Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, October 17, 2020

11

Mountain View News Saturday, October 17, 2020 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

HOW TO RECOGNIZE AND STOP ELDER ABUSE IN THE COVID ERA

Dear Savvy Senior:

Can you write a column on how to recognize elder 
abuse and what to do if you suspect it? Concerned 
Relative

Dear Concerned:

Elder abuse is a big problem in the United States that 
has escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. According 
to the National Council on Aging, as many as 5 million seniors are victims of abuse each year, 
but studies suggest this crime is significantly under-reported. Only 1-in-14 cases of elder abuse ever 
get reported to the authorities because victims are usually too afraid, too embarrassed, too helpless or 
too trusting to call for help.

The term “elder abuse” is defined as intentional or negligent acts by a caregiver or trusted individual 
that causes or can cause harm to a vulnerable senior. Elder abuse also comes in many different forms: 
emotional, psychological, physical or sexual abuse, abandonment, neglect and self-neglect, and financial 
exploitation.

Those most vulnerable are seniors that are ill, frail, disabled, socially isolated or mentally impaired due 
to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s also important to know that while elder abuse does happen in nursing homes and other long-term 
care facilities, the vast majority of incidents take place at home where the senior lives. And tragically, 
the abusers are most often their own family members (usually the victim’s adult child or spouse) or 
caregiver.

How to Recognize Abuse

So, how can you tell if an elderly relative or friend is being abused, and what can you do to help?

A change in general behavior is a universal warning sign that a problem exists. If you notice that your 
relative or friend has become very depressed, withdrawn or gets upset or agitated easily, you need to 
start asking questions. Here are some additional warning signs on the different types of elder abuse 
that can help you spot a possible problem. 

Physical or sexual abuse: Suspicious bruises or other injuries that can’t be explained. Sudden changes 
in behavior (upset, withdrawn, fearful). Broken eyeglasses. Caregiver’s refusal to allow visitors to see 
an elder alone.

Neglect or self-neglect: Weight loss, poor hygiene, unattended medical needs, and unsanitary, unsafe 
living conditions.

Emotional or psychological abuse: The senior is extremely upset, agitated, withdrawn, unresponsive, 
fearful or depressed, or demonstrates some other unusual behavior.

Financial exploitation: Missing money or valuables. Unexplained withdrawals from bank accounts, or 
transfers between accounts. Unauthorized use of credit, debit or ATM card. Unpaid bills despite available 
funds. Checks written as a loan or gift. Abrupt changes in a will or other documents.

For more tips on how to recognize the warning signs of abuse during the pandemic, see the National 
Center on Elder Abuse website at NCEA.acl.gov/Resources/COVID-19.aspx.

What to Do

The best ways to help stop elder abuse is to be in touch and keep the lines of communication open. 
If you suspect any type of abuse or neglect in your relative’s or friend’s home, report it to your local 
protective services agency.

Adult Protective Services is the government agency responsible for investigating elder abuse cases and 
providing help and guidance. Call the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 to get the agency contact 
number in your area or visit NCEA.acl.gov/Resources/State.aspx.

The agency will ask what you observed, who was involved, and who they can contact to learn more. 
You don’t need to prove that abuse is occurring; it is up to the professional.

Or, to report suspected abuse in a nursing home or assisted living facility, call the local Long-Term 
Care Ombudsman – see LTCombudsman.org for contact information.

If, however, you feel the person is in immediate danger, call 911 or the local police for immediate help.

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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …October Birthdays*

Janda Ferris, Darlene Traxler, Margit Johnson, Sole Krieg, George Maurer, Dick 
Anderson, Eva Poet, Mary Jane Baker, Dixie Coutant, Cathleen Cremins,Adie Marshall, 
Darlene Crook, Susan Gallagher, Maggie Ellis, Gloria Giersbach, Elva Johnson, Ellen 
O’Leary, Jenny Piangenti, Gail Ann Skiles, Anita Thompson, Linda Boehm and Angela 
Stella 

*To add your name to this distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737.
YEAR of birth not required


SENIOR ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA MADRE

CHAIR YOGA Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 am Chair yoga with Paul is coming back! Class will 
begin on Monday, August 10th and will be held in the Covered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior 
Center. Please join us for some gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxa-tion. Class size is limited 
so please call 264-8923 to reserve your spot. 

HAWAIIAN AND POLYNESIAN DANCE CLASS Every Friday, 10-10:45 am Class will also meet in the Cov-
ered Pavilion in Memorial Park in front of the Senior Center. Join the class with instructor Barbara as she leads 
you through the art of Hula. Please call 264-8923 with any questions. 

Classes will maintain a distance of 6 ft between participants. ALL participants must be wearing masks for the 
duration of the class. All equipment used will be sanitized after each use before it is stored. Each participant is 
responsible for providing their own water, masks and needed equipment or sup-plies for each class. Please call the 
Community Services Department at 355-5278 with any questions or concerns.

