If you close your eyes and face north, you can almost imagine the crispness of fall blowing toward you, and that means the end of empty days with nothing much planned. So we have a slew of aging-related events coming up, and here's a sample of what's on my calendar.
Where and how to live
Beth Baker
A few months ago I wrote about journalist Beth Baker and her book, "With a Little Help from Our Friends: Creating Community as We Grow Older." Baker will visit Sarasota this month to take a look at how we age in our place, and will give a talk at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. The event is sponsored by Age-Friendly Sarasota, The Patterson Foundation and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. Admission is free at Selby Auditorium, on the university's North Trail campus, but you must register in advance.
Caring about caregiving
Hard to believe the annual Community Caregiving Forum is in its 15th year. This comprehensive program -- with respite care available so family caregivers can attend -- is presented by 10 agencies that collaborate in the aging space. On Friday, Nov. 6, local doctors Joelle Angsten and Kevin O'Neil will discuss "Engaging Your Physicians as Part of Your Team." And an expert panel will provide insights on Medicare, Medicaid, elder law, disability rights, guardianship and community resources.
The program at Sarasota Memorial Hospital's first-floor auditorium will run from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission is free, with continuing-education credits available for $20. To reserve your spot, call the Friendship Centers Caregiver Resource Center, 556-3268, by Oct. 28. To arrange respite care, call the Alzheimer's Association, 365-8883, by Oct. 23.
A better way to go
A year ago "60 Minutes" portrayed the experience of Philadelphia nurse Barbara Mancini, arrested after handing her father -- a hospice patient with a do-not-resuscitate order -- his prescribed bottle of morphine. She faced a possible 10 years in prison for "assisting a suicide." Her case dragged on for a year before a state judge dismissed the charges.
Now Mancini is an advocate for the right-to-die movement, speaking out for laws like the one just signed in California, that give citizens a little more latitude regarding their own mortality. The new Sarasota chapter of Compassion and Choices will present a talk by Mancini at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10. The event, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital's auditorium, is free; no reservations required.
Follow Barbara Peters Smith on Twitter @BarbaraPSmith.
