My Plan After 50 Blog

Deadly Bacteria Update

Posted by Brunie

Recently the My Plan After 50 blog described the deadly MRSA staph bacterium and how it has inundated hospitals and care facilities for years. The popular press picked up on this antibiotic-resistant organism when it became known that a middle school student was infected and died, making this danger relevant to far more people now that its presence is evident in schools and child care facilities.

I personally heard a tragic story of a patient in a local hospital that developed an awful infection with devastating results.  In my last blog I urged everyone's vigilance to eliminate and control the MRSA staph bacterium and now offer more resources to combat it with both treatment and prevention.

Some helpful resources are:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are studying this bacterium and have several documents available to help with its prevention and treatment.

Type "MRSA" into the search box and sort by date to find informative articles on this issue.

This is a site developed by and for people with loved ones affected by MRSA. It is a good place to start for those seeking networking and support.

We at My Plan After 50 caution our readers to be aware of this dangerous bacterium. There is no reason to panic, but every single one of us can be more mindful of the precautionary steps we can take to stop its spread...especially to those we love.

Rediscovering Neighbors

Posted by Paul

Here are some of my fond memories of growing up in a neighborhood:

·        Knowing all the neighbors by their first names.

·        Cutting through yards without worrying about getting in trouble.

·        Playing kick-the-can and other evening-into-nighttime games with the neighborhood kids.

·        Watching my parents interact with backyard neighbors over the fences.

·        Fences that grew and needed to be trimmed.

Over the years, I’ve become a part of what I sense is a larger problem of a lost sense of neighborhood and neighborliness. I used to blame it on my being transitory and busy. But recently, I’ve had cause to rediscover the health and happiness benefits of getting to know—and be known by—my neighbors. Wow!

·        Sitting together in a driveway with our glasses of wine, watching the sunset.

·        Laughing together about past relationship “mistakes.”

·        Commiserating together over shared pains of our adult children.

·        Watering each other’s plants while on travel excursions.

With intentionality, I’m coming to look forward to growing old(er) alongside these good people who, like me, are choosing to come out from behind our previously closed doors! Howdy, Neighbor!