Grandpa's In The Newspaper ... AGAIN!

Well, my wonderful Grandpa is in the newspaper again. He is profiled in the Sunday, July 27, 1997, Tri-Valley Herald in Livermore, CA, doing one of the things he does best, namely being a really cool guy who loves to help others and stays young and fit in the process! We love you Grandpa!

Since the entire article would take a LONG time to load, and the text is a little fuzzy when scanned in, I've taken the liberty of combining parts of the article and typing in most of the text for readability -- enjoy!

Eric D. unfolded the front section of the newspaper onto the table in front of him and smiled across the well-lighted room. "Good morning!" he called, brightly. "Time for the paper."

Two dozen men and women, ranging in age from 64 to 90, looked up from their breakfast of apple juice and buttered English muffins, and waited as D. skimmed the headlines. He read aloud from an article describing a proposed new design for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

"Anybody remember when the trains used to run on the Bay Bridge?" D. asked. Several heads nodded in recollection. "Back then," D. added, "you could cross the Bay for a quarter."

He remembers the era well. At 83, D. is older than many of the clients at Livermore's Friendship Center, an adult day care facility.

Most of the center's clients suffer from Alzheimer's disease, are recovering from strokes or have other ailments that require full-time care. The center offers a safe and stimulating environment when their family or caregivers are not available.

But D. does not have any of the mental and physical frailties that the center's clients endure -- he volunteers as a caregiver to help them survive.

"Mentally, I don't consider myself old," D. said. He wears a small bandage from a recent biopsy, has a slight hearing loss and walks with a limp due to an artificial hip, but complains of no other ailments.

I consider myself very fortunate," he said with a smile. "Good genes."

Genes may help D.'s physical health and mental acuity, but specialists in elder care say his volunteering may play as significant a role.

The key, they say, is the sense of purpose that seniors find in volunteer work -- a sense that replaces the motivation once provided by family and job responsibilities.

Work is an important part of most people's lives, and to be able to continue to work ... whether it's paid or not, does have a sustaining effect," said Dr. Richard Olson, medical director of the Legends program at ValleyCare Medical Center. "It brings rewards for having a significant role in the community, for connecting with other people."

In addition to offering mental and physical stimulation, volunteering imposes a set schedule on a life that might otherwise become dangerously directionless.

"People sometimes don't think they're going to live this long, so they never planned out how they were going to live those later, later years," said Jeanie Tauss, Legends' primary therapist. Tauss said she sometimes prescribes volunteer work to help patients combat depression. "There's this real kind of floundering I see sometimes, and that's where volunteer work can be really helpful," she said.

The work can become a stimulating corridor between the volunteer and the clients, said Chris Lafferty, volunteer coordinator for Pleasanton's Senior Support Program, a nonprofit agency that is part of Valley Community Health Center.

Lafferty matches homebound seniors with selected volunteers to provide transportation, medical needs or simple conversation.

They share experiences, they enjoy each others' company, they sometimes help with shopping and errands, they can share interests from their particular generation," Lafferty said. "One of the biggest fears that people have when they are isolated in their homes is the lack of companionship. The days can become very long."

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