Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 20, 2023

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Mountain View News Saturday, May 20, 2023 

SAFE PATH FOR SENIORS

Steve Sciurba, Senior Placement Specialist 

There are many reasons in working with Safe Path 

for Seniors, we will assess your loved ones and make

recommendations depending on care needs and 
budget. 

With our many years of experience, we will make an

informed recommendation. 

We work with large communities to the small 6-bed, 

board & care residential homes.

You will tour with an experienced consultant who will 

work with you through the entire process. from selecting 
the right living environment to all of the necessary 
paperwork involved.

The good news is that there is no cost for this service.

If you have any questions about placing a loved one, 
visit our web site:

www.safepathforseniors.com 

or call Steve at 626-999-6913


SENIOR HAPPENINGS


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …MAY Birthdays*

Beth Copti, Marilyn Diaz, Anne Schryver, Jo Ann Williams, Paul Hagan, Lenore 
Crilly Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, 
Luciana Rosenzweig, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie Sheridan, 
Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Annie Scalzo, Janet 
Ten Eyck, Jane Thomas, Ray Burley

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

SENIOR CLUB Every Saturday at Noon Hart Park House

Open to all seniors 50+ Fun - Games - And More! Call Mark at 626-355-3951 

DOMINOES TRAIN GAME

1st & 3rd Wednesdays 11:00 am— 12:30 pm Hart Park House

The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from their hand onto one or 
more trains, emanating from a central hub or “station”. Call Lawren with questions 
that you may have.

TEA AND TALK BOOK CLUB

Wednesday, 4/12 and 4/26 9:00 am Hart Park House

Tea and Talk, which meets twice a month to discuss the fun, suspense, intrigue, 
love and so much more that each selection will have in store!

HULA AND POLYNESIAN DANCE

 BEGINNERS - Every Thursday 10-11:00 am

 INTERMEDIATE Every Friday 10-11:00 am

Bring a lei, your flower skirt or just your desire to dance! Hula in the Park is back 
and waiting for you to join in on all the fun! Memorial Park Covered Pavilion.

CHAIR YOGA

Every Monday and Wednesday 10-10:45 am

Please join us for some gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxation 
with Paul. Classes are ongoing and held in the Memorial Park Covered 
Pavilion or the Hart Park House. 

SPRINGO BINGO 

Thursday, 4/20 Hart Park House 1:00 pm-2:30 pm $5

Fee includes bingo games, light lunch, & prizes! Please call 626-264-8876 or visit 
HPH to pre-register. "Must pre-register to participate" Active Adults 55+


BEST DATING APP FOR RETIREES

Dear Savvy Senior:

Can you recommend some good online dating apps or 
sites for retirees? I’m a 66-year-old widow and would 
like to find a new friend to spend time with, but don’t 
know where to turn.

Cautious Carol

Dear Carol:

Whether you’re interested in dating again or just 
looking for a friend to spend time with, online dating 
sites and apps have become an easy and convenient 
way for older adults to meet new single people 
without ever having to leave home.

 

And to make things even easier, most sites today use 
matchmaking algorithms that factor in your interests 
and preferences so they can steer you to matches 
that are best suited for you. Here are some other tips 
to help you get started.

Choose a site: There are dozens of different matchmaking 
websites and apps available today, so choosing 
can be a bit confusing. While many sites offer 
free trials or watered-down free content, finding 
out the price can be difficult until you register and 
provide some information. In general, viewing complete 
profiles and messaging potential dates will 
require a monthly fee, which can range anywhere 
between $10 and $40 per month. 

Some top mainstream sites/apps that are popular 
among older adults are eHarmony.com, Match.com 
and OKCupid.com. If, however, you’re interested in 
more age specific sites, some great options are OurTime.
com or SilverSingles.com. 

Or if you have a specific kind of person you’d like 
to meet, there are dozens of niche sites like: EliteSingles.
com for educated professionals; ChristianMingle.
com for Christian singles; BLK-app.
com for black singles; JSwipeApp.com for Jewish 
singles; and Facebook.com/dating for people who 
love Facebook.

Create a profile: When you join a matchmaking site, 
you’ll 
need 
to 
create 
a 
personality profile that reflects who you are, including 
recent photos, hobbies, interests, favorite activities 
and more. If you need some help, sites like ProfileHelper.
com can write one for you for a fee. 

Practice caution: When you register with a site you 
remain anonymous. No one gets access to your personal 
contact information until you decide to give it 
out, so be prudent to whom you give it. Before meeting, 
you should chat on the phone or video chat a few 
times, and when you do meet in person for the first 
time, meet in a public place or bring a friend along. 
And if someone asks for money or your financial 
information, don’t give it out. Online dating/sweetheart 
scams are rampant so be very cautious.

Be skeptical: In an effort to get more responses, 
many people will exaggerate or flat out lie in their 
profiles, or post pictures that are 10 years old or 20 
pounds lighter. So, don’t believe everything you see 
or read. 

