Bears Super Bowl T-shirt. On the rare day he is absent, I assume he is doing laundry.
But then I remembered I had put my driver’s license in these shorts. Ever lose your driver’s license? It limits your ability to perform a myriad of functions, only one of which is driving.
I searched my closet. I emptied my laundry hamper. I did the same to a half-unpacked suitcase from a previous trip. I strained my back pulling the washer and dryer away from the wall, convinced the shorts had fallen behind one of them. I checked unlikely places, including under my bed, my office desk drawers and even our kitchen pantry. I know that’s weird, but I once shut the pantry door not realizing our dog was in there. Never a barker, she simply laid down and napped until dinner time.
Meanwhile, my daughter watched from the doorway.
“It’s the ghost,” she said.
“It’s not the ghost,” I yelled in frustration, gesturing with a hand dripping in last week’s garbage. The shorts weren’t in there either.
“I know I did not leave the gym without pants. Somebody would have noticed. Probably the police.”
That evening I announced I would be getting up early to obtain a new license at the Illinois Department of Motor Vehicles. If the shorts turned up, I gave my wife and daughter strict instructions not to move them.
“Do not disturb the crime scene,” I said.
The next morning the shorts were neatly folded on my bathroom vanity.
“They were in my suitcase,” my wife said. “Don’t ask me how they ended up there.”
But I know EXACTLY how they ended up there.
The male ghost is trying to drive me insane.
So he can move in on my wife.
(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)

To celebrate the season, Willowood at Mustang Senior Living, offering assisted living and memory care, will be hosting a holiday “Parade of Trees” event.
Several local businesses and vendors have donated six to 14-foot Christmas trees decorated according to the theme: “Christmas Past, Present and Future.” From Wednesday, Dec. 1 through Tuesday, Dec. 14, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, the public is invited to tour the display and enter a raffle to win a tree from the display. In addition, each tree will be entered to win the award for “Favorite Design.” The winning business or vendor will receive a wine and cheese basket to share with their team.
This event is free, and guests will be asked to follow COVID-19 protection measures. While vaccinations are not mandatory to attend, they are encouraged. Upon entry, guests will be given a symptom questionnaire. Hand sanitizer will be available and face masks are required inside to protect our residents.
“We’re so grateful for the generosity of the area businesses and vendors that partnered with us for this event and donated the festive Christmas trees for our ‘Parade of Trees,’” said Executive Director Cathy Collins. “We can’t wait for guests to visit our community and see what’s sure to be a winter wonderland.” Willowood at Mustang Senior Living was designed to meet the growing need for senior housing and health care in Canadian and Oklahoma Counties and the surrounding area. Willowood at Mustang provides assisted living and memory care residences and offers services centered on quality care and life enrichment. The community is managed by WellAge, a respected senior care management company located in Lakewood, Colorado. For more information about Willowood at Mustang Senior Living, call 405-860-6326 or visit www.WillowoodatMustang.com.

