It cannot be said too many times. If you want to be happy as you enter the home stretch, follow this two-step process.
1. Let go of ‘what was’ and make a realistic appraisal of ‘what is.’
2. Build your future around the good stuff that shows up in your assessment.

There is danger in reliving your life out of a faded photo album. Your memory of being prom king (“got more votes than the all-state quarterback!”) is a quaint story for two martinis into cocktail hour, slushy relived but not to be revived. A future relying on an idealized version of the past is vanity; not useful.

Being a ‘senior citizen’ is not tantamount to an orthopedic shoe with a worn out heel. Being retired does not have to morph into one long nap; harboring energy does not equate to becoming ineffective and irrelevant. It is a reminder to use it wisely, doing what it takes to stay in the mainstream, because the alternative is not an acceptable option.

Yes, you are getting older, but you do not have to die before your time is up. Facts are, only seven percent of men and women in their seventies and eighties need help with personal care. As for the incapacitation that we dread, typically it comes, if at all, in the last three months of our lives. And even then, mental clarity is likely to remain to the end.

Yes, the transition to senior citizen is difficult, particularly in an era when technology reigns supreme. But the discontent and unhappiness we suffer does not occur because grasping technology can be problematic, it’s a result of the false premise that the full experience of being alive is lost as we age.

This is the existential moment! Literally, the crossroads where one road leads to a life fully alive and the other leads to a slow decline in the quality of your life.

Thankfully, inside each of us is a personal GPS that lets us know where we are and how to get to where we want to go.

No matter your circumstance, do not lose touch with the world at large. Force yourself if necessary, to stay engaged; above all else, do not become isolated. It can be frightening to reach out for companionship but think of the effort as an opportunity for a new experience that can lead to an exciting adventure.

Share your feelings. Sharing is a way to identify ourselves, both the grief we endure and the joy we celebrate. When we share our stories, we find common ground, and a community is formed. The group dynamic is mysterious and miraculous, forming a bond among the participants no matter how dissimilar they are.

If embarrassment lurks as a residual of a long ago event, it’s time to jettison the shame. Shame is an impostor, it’s not ‘you,’ but rather a feeling we have about ourselves, a belief stored deep inside us that says we are inadequate or defective. Shame is an implant. You’re not born with it. It starts when you’re young, burned into your psyche by a sense that you didn’t live up to parental expectations. Shame wields its power when you tamp it down and ignore its existence. Expose it to the light, and it becomes a vampire at high noon.

Create and commit to a purpose that pops you out of bed in the morning. If unsure of what yours might be, here are some ideas. Be of selfless service to others less fortunate than you. Focus on people rather than things. You don’t have to duplicate Mother Teresa, but even a couple of hours each week reading at a hospice, teaching kids from under-served schools to sharpen their reading skills, coaching a Little League team will be incredibly rewarding.

Old age can be a blessing when you regard each added year as bonus time to fulfill your human potential and your life’s purpose and to make a difference in the world.

The injustices that continue to take place in our Black communities runs deeper than police brutality. It’s also has been identified in Healthcare industries all over the world which is why, Three Chicago nurses have begun an initiative called “Black Nurses Matter”.

Their mission is to continue in the fight of eliminating  and mitigating the impact of systematic racism across the healthcare spectrum. They believe that fighting against these systems of racism and bias will inevitably improve the health of melanated communities that are disproportionately impacted by health disparities. They plan to empower Black nurses to lead the charge in this fight through the following:

Patient Advocacy – Empowering Black nurses to render excellent unbiased care and counsel to Black people regardless of age, gender, or ability.

Active and Passive Protest – Empowering Black nurses to use their voices and actions to dismantle white supremacy racial prejudice/partiality in practice, research, and policy to ensure the health and well-being of the Black community.