Make an effort: A lot of times, people – especially 
women – sit back and let others come to them. 
Don’t be afraid to make the first move. When you 
find someone you like, send a short note that says, 
“I really enjoyed your profile. I think we have some 
things in common.” Keep it simple.

Don’t get discouraged: If you don’t get a response 
from someone, don’t let it bother you. Just move on. 
There are many others that will be interested in you 
and it only takes one person to make online dating 
worthwhile.

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.

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder


THESE OLD BONES OF MINE

I had a frightening experience the other day. I know I must be getting old 
because things that never frightened me before frighten me. I also see things 
I never saw before.

Going into the bathroom one morning, I looked in the mirror, and my grandfather looked 
back at me. I almost passed out. With great haste, I left the bathroom, rushed to the living 
room, and sat down to think a little bit. What just happened?

I hadn't thought of my grandfather for a long time, and now here I am, looking at myself in 
the mirror and seeing my grandfather. Oh boy. How did he get in my mirror?

I knew my grandfather was old, at least from my perspective when I knew him. One thing 
I remember about him was how much he complained about his bones. You could hear his 
knees crack whenever he would get up from a chair. I never could understand that.

At the time, I thought he was putting on a show. I never had my bones crack, nor did they 
ever hurt. So, I thought my dear old grandfather was trying to get pity from us, so I lavished 
it on as much as possible. I tried to come to the end of his joke, but he died before it ended.

The last two years that I knew him, he walked around with a cane. I thought he was just 
doing that for dressing. I thought he was acting like Bat Masterson; "He wore a cane and 
derby hat."

Several times, I asked him where his "derby hat" was. He just looked at me as though he had 
no idea what I was saying. So, being the grandson that I was, I went on with his ploy.

Not until recently did I discover that this was not a ploy; rather, he had aching and creaking 
bones.

It seems that I have inherited his creaking bones. Now I know what he was going through 
back then, and it wasn't a ploy.

It seems every day, I find a new bone to creak. I will never know how my grandfather handled 
those creaking bones at his age, but I'm starting to find out. I guess I should've taken 
him more seriously back then.

I have no idea how many bones I have in my body, but I am discovering new bones that are 
starting to creak daily. I didn't know I had so many bones.

After thinking about my grandfather and his creaking bones, I went back into the bathroom 
to chat with him, but instead of him being in the mirror, there I was. I am my grandfather!

My grandfather was 69 years old when he passed, and I am, let's say, a little past that age.

Instead of inheriting creaking bones from my grandfather, I would rather have inherited 
$1 million. But life is as it is. I don't know how long I have yet before my old bag of bones 
exhausts itself. Till then, I will creak and crack my bones every day, just like my grandfather.

That may be why people have rather short memories when they get older. Boy, would I like 
to forget these creaking bones of mine. When I think I have it all worked out, another bone 
pops and then starts creaking.

I don't know how close I am to getting a cane, but it just might be in the near future.

Of course, having a cane would be more helpful when walking down the street to protect me 
from some idiot who wants to rob me. So I've been thinking about that.

If it were just creaking bones, I wouldn't be too concerned. But looking in the mirror this 
morning caused me to see that old age is really ugly. I have more wrinkles than I can count 
on my face. Where do those wrinkles come from? What are they there, and how do I get rid 
of them?

I should start counting my wrinkles every morning to ensure I have the same amount from 
the day before. Of course, there must be some good to these wrinkles, or I wouldn't have so 
many.

I think I have become the standard for old age with my musical bones and flourishing wrinkles. 
I sure could use some advice from my grandfather about this situation.

With that in mind, I went to The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage and told her I 
thought I needed to go to a body shop to see if I could get a new body. "Do you have any 
recommendations?"

She looked at me up and down and then said, "Just remember, it'll cost you an arm and a leg." 
And then she laughed as though it was funny.

I wasn't laughing on the inside.

Later that day, I checked my Bible for verses dealing with bones, but I had never thought of 
these verses before.

Psalms 51:8, "Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may 
rejoice."

Psalms 34:20, "He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken."

I am a proponent of joy, but I never thought of bones being associated with joy. As I get older, 
I am discovering just how important my bones are. From now on, whenever one of my bones 
creaks, I will rejoice to know that God keeps all my bones.

Dr. James L. Snyder lives in Ocala, FL with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Telephone 
1-352-216-3025, e-mail jamessnyder51@gmail.com, website www.jamessnyderministries.
com.

FAMILY MATTERS


WANT TO GROW WEALTH? WARREN BUFFET'S 
BEST INVESTMENT ADVICE

If you are going to take 
investment and estate 
planning advice from 
anyone, Warren Buffett 
is likely at or near the 
top of the list. As one 
of the most successful 
investors in history, his 
track record speaks for 
itself. However, his wisdom goes beyond picking 
stocks and making money. 

