We all have things that we look forward to, do we not? Most of us look forward to weekends. Not that we dislike our jobs. Some, perhaps most of us, actually enjoy our jobs. We look forward to the weekends, because that’s the time we get to spend the most time with our loved ones. That’s the time we get to spend time at Home.

Of course, we do look forward to exciting trips to exotic places, but then we look forward to returning Home. There really is no place like Home.

What do you look forward to? What does your aging loved one look forward to? We can look forward to many small and some big things. When winter begins, we start looking forward to everything good there is about winter. We look forward to having a daily cup of hot Earl Grey tea, to enjoying a plate of hot delicious soup. When cold, snowy days are upon us, we often think and get physiologically excited that soon, in mid June, we will be going to the local blueberry farm for pick-your-own (and all-you-can-eat) delicious blueberries.

Yes, we can concentrate on that big February road trip to Lake Tahoe, but we can fill in all the days and hours before and after that big trip with hundreds of small, no less exciting things. As Ella Fitzgerald used to sing, “Imagination is funny, it makes a cloudy day sunny.” Filling Mom’s calendar with exciting events, big and small, will make her potentially cloudy year… sunny.

What activities would brighten her year? What things will chase the clouds away? What will put a smile on her face and sunshine within her heart? What will make her feel needed? Perhaps Mom and Dad love to grow or pick-their-own herbs, veggies and fruits? Let’s calendar those planting and harvesting dates. Let’s see what veggies they would like to plant this spring.

• If Mom and Dad enjoy veggies and fruits, calendaring veggie and fruit harvest dates will really get them excited.
• Which strawberry orchard will we visit in June?
• How many strawberry preserves, which are beloved by every family member, will Mom need to make this year?
• Since blueberries are Dad’s favorite — what blueberry farm will we go blueberry picking to in early July?
• What apples does Mom like best? Let’s calendar early McIntosh apple picking for late July. Let’s plan Fuji and Red Delicious apple picking for late August, Cortland and Macoun for September and even October.
• How many jars of pickles will Mom have to prepare, so every member of the Family gets a jar?

Did you start filling Mom and Dad’s calendar with exciting events, big and small, and things they will look forward to in 2016? Not only it is not too late to start this activity, but it is important to realize that this is actually an ongoing process. This process starts, but never ends — and that’s the beauty of it.

Let’s give Mom and Dad something to look forward to in 2016.

With love for the Elderly…