 Networking and Mentorship – Empowering Black nurses to connect and have safe spaces to ensure that nurses and future nurses can express their creativity, edify their minds and receive self sought out guidance as needed

On August 29th, 2020, founders Dr Alysha Hart , Erika Spencer, and Ebony Shene’ will be leading a peaceful march in Washington, D.C. at the Black Lives Matter Plaza. The march, a suggestion by member Shonnita Lanier, will be a protest of racist systems that lead to and perpetuate health disparities disproportionately affecting people of color across the United States. In the tradition of the civil rights movement, they want to organize and mobilize the nursing community to be active in the pursuit of high-quality healthcare and social justice.

To Register for the March and learn more visit their website http://Www.blacknursesmatter.org 

You may also call 773-706-5363) or email ([email protected]).

Get Social 

Facebook: @BlackNursesMatter

IG: @blknursesmatter

We’re  in Phase 4 of reopening, now, and there’s more  traffic along Roosevelt Road. A long way from everything being shut down,  except for essential things– like  mail service, auto mechanics, gas stations, grocery stores and drugstores.

The Turano Bakery along Roosevelt Road kept working, bread trucks traveling east and west, making deliveries.

At the height of the shutdown, there was almost no car traffic along Roosevelt Road.  There were a few busses.  I saw vans for plumbers, roofers  and carpenters. There were semis making deliveries to Walgreens. I called it Apocalypse Road, and it was eerie to walk past the closed-up storefronts, the begonias wilting in the barber shop windows.

Now, the barber shops are re-opening, masks and appointments required, but the signs on the doors are encouraging.

The vintage shop has special hours. How  many times on my way to the Jewel did I stop to marvel at the things behind the glass?

The locksmith, too is open– by appointment only, but open for business.

People are walking into the bank again.

Dunkin Donuts is still dark inside, but the drive-thru is a line of traffic. Will people sit outside on the picnic tables again?

Across  Roosevelt Road, the tables are set up for outdoor dining at Fitzgerald’s.  There will be music there again.

And people are lining up for Gina’s Italian Ice!  Everyone careful to keep distance and wearing masks.  This is summer 2020. A young guy passes me on roller skates, wearing baggy cargo shorts and a mask,  eyes on his phone.

The Jewel still has special hours for Seniors on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are still one-way signs and masks required, but today there are cucumbers!  And watermelon!  Coffee on sale!  Masks and baggy shorts are the summer style, although here in south Oak Park, I see some women are wearing breezy summer dresses.  Oh, don’t they look cool!

If the Salvation Army store along Roosevelt Road was open again, maybe I would go there, and look for a summer dress, or a big man’s shirt like I do every summer.  But that Salvation Army store  is closed, and gone for good.

Some things won’t be coming back.

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On Tuesday I posted my usual monthly Chicago real estate market update which showed just how hard June home sales were hit by the Covid-19 pandemic – down 27.4% from last year. But take a close look at the second graph in that update which shows contract activity, a leading indicator of home sales. It’s way higher than normal for a June and it looks more like a March or April based on previous years. If we don’t believe that people permanently cancelled their plans to move because of a little ole potentially lethal virus then it’s quite possible that demand this year simply got shifted out by 2 – 3 months. Let’s look at a few other metrics that might shed some additional light on this subject.

For instance, check out Illinois showing activity so far this year compared to last year. You can see how it died off as people started sheltering in place but then has gradually come back since. Lately we have been running ahead of this same time last year. The July 4 weekend sorta messed up the comparison because showings dropped of for the holiday but before that weekend there was no sign of last year’s seasonal dropoff. I’m betting it won’t happen for a while longer this year. The graph really does look like it’s shifted to the right.

Although showing activity got decimated during stay-at-home orders it’s come back strong and is now exceeding last year’s levels.

I also looked at new listing activity but won’t bother to show you the graph because it’s not that interesting. We all know that there has been a real shortage of new listings through this pandemic but I’m not seeing any evidence of them coming back like showing activity or contracts. In fact, June new listings were essentially flat to last year. But single family homes and condos/ townhomes are two separate markets. Most recently we’re seeing a significant increase in new listings for condos over last year but those are being entirely offset by a decline in single family home listings.

As I’ve been saying…it’s a very strange market lately and, for the time being, it’s favoring home sellers.