At this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder 
meeting, Buffett shared several pieces of 
financial advice but also provided insights on the 
importance of personal growth and estate planning 
when seeking to grow wealth. While many of 
us may feel overwhelmed by the thought of estate 
planning or building our wealth, Buffett's advice 
reminds us of two key but simple steps we can take 
to create generational, financial wealth.

Focus on Your Human Assets to Build Your Wealth 
and Your Legacy

In almost every interview Buffett provides, he 
stresses the importance of investing in yourself. 
“The best thing you can do is to be exceptionally 
good at something," said Buffett. "Whatever abilities 
you have can't be taken away from you. They 
can't actually be inflated away from you. So the 
best investment by far is anything that develops 
yourself, and it's not taxed at all." 

Your earning power is the greatest determiner of 
your financial well-being, and the one thing you 
can count on no matter what’s happening in the external 
economic environment. If you have a highly 
valuable skill, and you know how to get paid well 
for that skill, market your services, and sell your 
services to those who need them, you’ll never have 
to worry about money. That doesn’t mean you 
won’t worry about money; but it does mean you 
don’t have to worry about money.

If you don’t have a highly valuable skill or if you 
have a skill that will soon be replaced by AI, that’s 
the first place for you to invest. You may need to get 
retrained, or uplevel your skills to be more human 
or relational so you can use AI, but not compete 
with it, and all that may take investment. Don’t shy 
away from investing in additional training to get 
even better at your service, or even get additional 
support to learn to market and sell your services. 
Those investments will always pay off whereas the 
stock market is out of your control.

Investing in yourself not only leads to financial 
success but also personal fulfillment and a clear 
sense of purpose that will organically become your 
legacy. At the end of the day, you likely won’t be 
remembered for your financial success (though it’s 
a nice bonus if you are!). Even Warren Buffett, who 
is renowned for his wealth and investment skill, is 
even more often acclaimed for his wisdom, humility, 
and generosity than for his money. 

Raising Kids Well is Key in Effective Wealth 
Planning

During a Q&A session with an estate planning attorney, 
Buffett stressed the importance of talking 
to your children about your estate planning well 
before your death. Buffett stated, “If the children 
are grown when the will is read to them and it’s 
the first they’ve heard about what the deceased 
thought about things, the parents have made a terrible 
mistake.” 

Leaving your family in the dark about your personal 
and financial wishes until you die or become 
incapacitated due to an accident or illness can lead 
to large amounts of confusion and conflict among 
family members. If you don’t want to leave a mess, 
don’t wait to talk to the people you love.

 Buffett recommends – and I agree on - involving 
your heirs in the planning process. By doing so, 
you can ensure that everyone is on the same page 
and that your wishes are understood and respected 
far in advance. Additionally, this provides an opportunity 
to discuss your values and beliefs with 
your heirs, which can have a lasting impact on 
their lives. Buffett expressed that if you really want 
your heirs to act responsibly with their inheritance, 
you must live out your values and instill them in 
your heirs.

How to Start the Conversation About Estate Planning 
with Your Heirs

So how do you start the conversation about estate 
planning with your heirs? We recommend you 
do it directly and maybe even with an invitation 
to meet with you and your lawyer together. This 
is something I love to do with clients, and I know 
many other lawyers do, too. You might say something 
like: "I want to make sure that we're all taken 
care of, both now and in the future. That's why I'd 
like to talk to you about my wishes for our family 
resources, and how we can ensure that everything 
is handled smoothly when I can’t be here."

If your loved ones aren’t immediately open to having 
a conversation about estate planning with you 
or are resistant to how you want your assets managed 
after your death, don’t worry. Talking about 
estate planning can be uncomfortable at first, but 
as you normalize the topic, the conversation will 
become easier and more open. 

When you talk money and inheritance with your 
heirs during your lifetime, you have the opportunity 
to truly pass on not just the money, but your 
values too. If you wait until you are incapacitated 
or have died, it’s simply too late.

Finally, if you are the future heir of a parent who 
has not yet talked with you about estate planning, 
you can jumpstart the conversation by getting 
your own planning done, and then talking with 
your parents about the choices you made, why you 
made them, and letting them know you’d like to 
help them feel comfortable talking to you about the 
choices they are making. 

Thoughtful Guidance to Build Your Personal and 
Financial Life and Legacy

Warren Buffett's advice on building and preserving 
wealth is timeless and valuable no matter the 
size of your family or your estate. By involving 
your heirs in your estate planning and investing in 
yourself, you can set yourself and your loved ones 
up for long-term financial success and create a legacy 
that spans not only through your own life but 
through the generations that follow you. 

To your health, wealth, and family legacy,


Marc Garlett, Esq.

Cali Law Family Legacy Matters

www.caliLaw.com

626.355.4000

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