Grandparenting

“My husband accidentally shot me,” Hill, 75, of The Dalles, Ore., groaned on the May 16, 2015, call. “In the stomach, and he can’t talk, please …” Less than four feet away, Hill’s husband, Darrell Hill, a former local police chief and two-term county sheriff, sat in his wheelchair with a discharged Glock handgun on the table in front of him, unaware that he’d nearly killed his wife of almost 57 years. The 76-year-old lawman had been diagnosed two years earlier with a form of rapidly progressive dementia, a disease that quickly stripped him of reasoning and memory. “He didn’t understand,” said Dee, who needed 30 pints of blood, three surgeries and seven weeks in the hospital to survive her injuries. more »

A new report from the Innovation Group London and J. Walter Thompson explores the lifestyles and attitudes of British women aged between 53 and 72. Over two thirds (69%) of 'Elastic' women think the fashion industry ignores people their age while 82% think that the clothes that are aimed at them are “way too old-fashioned.” Elastic women are tired of negative stereotypes about them when it comes to technology: 73% say they hate the way their generation is patronised when it comes to tech while 78% express no desire to buy technology that is especially designed for older people. It’s time for brands to forget the digital myth – these women were there in tech’s infancy. more »

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The desperate sobbing of 10 Central American children, separated from their parents one day last week by immigration authorities at the border, makes for excruciating listening. Many of them sound like they’re crying so hard, they can barely breathe. They scream “Mami” and “Papá” over and over again, as if those are the only words they know. Then a distraught but determined 6-year-old Salvadoran girl pleads repeatedly for someone to call her aunt. Just one call, she begs anyone who will listen. She says she’s memorized the phone number, and at one point, rattles it off to a consular representative. “My mommy says that I’ll go with my aunt,” she whimpers, “and that she’ll come to pick me up there as quickly as possible.” more »