By Nick Thomas

Premiering in Los Angeles a few days before Christmas 75 years ago this year, “The Yearling” depicted the post-Civil War Baxter family struggling to survive in the backwoods of Florida. Notwithstanding fine performances from screen parents Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, the film soon became a family favorite due in no small measure to Claude Jarman Jr. and his dramatic portrayal of their son, Jody.
Just 10-years-old when filming began in spring 1945, it was young Claude’s first professional acting job. His powerful emotional performance was recognized with a Juvenile Academy Award.
“The only previous experience I had was in fourth and fifth-grade school plays and some community theater in Nashville where I grew up,” said Jarman from his home north of San Francisco. “MGM conducted a national search and the director, Clarence Brown, wanted a boy who was totally natural and looked the part – a skinny blonde kid, which I was.”
Location filming in Florida took several months and was especially challenging because the director required dozens of takes for almost every scene which often featured animals, notably wild deer.
“They are obviously unpredictable,” explained Jarman. “In one scene I had to run up to a neighbor’s house with the deer following me, but it wouldn’t. We had to do that probably 100 times before getting it right.”
Jarman says several fawns were used in the film and each was named.
“My favorite was called Bambi and it grew into a yearling during the movie. Bambi was probably in 70% of the scenes where you see a deer and was the only one that would sit on my lap for hours with its legs folded which is usual because they normally want their legs down so they can quickly run from danger. I had a wonderful relationship with that fawn which, like me, grew up while making the movie.”
Like Bambi, Claude also grew taller during production, but he actually lost weight as the grueling shooting progressed through the humid Floridan summer.
“In those days, we could shoot 7 days a week in Florida,” he recalled. “I was 110-lbs at the beginning of filming but lost 10-lbs by the end and was totally spent.”
Considering his limited previous acting experience, Jarman’s moving performance is still impressive to watch, especially the final scenes with the deer.
“The cast and crew were together for many months, so as the filming progressed you really got into the part and lived it,” he said. “It was emotional for me, but you just took it one day at a time.”
Jarman’s film career ended in the mid-50s, but not before working with legends such as John Wayne in “Rio Grande” and Randolph Scott in “Hangman’s Knot.” “Intruder in the Dust,” dealing with racial issues in the South, remains a personal favorite. He discusses his career in his 2018 autobiography, “My Life and the Final Days of Hollywood,” available through Amazon and his Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MYLIFEANDTHEFINALDAYSOFHOLLYWOOD).
“I made 10 other films after ‘The Yearling,’” says Jarman, “but nothing came close to being as difficult.”
Nick Thomas teaches at Auburn University at Montgomery, in Alabama, and has written features, columns, and interviews for numerous magazines and newspapers. See www.getnickt.org.

Photography and Text by Terry “Travels with Terry” Zinn t4z@aol.com

As covid just won’t go away, I find it comforting and safer to recall previous travels, that I hope you will find interesting, until safe travel becomes the norm.
Best known for its history as a steel town, Bethlehem Pennsylvania has a number of gifts for the traveler searching for authentic Americana. A few of the buildings on the vast expanse of the grounds of the Bethlehem Steel plant have been preserved as giant iconic sculptures of steel as a backdrop for a plaza and event space called SteelStacks. The space consists of several outlets for information and entertainment including, the ArtsQuest Center for films, shopping, snacks, the Air Products Town Square with its performance stage for free programming year round, the outdoor space of the PNC Plaza and the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks amphitheater for all types of music.
And while at SteelStacks it would be hard to miss the 40 foot tall glass sculpture in the spiral staircase produced by ArtsQuest’s Hot Glass Studio (The Banana Factory). The studio is open for public viewing as the craftspersons blow and manipulates hot glass into a variety of shapes. The process is hypnotic as the glass team aeems to do an impromptu dance as they assist the main glass blower. Samples of their work are on display and perhaps can be purchased. The free gift of observing the glass blowing experience is another valued gift of Bethlehem.
While in Bethlehem you must visit the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem; whether it’s for gaming, a gourmet meal with exceptional service at Emeril’s Chop house, or just marvel at the Steel plants transformation into a glamorous high end entertainment venue. My beverage and dining offerings were beyond my expectations. Additional food service is available at the Carnegie Deli, St James Gate Irish Pub and Carvery, The Market, Chopsticks or the Cobalt Buffet and Café. Of course the Sands offers an expansive hotel and even an upscale shopping mall with such stores as, Tommy Hilfiger, Izod, Ultra Diamonds, and Lenox to name a few.
For a more traditional dining experience, you can take in Fegley’s Brew Works located on Main Street where the beer makers craft is taken seriously. Not being a beer person I was pleased to learn of the different qualities and techniques that make up the brewers art from light ales to dark and tasty beers. Some beers are seasonal, as is their Pumpkin Ale, but others range from the award winning Fegley’s E.S.B., an amber light; to the dark Steelworkers Oatmeal Stout, which is a reply to Guinness and is described as “a meal in a glass.” In addition to their unique beers they offer a nice selection of wines from California, Argentina and Germany.
For a quiet and laid back evening, the Edge Restaurant fills the bill, with subdued lighting and white table cloth elegance. You are taken back to a fine dining experience unexpected in this rural Pennsylvania setting. My Sautéed Scottish Salmon with Fig Balsamic was surpassed by their special side dish of potatoes au gratin; a seemingly simple dish but which always gets rave reviews.
Of course the real charm of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is staying in downtown proper with its historic buildings dating back to 1700s and perusing the shops including the extensive Moravian book store with seems to go on forever. Being founded in 1745 it claims to be the World’s Oldest Book Store. I wonder what London would have to say about that. The Bethlehem hotel is a member of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America, but modern in comfort and amenities, in an upscale 1920’s atmosphere.
The hotel’s bar, the Tap Room, adjacent to the main lobby, proudly boasts photographs of the hotels past guests including, Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, Johnny Bench and Presidents Eisenhower, Clinton, Kennedy and Ford. For a step back in time a visit to the 1758 Moravian Sun Inn can be toured, or you may reserve your space on an adventure in the afterlife with their paranormal experiences.
Before there was steel, the towns religious founders pondered over a name for their new town, and feeling inspired, named it Bethlehem. Today it is known as the Christmas City complete with a shining star in the hills. The gifts of Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley can be enjoyed year round for a quaint historic American experience with a dash of dining, education and entertainment.
www.historicbethlehem.org
www.artsquest.org
www.suninnbethlehem.org
http://www.statetheatre.org
http://www.martinguitar.com