#RealEstate #ChicagoRealEstate #Coronavirus

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

“It’s an interesting time. We sure hope so is the best answer. All of us are working very hard and trying very hard to plan for a football season this fall. Obviously, everyone in Division I football wants there to be a football season coming up here in a month plus, but we need to make sure we do it in a safe and prudent way. I wish I had a more definitive answer, but we’re spending all of our time planning as if there will be a football season.”

–Beth DeBauche, Division I Collegiate Commissioner’s Association President, on whether there will be college football in the fall

In a time of so many unknowns,  Ohio Valley Conference Commissioner Beth DeBauche discussed what is known as her league prepares for what she hopes is the league’s 73rd season of collegiate football.

“What we know is that there is a sure, clear intention for the vast majority of us to have the fall [season] and we’re trying to work together,” DeBauche told Prairie State Pigskin Wednesday afternoon. “We know that things will look very different; that’s the known that we have. It’s going to look very different in terms of structure.”

DeBauche, who has been OVC commissioner since 2009, elaborated on what that structure would look like.

“There will be absolute safety precautions that are there from a COVID standpoint that have never been part of the game before,” she said. “Those standards are based on the medical evidence and the scientific evidence available at that time, but if we had to play today we know that masking or face-covering is going to be a portion of the game. We’ll see coaches and student-athletes on the sidelines, and others on the sidelines, all with masks on. We’ll see sidelines that look different because there’s every indication that there will be a spread of the team area; the box will be made bigger to allow for social distancing.

“And some of the fanfare that’s associated with football will be provided in very different ways. The turf and field areas will just become much more pure screened areas. Those involved will be few; they’ll be essential to the playing of the game.”

The OVC began playing football in 1948. Eastern Illinois joined the conference in 1996. The Panthers have won seven OVC titles, the last coming in 2013.

Ongoing discussions

In addition to being the OVC commissioner, DeBauche serves as the President of the Division I Collegiate Commissioner’s Association (CCA). Thus, she organizes and leads regular meetings with all Division I conference commissioners at an irregular time in history. Those meetings are being held virtually.

“What’s been interesting about navigating this pandemic situation from an athletic administration standpoint, separate from all the big social issues associated with it, are how as a group of commissioners, we have really worked together and come together in ways that really demonstrate how much all of college athletics means to us,” DeBauche said. “We are meeting as a group of 32 multiple times a week to talk. All of the subdivision commissioner groups are meeting again multiple times a week to talk through issues.

Beth DeBauche

“Not that we won’t advise our presidents and chancellors independently, but to make sure that we’re seeing issues the same way. This is new for everybody. We’re trying to help one another through this process, so certainly the information that we’re getting and sharing with one another about the structure of sport will influence.”

The committees have sought information from a variety of sources.

“Our institutions all have worked already to produce their own campus policies working with local and state health advisors,” DeBauche said. “From a national perspective, Dr. Brian Hainline, who is the chief medical officer for the NCAA, has been absolutely tremendous with us in terms of sharing the latest information that’s available through the Sport Science Institute [founded in 2013] and making himself so remarkably available for the conferences to help work through and talk through some issues as we think through what plans should look like.

“Certainly, there will be the local influence, there will be university influence. We as a conference relying on one another and working with the NCAA to bring the best information that we have available to use to ultimately guide the decisions.”

Deadline timelines?

On Wednesday, the Ivy League became the first Division I conference to cancel all fall sports. DeBauche was asked if the Ivy League decision will have a domino effect or whether conferences and universities will make their decisions independently.

“It needs to be a little bit of both,” DeBauche said. “Over the years Division I has definitely morphed from being more presidentially led from top to bottom than it was back in the day. With that, the presidents and chancellors are going to make the best decisions for their leagues and for what they need to do for the communities or cities that they serve. While commissioners will advise and provide recommendations, it will ultimately be the decisions of university chancellors and presidents, by and large.

“So, while they’ll watch what’s going on nationally . . . What’s probably more likely is with certain regions of the country making decisions that look similar in nature because of how the pandemic has evolved, slightly different decisions [will be made]. We’ll watch what’s going on, but more importantly we’ll talk to one another so we know already what we anticipate is going to go on and that will be part of what informs our decision making. I don’t think it’s just going to be this shoe drops and the rest of us will follow.”