OCTOBER CRAFT

Wednesday, October 21, 11:00 am. Please join me as we try our hands at making Wooden Owl Orna-ments. This 
will be a new type of program as we create our masterpieces via Zoom to ensure all of our safety. I will have all the 
supplies individually packaged and ready for pickup on Monday, October 19th pickup will be between 10:00 am-
2:00 pm. I will have enough supplies for 10 participants. Reservations are required so please call 355-5278 x 704 
to secure your spot. Please note that this is an ONLINE class that will be held via Zoom. We will not be meeting 
in the Hart Park House Senior Center.

IDEAS

 Do you have any ideas for programming? Is there a class or club you would like to see in our Senior Community? 
Please call or email Lawren Heinz with ideas or questions. 626-355-5278 x 704 lheinz@cityofsierramadre.com

 City staff are monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement 
and interfacing less with the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner. If at any time additional information is needed, please 
contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are 
taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate per-son. For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note 
our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

SIERRA MADRE SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

The City of Sierra Madre is following these procedures to provide current communication in light of COVID-19 
and keep the Senior Community and families informed of essential information and resources. City staff are 
monitoring email communication daily, and although employees are minimizing direct engagement and practicing 
social distancing in the community, please note that voice messages, emails, and social media responses are 
being addressed in the most efficient and timely manner.

If at any moment additional information is needed, please contact City Hall Administrative Services at (626) 355-
7135, Monday-Thursday from 7:30a – 5:30p, as they are taking messages and e-mailing the appropriate person.

 For messages that may trickle in otherwise, please note our team is remotely checking voicemail daily at the 
Community Services Department, (626) 355-5278 x702.

 Community Services Department will continue email communication with Senior residents and aging community 
members.

 If you know of family members or neighbors who may benefit from accessing information electronically, and 
to receive the department’s Seniors Newsletter via email but may not otherwise have been included on an email 
group list, please send your request with email address to the following team members: Lawren Heinz Lheinz@
cityofsierramadre.com and Clarissa Lowe Clowe@cityofsierramadre.com.

 City Social Media will continue via Facebook as well as Instagram, and information sharing will include updates 
as details becomes available.

Mater Dolorosa - Sierra Madre Meal Pick-Up Program provides seal-packaged frozen meals, 5-per person 
every Thursday, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. at Hart Park House Senior Center 222 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. Donations 
are accepted. Call (626) 355-5278; x702 or 704. YWCA Intervale Meal Program - Effective 
Wednesday, April 1, 2020

YWCA has transitioned their distribution of take home meals at the Sierra Madre Hart Park House 
Senior Center to a home-delivery meal program. Participants previously reserved for meal pick-up 
as of Wednesday, 3/25/20 were informed that they would begin to have their meals delivered to their 
homes, beginning Wednesday, April 1, 2020 until further notice.

FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder

WHY YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO GO WITHOUT 
AN ESTATE PLAN

October 19th-25th, 2020 is National Estate Planning Awareness 
Week, so if you've been thinking about creating an estate plan, but 
still haven't checked it off your to-do list, now is the perfect time to 
get it done. 

When it comes to putting off or refusing to create an estate plan, 
your mind can concoct all sorts of rationalizations: “I won’t care because 
I’ll be dead,” “I’m too young,” “That won’t happen to me,” or 
“My family will know what to do.”

But these thoughts all come from a mix of pride, denial, and above all, a lack of real education 
about estate planning and the consequences to your family of not planning. Once you understand 
exactly how planning is designed to work and what it protects against, you’ll realize there is no acceptable 
excuse for not having a plan.

Indeed, the first step in creating a proper plan is to thoroughly understand the potential consequences 
of going without one. In the event of your death or incapacity, not having a plan could be 
incredibly traumatic and costly for your family, who will be forced to deal with the mess you’ll have 
created by neglecting to plan.

While each situation and family are unique, in this multi-part series I’m going to discuss some of 
the things most likely to happen to your loved ones if you fail to create a plan. This is the first:

Your family will have to go to court

If you don’t have a plan, or if you only have a will (yes, even with a will), you’re forcing your family 
to go through probate upon your death. Probate is the legal process for settling your estate, and 
even if you have a will, it’s notoriously slow, costly, and public. But with no plan at all, probate can 
be a true nightmare for your loved ones.

Depending on the complexity of your estate, probate can take years, or even decades, to complete. 
And like most court proceedings, probate can be expensive. In fact, once all of your debts, taxes, 
and court fees have been paid, there might be little left for your loved ones to inherit. And for whatever 
is left, your family will have to pay hefty attorney’s fees and court costs in order to claim them.

Yet, the most burdensome part of probate is the frustration and anxiety it can cause your loved 
ones. In addition to grieving your death, planning your funeral, and contacting everyone you’re 
close with, your family will be stuck dealing with a crowded court system that can be challenging 
to navigate even in the best of circumstances. Plus, the entire affair is open to the public, which can 
make things all the more arduous for those you leave behind, especially if the wrong people take 
an interest in your family’s affairs.