Mr. Terry Zinn – Travel Editor
Past President: International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association
3110 N.W. 15 Street – Oklahoma City, OK 73107
https://realtraveladventures.com/?s=terry+zinn
https://realtraveladventures.com/?s=zinn
http://new.okveterannews.com/?s=TERRY+ZINN
www.martinitravels.com

Willowood at Mustang Senior Living announces that industry veteran Cathy Collins will serve as the community’s new executive director. Collins will oversee operations of Willowood at Mustang Senior Living’s assisted living and memory care apartments.
Collins has served seniors for most of her life. A born and raised Oklahoman, she began her career as a certified nursing assistant, then a certified medical assistant, and later became a licensed practical nurse. In the years that followed, she worked in healthcare administration.
Now, as Executive Director for Willowood at Mustang, Collins will lead a team of senior care professionals in providing residents with the best quality services and care, all while ensuring residents are thriving in a loving, safe, fun community environment that feels like home.
“At the end of the day, it’s the best reward to know I’ve made a difference in residents’ lives,” said Collins. For more information about Willowood at Mustang Senior Living visit: https://willowoodatmustang.com/

Dear Savvy Senior,

Can you recommend some good resources that can help my wife and me determine the best claiming ages for maximizing our Social Security retirement benefits? Just Turned 62

Dear 62,
Deciding when to start collecting your Social Security benefits is one of the most complicated and consequential decisions in retirement. The difference between a good decision and a poor one could cost you and your wife tens of thousands of dollars over your retirement, so doing your due diligence now is a very smart move.
Factors to Consider
As you may already know, you can claim Social Security any time between the ages of 62 and 70, but each year you wait increases your benefits between 5 and 8 percent. However, there are other factors you need to take into account to help you make a good decision, like your health and family longevity, whether you plan to work in retirement, along with spousal and survivor benefits.
To help you weigh your claiming strategies, you need to know that Social Security Administration claims specialists are not trained or authorized to give you personal advice on when you should start drawing your benefits. They can only provide you information on how the system works under different circumstances. To get advice you’ll need to turn to other sources.
Online Tools
Your first step in getting Social Security claiming strategy advice is to go to SSA.gov/myaccount to get your personalized statement that estimates what your retirement benefits will be at ages 62 through 70. These estimates are based on your yearly earnings that are also listed on your report.
Once you get your estimates for both you and your wife, there are a number of online Social Security strategy calculators you can turn to that can compare your options so you can make an informed decision.
The best one that’s completely free to use is Open Social Security (OpenSocialSecurity.com), which runs the math for each possible claiming age (or, if you’re married, each possible combination of claiming ages) and reports back, telling you which strategy is expected to provide the most total spendable dollars over your lifetime.
But if you want a more thorough analysis consider fee-based calculators like Maximize My Social Security (MaximizeMySocialSecurity.com) or Social Security Solutions (SocialSecuritySolutions.com). Both of these tools, which are particularly helpful to married couples as well as divorced or widowed persons, will run what-if scenarios based on your circumstances and show how different filing strategies affect the total payout over the same time frame.
Maximize My Social Security’s web-based service costs $40 per year for a household, while Social Security Solutions offers several levels of web-based and personalized phone advice ranging from $20 to $250.
In-Person Advice
You may also be able to get help through a financial planner. Look for someone who is a fee-only certified financial planner (CFP) that charges on an hourly basis and has experience in Social Security analysis.
To find someone, use the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors online directory at NAPFA.org, or try the Garrett Planning Network (GarrettPlanningNetwork.com), which is a network of fee-only advisers that charge between $150 and $300 per hour.
Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book.

