Yvonne and Paul: A Love Story Made for the Movies

Sunny View Residents: Paul and Yvonne

In the 1950s Paul Hardman was living in Alabama, working as an aerospace engineer when he had a chance encounter that would change his life. While watching the 1956 musical Glory at the local drive-in, a lovely young woman captured his eye. Unfortunately, she was not a fellow movie goer – but rather a dazzling vision appearing on the silver screen itself. “I need to meet a girl like THAT,” Paul thought.

The girl in question was up and coming actress, Yvonne Ginest. 

Soon after her movie debut, Yvonne was admitted to the hospital for polio. She survived, but recovery was slow and her career was put on hold. Rather than return to acting, she decided to turn her attention to helping others suffering from the debilitating disease. She began working for the March of Dimes Telethon (a leader in funding polio research and treatment at the time) where she met some of the biggest names in music, including Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald.

Meanwhile, Paul’s career brought him to California. “I had just moved into my new apartment when I stumbled upon this lovely young woman in the courtyard. She seemed so familiar,” he said. He attempted to start a conversation but the woman had terrible laryngitis and could barely utter a word. “I ran back to my apartment, grabbed a pad of paper and a pen for her to write on and asked her for her name.” The young woman wrote her name down and handed him back the pad: Yvonne Ginest. Suddenly, it all came together. Paul had stumbled upon his movie star. Three weeks later he proposed. 

Fifty years later Paul and Yvonne moved to Sunny View after having their “eye on the place for years.” They loved the feeling of being close to nature as well as the friendliness of the residents and staff. “The settled us right in. The staff were just so wonderful.”

Paul and Yvonne continue their love story at Sunny View!

The Invisibility of Being Old, Disabled or Both

Credit: Adobe Stock 

An 82-year-old woman with post-polio syndrome feels erased from society

By Grace Birnstengel for Next Avenue 

When you’re an older person in a wheelchair or walking with a cane, people treat you differently. Sure, some might be quicker to open doors for you, but most of the behavioral reactions aren’t positive ones. The combination of being old and disabled causes what many refer to as “invisibility.” 

Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, explored this idea in a recent column through the lens of 82-year-old Nancy Root, a woman with post-polio syndrome Bruni met while giving a lecture on a cruise. Root taught Bruni how it felt to be seen as invisible because of her age and perceived ability. 

“People looked over her, around her, through her. They withdrew,” Bruni wrote. 

An Intersection of -Isms 

The concept of invisible older people — specifically older women — is not new. Novelist and screenwriter Ayelet Waldman discussed with us the invisibility of turning 50 as a woman. 

“I had no idea that as soon as I got to his age, to be a 50-year-old woman, the sexism gets completely complicated by this idea that not only are you incompetent as a woman, but you’re incompetent because you’ve reached your senescence! Or something,” Waldman told Next Avenue. “I really do feel like they don’t even see you.” 

The intersection of ageism and sexism provides a uniquely taxing form of oppression. Add a layer of ableism to that and you start to see exactly what Root describes experiencing.

Edited Out 

Root had polio as a 2-year-old in the late 1930s; now, post-polio syndrome — which many childhood survivors of the disease develop — degrades her muscles, forcing her to use a cane and a wheelchair. As she’s aged and the condition has worsened, Root has noticed that people no longer look at her the same. Instead, she’s erased. 

“Doctors’ offices are the worst,” she told Bruni, recalling how people won’t address her directly, but rather speak to whoever is pushing her wheelchair. “I’m not acknowledged. ‘Does this lady have an appointment?’ ‘Does this lady have her medical card?’ They don’t allow this lady to have a brain.” 

And it’s not just at doctors’ offices. This extends to nearly every situation — movie theaters, flights, grocery stores, you name it. 

“They make dismissive assumptions about people above a certain age or below a certain level of physical competence,” Bruni’s column said. “Or they simply edit those people out of the frame.” 

