[Nfb-seniors] NFBN Senior Division December Phone Meeting - Guests are Welcome - Philosophical discussion and planning

Sun Dec 9 13:53:03 UTC 2018

Hi you all

RE: Our meeting for December is Tomorrow, Monday the 10th!

Non-members are welcome

Contents of this message:

*When and how to get on the call

*Agenda 

*The NFB Pledge 

*Story to be discussed

*Treasurer’s report still coming. Minutes from last meeting: Pasted in below

*#1 When and How to Get On the Call:

Date: December 10th

Time: 5:00 Pacific; 6:00 Mountain; 7:00 Central; 8:00 Eastern 

Phone: 1-712-451-0011

Access Code: 345154Pound

*#2 Agenda:

-First- Come to order, introductions, say our NFB pledge (Barbara will
present)

Note: Barbara Loos will chair the meeting, Robert will be absent.

-Second- Secretary & Treasurers Reports Will be given

--OLD BUSINESS: 

-Membership- do make calls to past members who have not joined us during
recent meetings. And/or think of someone new to call and invite to join us
for this or next month’s meeting.

-Any other old business you may bring

--NEW BUSINESS:

-Discuss how we go about carrying out the Division’s convention commitment
to contact local retirement facilities’ (Nursing homes, senior meal sites,
local churches) looking for seniors who could benefit by joining us on our
monthly calls!

Part of this discussion will be a philosophical discussion lead by Barbara
Loos. She will read one of Robert’s Thought Provokers which has a topic of a
senior who, with her oncoming blindness, is struggling to maintain her
independence. (The Thought Provoker is pasted in below; read it before the
meeting.)

-Brain storm on new topics for the upcoming year’s monthly meetings.

-Anything you may bring 

--Finally- Brags & Drags

**Short Story that Barbara will read at the meeting:

THOUGHT PROVOKER 68

To Our Mother

      “She’s nearly blind and it’s time we acted and put her in a place
where her safety and needs will be taken care of.” said the older son to the
group of his siblings and other family members who were gathered in a family
counsel. "We've all worked together to help her but this is beyond what we
can do, isn't it?" 

     The wife of the older son spoke next. “Over the past couple of months
Mother has really gone downhill in what she can see and do. It’s really
scary. Why, when I came over yesterday to bring her some frozen meals I made
for her, the kitchen was really a mess. There were dirty dishes in the sink
that I think she had tried to wash, but didn’t really get them clean. There
were puddles of coffee on the counters, with electric cords trailing through
them. There were scraps of food and trash on the floor. I mean, really, you
could tell she had tried to sweep it up....but really....” 

     A granddaughter broke in next. “Oh, guys, when I came over last week to
take Grams to her hair appointment, I found her front door open! And she
didn’t seem to be aware of it!” 

     “Well what I noticed quite a ways back,” spoke up the youngest son,
“was how timid she was getting when moving about outside her own place. I
could tell she wasn’t seeing all that was coming up ahead of her. And if the
lighting wasn’t just perfect, she’d want to hold my hand, which was alright,
but man!

We’d not want her, at her age to fall and break a hip.” 

     Another granddaughter spoke up. “Of course, from quite a ways back,
remember when we all noticed Gram’s problem in seeing small things? Like she
couldn’t do our mending she had loved doing for years because she couldn’t
any longer thread a needle. and, then it was she couldn’t read her TV guide,
then some

of her mail or dial the phone....” 

     The youngest daughter spoke next. “But what really got her was her
friends! She wasn’t recognizing some of them when she was out. Then some of
them stopped calling her to go places and it really broke her heart when her
bridge club stopped inviting her.” 

     “I know.” said the oldest daughter, “She said she didn’t care, that she
needed to slow down. This is a woman who has always been active and I think
is still sharp! But I think all this is impacting her mental health.” 

     “Okay then." The older son took charge again, “Are we in agreement that
something major has to happen?" 

**Minutes from December:

NATIONAL FEDERATION Of THE BLIND OF NEBRASKA SENIOR DIVISION MEETING MINUTES

Monday, November 12, 2018

The NFBN Senior Division met by telephone conference Monday, November 12,
2018. President Robert Newman called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM CST.
Members present were: President Robert Newman, Vice President Barbara Loos,
Secretary Linda Mentink, Treasurer Cheryl Livingston, Board Member Nancy
Oltman, Chris Boone, Gina Finnell, Walt Hively, Geralyn Konruff, Brad Loos,
Steve Senteney, and Jerry Whitlow. Guests present were: Della Johnston and
Michael Jones from Nebraska, Wanda Taylor from Virginia and Gary Wunder from
Missouri.

Cheryl recited the NFB Pledge. Barbara will recite it next month.

Gary Wunder, editor of the Braille Monitor, was our guest speaker. He joined
the NFB when he was 16, and immediately started reading the Braille Monitor.
It is available in Braille, print, and audio on a flash drive, sent through
the mail; as an HTML document, audio file, Word document, and podcast from
the web; and through NFB Connect and Newsline. The most important role of
the Braille Monitor is to tell people what is going on in the field of
blindness, and even more specifically, in our organization. He mentioned the
many topics covered in this publication. The Braille Monitor is really the
vehicle which gives us the ability to delve into issues in depth. Anyone who
wants to begin receiving the Braille Monitor, can either send an email to
publications at nfb.org, give him their contact information and other things at
the end of the call, or give that information to Robert, and he can give it
to Gary. He encouraged us to write contributions. He'd like to hear more
from seniors about what it means to be a blind senior. Answers to questions
included: He prefers articles in Microsoft Word, but will take them in any
format. If we want it in a certain issue, he'd like it six weeks before. He
will edit where needed. There is no minimum or maximum length. Affiliates
are asked, in alphabetical order, to submit three to six recipes. Chapters
and divisions are welcome to submit them as well. Each submitter is asked to
give a few lines about who they are and why the recipe is special to them.
Some questions and answers sparked philosophical discussions.

Linda read the October meeting minutes. Chris moved, Jerry seconded, that we
approve the minutes as read. The motion carried.

Cheryl read the Treasurer's report as follows:

Treasurer's Report-Senior Division

November 12, 2018

Beginning Balance October 8 $1344.32

Expenses

PAC plan for November $ 15.00

Ck #1233 to Robert Newman

Reimbursement for clickers $ 19.95

Ck#1234 to NFBN 

½ hotel for Senior Scholarship $149.93

Total Expenses $184.88 

Deposits

Dues $140.00

Sale of clickers $ 48.00

Sale of 3 clickers & donation $ 20.00

Total deposits $208.00 

Ending Balance November 12, 2018 $1367.44

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Livingston, Treasurer

Chris moved acceptance of the Treasurer's report as given. Barbara and Nancy
seconded, and the motion carried.

Robert mentioned the need for letters asking the State Legislature for
$500,000 for the Nebraska Commission to fund the Independent Living Older
Blind Program for the next year. Jerry said they don't even have money for
the FYI Program, which helped her. If we write a letter, we should send a
copy to the office which served us and also to our State Senator. The
salutation should say something like "To Whom It May Concern," and should
not be dated. Someone from this division could go to testify, probably in
late February or early March. We will talk about this again later.

Linda mentioned that we should start reminding people to pay their 2019
membership dues.

BRAGS AND DRAGS. Linda has Bronchitis.

Brad and Barbara went to Baltimore last week, and saw the Newseum.

Chris said that her kids got to know, talk to and hear stories from a
98-year-old World War I Veteran when they lived in Pennsylvania. She
mentioned this in honor of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day.

We wished each other Happy Thanksgiving, and adjourned at 8:35 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Linda Mentink, Secretary