That said, the expense and drama of the court system can be almost totally avoided with proper 
planning. Using a trust, for example, we can ensure that your assets pass directly to your family 
upon your death, without the need for any court intervention. As long as you have planned properly, 
just about everything can happen in the privacy of our office and on your family’s time.

No more excuses

Given the potentially dire consequences probate can cause for your family, you can’t afford to put 
off creating your estate plan any longer. Next week we’ll look at how the lack of an estate plan will 
cost you control of who inherits your assets as well as when and how the inheritance is received. 

Dedicated to empowering your family, building your wealth and defining your legacy,

A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a mission to help parents 
protect what they love most. His office is located at 55 Auburn Avenue, 
Sierra Madre, CA 91024. 

Schedule an appointment to sit down and talk about ensuring a legacy of 
love and financial security for your family by calling 626.355.4000 or visit www.CaliLaw.com for 
more information.


ALL IN DUE TIME, SO SHE SAYS

For several weeks, or has it been years, I’ve been waiting for an important package to 
come through the mail. I don’t know why they call it snail mail because I have seen 
snails crawl faster.

With all our technology today, you would think that mail could come in on a particular schedule, and 
I'm thinking of a fast-paced schedule.

I've been going to the mailbox every day for several weeks, and I find a lot of junk mail, but I don't find 
the mail that I'm looking for. They promised it would arrive between seven and ten days. Of course, they 
didn't mention what days they would come, nor did they say those days would be consecutive.

Each day that mail hasn’t come has made me more jittery.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is always encouraging me to be patient. I once re-sponded to her, 
"I'm not a doctor, and I don't have any patients."

There are times when I should not verbalize what I'm thinking. It would keep me out of trouble. When I 
mentioned I didn't have any patients, my wife looked at me and said, "Well, you silly boy, get some and 
get some today because I'm running out of patience."

In my diary that night, I made a little note, "Do not respond to the wife verbally until you have had seven 
days to think it through."

At my age, within three days, I have totally forgotten what I was going to say.

The interesting thing was that I checked my bank account and saw the day I ordered that pack-age, the 
money came out of my account immediately. They had my money, but I didn't have their package.

I think it strange that money goes out of my account much faster than anything in this world. Where 
does it go? Not too long ago, somebody withdrew $1700 from my account. Evidently, they had applied 
for a card on my account, got it, and used it.

If only my mail arrived as quickly as my money disappears, I would be a happy camper.

It took several weeks for the bank to get that $1700 back into my account. As I say, it goes out faster than 
it comes in.

In the last few days, I've been getting a little jumpy, more than normal. I stand at the window, watching 
for the mailman, and he never comes on a regular schedule.

Then the mailman shows up, I jump up, run out the door, get to the mailbox, and much to my disappointment, 
the package is not in the mail. I have mail from everybody and everything but not the mail that I 
really want. How aggravating is that?

I stomped back into the house, grumbling under my breath, careful not to vocalize what is chop-ping in 
my head.

Walking into the house, all I did was say grrrrrrrrrrrrr. And then I let it spill, "When will that pack-age 
arrive?" I didn't know somebody in the house was listening.

“Are you still worrying about that package?”

She knew I was, so I just looked at her, smiled, nodded my head, and went to my office area.

Looking at me, trying to encourage me, I think, she said, "All in due time." And then she smiled in my 
direction.

I didn't know what she meant by "due time." Did she mean, "dew time?" Or did she mean, "do time?" As 
it was, I was “doing time,” and not too happy with it.

“There’s always a reason,” she explained, “for everything. There certainly is a reason why this package is 
late.”

I knew what she was saying was right, but I wasn't in the mood to hear a sermon. In listening to one of 
her sermons, I was afraid she would start taking up a collection. I certainly wasn't in a mood for that. I 
wanted to give something but certainly not money.

I remember there was a time when you went to a store to buy something, look for it and then take it up to 
the counter, pay the cashier and then walk out the door with it. I sure miss those good old days.

When I called the customer service, they assured me they sent the package out at the correct time, and 
according to their records, it was delivered within the proper time.

Hanging up the phone, I sat there, grumbling about my misfortune. Then the doorbell rang.

I got up and opened the door, and a man said, "I got this package several weeks ago, but it's not anything 
I ordered. Is this something you ordered?"

I looked at the package. It had my name on it, but it did not have my address on it. I cheerfully thanked 
the guy, shook his hand, and wished him a good day.

I went back to my chair, opened up the package and there was what I had ordered—all in due time.

I thought of a special verse, “To every thing, there is a season, and a time to every purpose un-der the 
heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted” 
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).

Everything has a time element to it that has been established by God, and when I surrender to God's 
time, I will plant seeds of happiness in my life.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com