Root told Bruni she thinks strangers worry that she’ll need something from them, or perhaps they see their fears about being older manifested in her and can’t bare to face them.

Regardless of the root cause of how we see older, disabled people as “other” or less than, Root’s experience is the reality for countless older, disabled adults. 

Harkening back to 2016 Influencer in Aging E. Percil Stanford’s story advocating for the humanization and value of older people, we as a society must do “everything possible to embrace the inclusion of older people in every aspect of life.” 

Only then will people like Nancy Root start to see change.

© Twin Cities Public Television - 2018. All rights reserved.

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Learning to Swim at 80

Credit: Getty Images

Tackling a lifelong to-do can be really enjoyable

By Louise Jackson for Next Avenue

Every Thursday night, I drive to the gym, wriggle into a swimsuit that does nothing to hide my bulging belly or my wrinkled, sagging underarms, put on swim goggles that make me look a bit like someone from outer space, grab my cane to help keep my balance while walking from the dressing room into the pool area and slowly ease down the steps into water smelling of chlorine.

I’m 80 years old and taking a swim class for the first time in my life.

How Do You Go Eight Decades Without Learning to Swim?

You’d think, given the description of my general appearance in one of today’s swimsuits, I’d be embarrassed to be seen at the pool. And I did think about that beforehand, but I looked around the women’s dressing room one day and realized I was in good company. People’s bodies come in all sizes and shapes and using my appearance as an excuse for opting out of an activity I really wanted to try seemed self-defeating. So, in spite of my misgivings, I paid the class fee.

If you grew up near a lake or a town with a swimming pool, or your parents swam, it may surprise you to learn I’ve never taken swimming lessons. But I grew up on a small ranch in Central Texas during an extreme, extended drought and all the swimming holes became wading pools.

Further, the cause of polio was yet unknown. We looked with fear at Life magazine photos showing long rows of children in iron lungs, unable to breathe on their own. The media warned parents about exposing their children to large groups in strange situations. Driving 20 miles each way, just so a child could learn to swim, was never even considered.

Better Late Than Never

After I became an adult, I watched with envy as others swam. I eventually taught myself to float and even to swim, after a fashion, but always wanted to do more, to be better. Finally, when my gym decided to offer adult swim lessons, I reminded myself of the old adage, “Better late than never,” and have just completed half the eight-week course.

To my surprise, even though I’m the oldest person in the class, I haven’t felt the least bit awkward and I’m doing pretty well in spite of some breathlessness due to A-fib. Everyone else has to struggle, too. We’re there because we want to learn to swim or swim more skillfully. It’s a new and demanding experience for each of us.

I’ve made friends with all sorts of people — young men who grew up in deserts, moms who want to swim with their children and a few younger seniors who, like me, hope to stay healthy as long as possible. One young woman even told me, “I want to be like you when I grow up!” (I think several bulges may have shrunk a bit on hearing those words!)

Feeling Sore — But It’s Worth It

One caveat if you’re thinking of following my lead: You may feel stiff and sore after the first several classes. That could be true even if, like me, you’re no stranger to gentle exercising like walking or Tai chi. Swimming demands the use of muscles in totally different ways.

Still, take heart. The aches don’t last and each session feels less demanding, as you build endurance.

For me, the water is no longer an awkward environment. My balance, slightly impaired by a small stroke, isn’t a problem in the pool. I look forward to learning new skills and getting better at the ones I’ve already learned.

Last week, we began the breast stroke. It used my leg muscles in different ways than the freestyle, and I’m stiff again. But that’s OK. It feels good to think I’m getting stronger and more supple with each new activity.

I figure, if you’re lucky, you get older. But aging doesn’t mean you should stop learning and staying in shape. Swimming is fun! I’ve already signed up for another eight lessons, beginning in the new year. It’s my Christmas present to myself.



© Twin Cities Public Television - 2016. All rights reserved.



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