*Includes 16 hospitalizations in pediatric beds.
**Focus, Rehabilitation and Tribal Facilities numbers are not assigned to a specific region as their patient populations reside across the state. Information provided through survey of Oklahoma hospitals as reported to HHS as of the time of this report. Response rate affects data. Facilities may update previously reported information as necessary.
Data Source: Acute Disease Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health. *As of 2021-11-29 at 7:00 a.m.

An Oklahoma Man Shares His Heart Transplant Journey

With a renewed lease on life, this Thanksgiving will be extra special to Jack Chappell, 57. After showing signs of heart failure nearly a decade ago, this father of two began the fight of his life.
In 2012, Chappell fell ill with persistent symptoms. “I felt like I had a cold I couldn’t get rid of,” he says. “I coughed a lot. I couldn’t get rid of it. I just felt lousy. I also felt like I was putting on weight.” In 2013, after a business trip and at the urging of his wife, he was diagnosed with heart failure due to a severely weakened heart muscle by his primary care physician and was connected to cardiologists at INTEGRIS Health.
2015 was a difficult year for the Chappell family, and Jack especially, as his father tragically succumbed to terminal heart failure at the age of 82. Within a short time after his father’s passing, Jack’s heart failure also worsened to the point where his life was in imminent danger. He was admitted to INTEGRIS Health under the care of Douglas Horstmanshof, M.D., co-director of INTEGRIS Advanced Cardiac Care (IACC), and underwent placement of a life-saving HeartMate 2 Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). Chappell recovered quickly and was able to leave the hospital just over two weeks after LVAD surgery. He rapidly returned to work and an active life, supported by his LVAD. After the need for a LVAD replacement in 2019, the IACC team recommended pursuing a heart transplant, and in 2020, Chappell was placed on the transplant list to begin the search for a new heart.
“Jack is an individual who exemplified the value of being at the only hospital in Oklahoma that has access to all options to treat his worsening heart failure – in this case a LVAD that allowed him to work, care for his family and live successfully for years with a good quality of life,” states Horstmanshof.
Jack’s journey to a new heart was prolonged after contracting COVID-19 in November 2020. Despite a successful recovery from COVID under the care of the IACC team, his health declined again in early 2021, and he was admitted to the hospital for ongoing care while awaiting his new heart. He would spend four long months in the hospital waiting for his heart transplant. “That’s a long time to be in the hospital for sure,” he admits. “But I got used to the routine of being there. I’d wake up, eat breakfast, do my labs, and work remotely from my hospital bed. I was able to stay busy.”
In July 2021 he received the life changing news that he was getting a new heart. Chappell says he was in shock and then broke down in tears. “I honestly don’t remember going to surgery. I just remember waking up in the ICU with a brand new heart and a second chance at life.”
“After getting his new heart, every member of the INTEGRIS Health staff that was involved in his care celebrated with Jack and his immediate family,” Horstmanshof remembers. “Our whole team remains so proud of him for his dedication and grace throughout his journey and looks forward to many more years of knowing and caring for him as his INTEGRIS Health Family!”
Chappell recently joined other LVAD patients and completed the 5K in the Oklahoma City Marathon. He routinely stays in touch with the LVAD team and speaks to other heart transplant and LVAD patients as an advocate for the program.
A group of people posing for a photo Description automatically generatedJack enjoyed a fulfilling and active life with his LVAD, but is looking forward to rediscovering swimming or being in water without concern for his device. Now, after his transplant, he is getting back to traveling, going to football games, all while knowing he has more time to spend with his family. However, there will always be a special place in his new heart for the hospital he called ‘home’ for so long.
“We’ve got the best heart team right here in Oklahoma City. I don’t know why anyone would go anywhere else.”

