Much to Celebrate – National Seniors’ Day, 2021
Today is National Seniors’ Day – an opportunity to celebrate the older members of our various communities. For all of us, it will have a different meaning. Speaking personally, I have reflected on the gratitude I feel for my parents and other older family members, all of whom showed me the power of love, compassion and respect. For others it may be a mentor whose wisdom shone brightly through a difficult time, or the bravery assumed by our veterans whose service on our behalf helped to secure our world and the opportunities we have been blessed with. It might be a teacher who inspired our intellectual curiosity, or a nurse who bandaged our wounds or tended to us in illness. Perhaps it was no-one in particular – just an overarching sense that the paths which the elderly once tread have made our own journeys easier.
Today we acknowledge the brilliant stories of the generations who came before us. We honour their lives and pause to regard each and every senior as the product of a diverse and rich personal history. This year, National Seniors’ Day comes at a delicate time. While we seem to be slowly and steadily breaking free from the pandemic nightmare that has turned our world upside down, we cannot forget how our seniors bore the brunt of COVID-19’s lethal wrath. The many failings embedded in our health, social and long-term care structures have been laid bare. And we must act to improve those shortcomings. That imperative is absolute. We must also view this year’s National Seniors’ Day through the lens of indigenous peoples, whose difficult history was honoured yesterday during the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Indigenous seniors across Canada wear unimaginable scars from wounds (both physical and otherwise) suffered in the wake of the residential school system and other destructive policies and initiatives. Out of respect, we must listen to their stories. And out of necessity, we must do better.
However you choose to pay tribute to the seniors in your life, rest assured that your interest in, and love for, them will be met with deep gratitude.
Happy National Seniors’ Day,
Amy Lewtas, Founder, RetroSparX
New to RetroSparX
We are pleased to announce the following new RetroSparX memory game units which have recently been released and can be found on our website (www.retrosparx.com). We invite you to delve into the topics and tackle the memory games for seniors that comprise each unit. And we wish you happy reminiscing while you recall, relive and revel in these moments.
Revel in the Arrival of the Mini Skirt
Remember the first time you saw a young lady strutting down the street in a mini-skirt? You may have thought it scandalous. But you may have also understood that it symbolized a changing narrative for women, one that was more confident and daring. Read about the over-sized impact of an admittedly under-sized garment!
Included memory games for seniors
- In Chic Criss-Chic Cross, Complete a crossword and rediscover many of the iconic fashion trends and designers of the 20th century
- Unscramble letters in Sounds of Style to find the word that completes two distinct (and equally stylin’!) words or phrases.
Revel in the Woodstock Festival, 1969
When a half million young people converged on a farmer’s field in New York State to attend the Woodstock music festival, they brought with them the voice of an entire generation bent on rebelling against the status quo. Read about this extraordinary three-day celebration of love, music, protest and hedonism.
Included memory games for seniors
- In Woodstock Rockers, unscramble letters to complete the names of many of Woodstock’s performers. Then rearrange those letters to discover some of the famous musicians who declined the offer to perform.
- Weave together syllables in All Things Groovy to rediscover a variety of 3-syllable words, titles and phrases associated with the counterculture movement that fuelled Woodstock.
Relive the Release of The Joy of Sex
The Joy of Sex was a cultural game-changer – a how-to guide that brought conversations about sexuality and sexual health out into the open with its audacious text and graphic drawings. Very much a product of the free-love movement that blossomed through the 60s and 70s, it became an instant sensation that has endured for decades.
Included memory games for seniors
- Find the missing letter to complete the titles to some of the more controversial books ever published in Racy Reads. In the process another 1970s resource about intimacy will be revealed.
- In The Joy of Words, unscramble letters to come up with words that contain either the letters J, O, Y or S, E, X.
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