Senior LifeStyle with Eileen O’Brien

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SENIOR LIFESTYLE

THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE US FREE!

(Sung to the melody of the Birthday song)

So what, you may ask, during the past year has made us on Planet Senior LifeStyle  free? So let’s do a quick review as we all blow out our big one year candle! We all first met in August, 2025 shortly after a match made in heaven between this writer and the new RCT Managing Editor, Sierra Lidén. It’s like the old joke that starts with two women walking into a bar only this was a café and immediately connecting like they had known each other forever!

Now for those of you who have been my “wing readers” from the very first column, you know I had dipped my toes into the world of writing a column for SINGLES, no less, approximately 40 years ago in a far off land known as Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Who would have imagined that those two women sitting in that café, one older than dirt with a vision and the other so full of ideas and energy were definitely the picture of an odd couple dreaming their dreams and hoping that their collaboration might be a successful flight rather than a crash and burn. It was definitely a leap of faith for both a Baby Boomer and a Gen Z!

By September however, after publication of the first column in August, word was out on the street regarding the “senior power” column which could be best characterized as a eclectic mix of Dear Abby, Erma Bombeck, Andy Rooney, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Martha Stewart and local Rockland hero, John R. Maloney. The promise made was that the monthly column would inform, educate, inspire, entertain and learn about you. It might make you laugh. It might make you cry. It might make you angry. But it would ALWAYS make you think and reflect. The first reality tackled was SENIOR DISCONNECTION, which we as seniors experience and sometimes actively participate in anywhere, everywhere and all at once. It was the story of Joan, a widow in her 70s and Alex, a young woman in her 20s meeting and connecting in a nail salon no less! It was also a shove for the rest of us to disconnect from the social media monster in our hands and CONNECT with our time, talent and money to the various nonprofits that would welcome us with all we have to offer…In other words, “The world is filled with nice people. If you can’t find one, be one!”

October took us to the “tenth” circle of hell, which Dante never anticipated – Self Checkout. It’s an inferno that we are finding ourselves stuck in as a result of  grocery stores, big box stores, dollar stores, home improvement stores, pharmacies, coffee shops “helping us.” Corporate greed takes away our choice, gives us no discounts for doing a paid employees’ work and sells us on fake news that they are helping the customer! Through this column, you got to meet Denise, Tomas, Aleesha, Jordan, Anita, and Robert – front line warriors understanding and assisting their customers with kindness and patience as we negotiate our daily responsibilities. Now here’s the rest of this story whose ending you don’t know yet… This writer personally revisited every featured front line warrior (and their mangers) and gifted them with a copy of the RCT featuring the article about them. I can’t begin to tell you about the surprise, shock, and gratitude of these warriors. This writer experienced the staff tearing up, requesting additional copies of the newspaper to proudly share with their families and friends, but the best part was the managers, speechless, after expecting a complaint when I asked to speak with them and then seeing their staff and their store recognized positively in print in this very hyper local newspaper.

November brought elections, injections, veterans, family, friends, food, Daylight Saving Time and “World Kindness Day.” December focused on an old fashioned story, a tale as old as time for your holiday pleasure. January burst forth with the idea of what the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the new year! You learned about tips and tricks of how to get involved, stay involved and enjoy a wonderful ride into the year ahead. February, the month of love, highlighted friendship loss, how it comes about, and efforts that you can make to communicate with the living rather than the dead. March, hopefully, reminded you of YOUR immigrant history and the importance and obligation of welcoming and helping all the hard working and honest folks coming after you to this wonderful land of Rockland County. Now April, if I was asked to chose, was probably my favorite column. It featured a wonderful group of Vietnam Vets, now seniors, sharing their wisdom, joy and pain with a whole new generation of young American students. My two days, embedded with this wonderful crew of Vets, brought me insight that shall be with me for years to come. According to legend, May supposedly brings us flowers but it also brings us Mental Health Awareness Month and as we discovered, mental health is a 24/7, 52 week, 365 day job which our local NAMI Rockland is forever tackling. June featured a shocking revelation that another long time service from an old and respected institution that we all know and trust, was on the chopping block. Your column appealed to the CEO and are keeping our fingers crossed that corporate minds will be changed. July was then upon us featuring an age old question, which stirred quite a lot of buzz – So which one were you? A GOOD or BAD Neighbor?

Now as we celebrate our first year, what can we expect for Round 2? To begin with, if you want to keep up with our monthly “SENIOR STYLE” adventures, SUBSCRIBE to this weekly newspaper. Yes, I know it’s available at all your local haunts, but too many of you share with me that the newspaper is not always at the spot where you usually expect to pick it up. Folks, it’s not that it wasn’t dropped off. Problem is, it was dropped off and snatched up within hours of delivery. In case you haven’t noticed, the RCT is the ONLY newspaper left that is ROCKLAND CENTRIC!! In year two, one of the missions of this column will be to recognize personally those folks who help us be the best that we can be. Kind of like a local “Candid Camera” (How many of you actually remember this TV show as well as who Allen Funt was? If you do, you’re one of us!). Now it’s your turn to help make our second year even better. Let me hear from you (via my Managing Editor Sierra at editor@rocklandcountytimes.com) about what intrigues, excites, puzzles, even angers you…As a wise person once wrote: In honoring voices and experiences, we will foster a community where inspiration thrives and positive change will take root in ways both seen and unseen.

Hello September… and on to Year Two!