Friends of the Capitol was honored to host their annual Statehood Day art contest with nine OKCPS 4th grade classes. Ridgeview, Adelaide Lee, Hawthorne, Coolidge, Shidler, Hillcrest, Britton, Cleveland, and Martin Luther King Elementary Schools all competed for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The theme was “My Oklahoma,” which all the students painted their interpretation of what Oklahoma meant to them. Their works of art was showcased at the Oklahoma State Capitol, on Statehood Day. All their families, friends, and teachers came out to support them and had some refreshments and celebrated Oklahoma’s Birthday!
There were protests going on at the Capitol that week and this brought some light to the Capitol and to Oklahoma. Seeing the 4th graders dressed up showing off their art to everyone was priceless!
“Friends of the Capitol” loves being a part of celebrating Statehood Day by bringing in kids and educating them about our Capitol and our great State. It is a great way to get Oklahomans involved”-Amy Dillon, Executive Director. Friends of the Capitol is a tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) corporation that is devoted to providing private funds to maintain and improve the beauty of the Oklahoma State Capitol building and complex and its works of art. It is the only tax-exempt corporation designated to receive private funds for this purpose. For More Information: Amy Dillon, 405-843-2443 or adillon@friendsofthecapitol.com or visit www.friendsofthecapitol.com.

Strings take center stage in Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble’s third concert, “Symphonic Strings,” 7:30 pm on January 11 at First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. The concert will present Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello, which marked a turning point in his career, Gerald Finzi’s powerfully expressive Interlude for Oboe and String Quartet and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s only sextet, his “Souvenir de Florence,” which has been described as a symphony for six strings.
The concert takes place at the First Baptist Church, 1201 N. Robinson Ave., Oklahoma City. Season passes, available on the website, are $125 for the five regular-season concerts and all concerts of the summer festival. Single admission tickets are $20 at the door. Admission is free for students and active-duty military with ID.
Maurice Ravel composed his four-movement Sonata for Violin and Cello between 1920 and 1922 and dedicated it to the memory of Claude Debussy, who had died in 1918. Described as “lean” and “linear,” the sonata stood in sharp contrast to the lush harmonies and textures of his earlier works and was, Ravel wrote, “stripped to the bone; harmonic charm is renounced, and there is an increasing return of emphasis on melody.” The sonata would, as the composer predicted, mark a turning point: after Debussy’s death, Ravel was widely considered the leading French composer of the era.
British composer Gerald Finzi’s personal and introspective Interlude for Oboe and String Quartet was written between 1932 and 1936 and, along with his clarinet concerto, is one of his best-known instrumental compositions. The one-movement work was subsequently arranged for oboe and string orchestra and for oboe and piano. Despite its brevity, the Interlude is a big, passionate piece with wide-ranging moods and may have originally been intended as part of a concerto.
Tchaikovsky’s four-movement sextet, “Souvenir de Florence,” is a romantic symphony in microcosm. The work is so titled because one of the principal themes was sketched while the Russian composer was visiting Florence, Italy, but it is distinctly Russian. The composer wrote to a friend, “I am, in essence, composing for the orchestra, and only then arranging it for six string instruments,” a task he described as “unimaginably difficult.” The result is a small-ensemble work with the grandeur of a symphony and the grace of his ever-popular “Serenade for Strings.”
The Brightmusic Chamber Ensemble is Oklahoma City’s foremost presenter of classical chamber music. For more information, visit us at www.brightmusic.org and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrightmusicOK.