Keeping Your Identity While Caregiving, How a Daily Multivitamin May Support Healthy Aging, and Finding Financial Peace of Mind in Retirement

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Fiction: The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne – Born to an unwed mother in 1940s Ireland, a young man spends decades searching for identity, love, and belonging in a society shaped by prejudice and changing attitudes.

History (Non-Fiction): Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945–1975 by Max Hastings – This sweeping history examines three decades of conflict in Vietnam, revealing the political decisions, brutal battles, and devastating human consequences of the war.

Memoir: Tales of the Vegas by Vernon Reaser Jr. – A teenager manages his family's ranches along the Texas-Mexico border, facing unruly cattle, floods, and wild adventures while finishing high school.

Self-Help: The Confidence Code by Katty Kay and Claire Shipman – This insightful guide explores the science behind self-confidence, examining why women often struggle with self-doubt and how they can develop greater confidence in work and everyday life.

Romance: The Highwayman by Kerrigan Byrne – A notorious Victorian underworld figure reunites with the woman he loved as a child, drawing her into a dangerous world of secrets, revenge, and long-buried passion.

No matter where you are in the process—an idea, an outline, a rough draft, or an almost-finished manuscript—we can help you get your book across the finish line.

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Check a few boxes, and we’ll match you with trusted options and initial consultations—many completely free—across insurance, housing, travel, finances, and more. It takes about five minutes, and you’re not committing to anything—just seeing what can save you time and energy.

When someone you care about begins needing regular help, caregiving can gradually take up more and more of your schedule.

Appointments need arranging. Meals, medications, transportation, household tasks, and paperwork demand attention. Conversations eventually drift to how the person you're caring for is doing.

Without really noticing it happening, you can begin to feel as though you've become "the caregiver" rather than the person you were before.

Caregiving may be an important part of your life—but it doesn't have to become your entire identity.

Think about the activities and routines that have always made you feel like yourself.

It can be anything you enjoy. Perhaps it's meeting a friend for coffee, tending a garden, woodworking, singing in a choir, reading the newspaper over breakfast, attending a weekly class, or watching Saturday evening hockey.

When responsibilities increase, these can seem like the easiest things to give up. But giving them up means giving up a part of your life, perhaps even a part of who you are. Try to protect at least one or two whenever possible.

Even a shortened version counts. If you can't spend an afternoon gardening, just spend 20 minutes outside. If attending every book club meeting isn't realistic, go when you can rather than dropping out completely.

It's understandable when friends begin conversations with "How is everything going?" But every conversation doesn't need to revolve around caregiving.

Tell them about the movie you saw. Ask what's happening in their lives. Discuss the book you're reading or something funny that happened during the week.

You are still a friend, neighbor, sibling, colleague, volunteer, hobbyist, and many other things besides a caregiver. Those topics are just as valuable to talk about, especially when doing so can bring some relief from the stress of a demanding role.

Just as the person being cared for needs help, so does every caregiver. When someone offers practical assistance, consider whether accepting it could preserve something important in your own life.

An hour of help might allow you to attend your regular lunch, take a walk, visit the library, or simply sit somewhere quietly with a cup of coffee.

That time isn't frivolous. It's time spent remaining connected to yourself—and spent ensuring you have the energy to care for someone the best you can.

Caring deeply for another person and maintaining your own interests aren't competing priorities. Keeping pieces of your own life intact can help preserve a sense of continuity during a period when many other things may be changing.

We're looking for seniors who are embracing life with enthusiasm, purpose, and adventure. Whether you're traveling the world, starting a business, volunteering, pursuing a passion, learning new skills, or simply making the most of every day, we'd love to hear your story.

Think that might be you?

Email [email protected] with a photo and a short bio. We may feature you in an upcoming edition of Seniors Magazine.

Look at an old family photo and try to identify everyone. If you can't, ask someone who can.

The discount: T-Mobile

What it gives you: Customers 55+ can get two unlimited phone lines for just $30 per line per month on T-Mobile's Essentials Choice 55 plan, including access to the company's nationwide 5G network

How to claim it: Sign up online, by phone, or at a T-Mobile store and verify your age

Find more information here

“My Father’s Workbench”
From the life overview of David L., 78, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Shared with permission.

My father had a workbench in our basement, but I was never allowed to touch it.

It was a heavy wooden bench covered with tools, nails, screws, jars, and lots of things I couldn’t identify. My father could walk up to the bench looking for one particular screw and find it immediately.

When I was fourteen, I decided I was old enough to use it—even though my father hadn’t.

My bicycle had a loose chain, so I took it apart.

That was my first mistake.

Somehow, I managed to make the chain much worse.

My father came downstairs, looked at the bicycle, and asked what I had done.

When I explained it to him, he didn’t get angry. He just pulled up a stool and showed me how to fix it.

We spent about an hour working on the bicycle. He didn’t do it for me. Instead, he made me do each step myself, guiding me along the way.

Afterward, he put the tools back where they belonged.

From that point on, I made regular use of the workbench.

When he died, my mother asked whether I wanted anything from the basement.

I said, “The workbench.”

It’s sitting in my garage now.

The tools are still on it, although I’ve never been able to arrange them quite like my father did.

I suspect he would have noticed.

***

Want to preserve for future generations the stories, experiences, and wisdom that have shaped your life?
Have Your Life Overview Written

The Nostalgia Machine
Choose a year between 1950 and 2015 and take a musical trip back in time. This entertaining website brings together popular songs from your selected year, complete with music videos you can watch and listen to. It's a fun way to revisit the soundtrack of a particular summer, graduation, or memorable chapter of your life.

Rijksmuseum – Rijksstudio
Get creative with thousands of beautiful artworks from the Rijksmuseum's collection, including paintings, drawings, prints, and decorative objects. Zoom in to examine remarkable details, save your favorites, and create your own themed collections of images. You might build a gallery of floral paintings, historic fashions, or anything else that catches your eye.

Map Shows States Hit by Voice-Cloning Scams

This daily section is brought to you by MemoirGhostwriting.com, experts in capturing life stories for loved ones and/or the public.

Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts. Even a few sentences are a memory preserved for loved ones. Some people begin by writing on their own—or even using AI tools—but many eventually decide they’d rather simply talk and have their story shaped into something lasting. That’s where we come in.

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There's something wonderfully satisfying about watching a thousand scattered pieces gradually become a complete picture. A 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle offers just the right combination of challenge, patience, and accomplishment—and it's a project you can enjoy over several days or weeks.

Whether you're an experienced puzzler or ready to tackle your first large puzzle, a little strategy can make the experience even more rewarding.

Not all 1,000-piece puzzles are equally difficult. Images with distinct colors, recognizable objects, and varied patterns are generally easier to assemble than large areas of sky, water, or similarly colored scenery.

For a first challenge, choose a picture that genuinely interests you. Ravensburger's 1,000-piece puzzles include landscapes, artwork, architecture, and colorful illustrations.

You might also explore White Mountain Puzzles, known for nostalgic collages, vintage advertisements, and Americana-themed designs.

Choose a table where your puzzle can remain undisturbed. Check the finished dimensions on the box before beginning, and leave extra room for sorting pieces.

Puzzle sorting trays can help organize colors and patterns. If you need to reclaim your table between sessions, a puzzle mat lets you roll up an unfinished puzzle for storage.

Good lighting makes it easier to distinguish subtle differences in color and detail.

Begin by turning all the pieces faceup and separating the straight-edged pieces from the rest. Assemble the border first if that's your preferred method, then group remaining pieces by color, texture, or recognizable features.

Rather than working across the entire puzzle at once, complete smaller sections and gradually connect them.

When colors become difficult to distinguish, pay attention to the shapes of the pieces and the arrangement of their tabs and blanks.

A large puzzle can become a fun group activity. Invite friends or family members to work on different sections, or establish a weekly puzzle afternoon.

For something different, try a custom photo puzzle, using a favorite family photograph, vacation scene, or meaningful place.

Once you've finished, photograph the completed puzzle before taking it apart. You can also trade puzzles with friends or donate them for someone else to enjoy.

The real pleasure of a 1,000-piece challenge isn't how quickly you finish. It's the gradual progress, the small discoveries, and that final moment when the last piece clicks into place.

Listening to a lengthy podcast or audiobook over several days? Most listening apps automatically remember where you stopped, but a few simple habits can make it easier to return to the right spot.

Apps such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, and Libby generally save your listening position automatically. When you reopen an episode or audiobook, you can usually resume where you left off.

For extra convenience, look for a bookmark or clip feature. Audible, for example, lets you save specific moments and add notes, making it easier to revisit an interesting passage.

If you're switching between devices, make sure you're signed into the same account and that listening progress has synchronized.

Before closing an app, tap Pause rather than dragging the playback bar to the beginning. If you're listening while falling asleep, use a sleep timer to stop playback automatically after a set period.

Many apps also offer 15- or 30-second rewind buttons, which are useful when you need to hear something again.

If your progress disappears, check your listening history or library before restarting the entire recording. Your saved position may still be available.

Today: Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cape Cod offers classic New England villages, beaches, lighthouses, seafood restaurants, and miles of coastline. Each part of the Cape has its own personality, making it worth more than a quick overnight stop.

Ingrid’s Tip: If your schedule allows, visit outside the busiest summer weeks. Late spring and early fall can offer a quieter experience while still giving you plenty to see and do.

Unscramble the letters to find a famous person, event, or object. Think you know it? Reply with your answer and show off your brainpower.

Today’s clue: Sit-on spinning toy that children turned using a center wheel.

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