‘We are a bus league’

Ohio Valley Conference football covers five states — Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. 

The Ohio Valley Conference has played football since 1948.

“The good thing about the OVC is that we are a presidents’ league,” DeBauache said. “Not all leagues are driven by the presidents; some leagues are more AD-centric, some leagues are more faculty-athletic representative centric. The Ohio Valley Conference has long been a presidentially led league, so certainly our presidents will make those decisions when the ultimate time comes.

“Relative to this pandemic situation, we are more blessed than a lot of conferences with our geographic footprint in that predominantly we are a bus league. For the vast majority of our conference games in every sport, teams rely on bus transportation. There are a few exceptions to that. As we look to the year ahead, again it will look different. We will try to schedule where possible game times and travel that keeps students and teams closer to home and/or when possible shorter days out of the road. All of us take a bit of solace in the fact that as a bus league we have a bit more freedom than conferences where they rely on, in large measure, air travel.”

Is a decision forthcoming?

So when will a decision will be made regarding OVC football?

“You have to spite your inclination to say that we need to make decisions now,” DeBauche said. “I think everybody, to be fair to student-athletes and coaches and programs, would like to make decisions sooner rather than later. The more time we can build out, the more informed we’ll be about the COVID-19 virus and what avenues and such are available to us.

“We’re certainly wanting to push it out if we can in making those decisions. We will gauge off what we see nationally, working with other conferences, and from what we’re hearing from the NCAA as well. While certainly not definitive as a point of a final decision, I can share with you that we have a presidents’ meeting arranged for the absolute end of July to continue discussions on issues.”

Plans for play

If the OVC moves forward to play this fall, what models could or would the league follow?

“To be fair, right now any concept could be considered. We all want to plan and we factor certain models. We are clearly focusing right now on what a traditional football season and schedule looks like,” DeBauche said. “Our membership, just based on surveys from the presidents’ level on down, was asked the question if not all teams could play, would we consider a model where certain teams played and certain teams didn’t and came and went. And at that point in time when they took the survey, the membership all agreed that the focus of this season should really be on making sure that we provide, if possible, student-athletes an ability to play. And so it would be okay [to play a revamped conference schedule] than it had in other years.

Will the OVC begin its 73rd football season this fall?

“Now, there are a lot of details that need to be worked out with something like that in terms of access, but if you think of a sport other than football where you have a championship, you want to create a model where it’s fair for teams that would not qualify for a conference championship. So maybe some schools play part of a season and they’re not necessarily eligible for a championship and others are able to play a complete season and they can compete in a championship. [To consider] that lens, there are a couple priorities that are really driving discussions and decisions. The first is figuring out how to do this in a way that we can feel confident that our student-athletes feel safe and protected and are participants. Assuming that all that is in place, just making sure if we can do that, there are opportunities for the student-athletes to be able to compete because we know that they love competition. So that’s more important than competitive equity issues which drive some of our decisions in a typical year.”

Testing tribulations

Daily sports reports focus as much on COVID-19 testing as it does on Xs and Os or player profiles. Questions abound on numerous aspects of that testing; however, for schools such as FCS members like Eastern Illinois, the costs have to be taken into account.

A recent Washington Post story stated, “Weekly testing at current prices, which range from $40 to $240 per test, would be cost-prohibitive even for some Division I schools that play in the less lucrative Football Championship Subdivision.”

Moreover, the story said FCS member Tennessee Chattanooga athletic director Mark Wharton declared the price for coronavirus tests would need to drop from the $65 he was recently quoted to about $8 for his department to be able to afford to test all athletes weekly.

“I just don’t see how that’s feasible at the current price,” Wharton said of weekly testing.

The Washington Post story by Will Hobson likewise noted that some schools “are following the potential for pooled or batch testing, a more cost-effective but less precise method. In batch testing, every player for a team would submit a sample — ideally, blood — that is combined, and all the samples are tested at once. The result would tell officials whether there were any infected athletes on a team and could be useful as a pregame test.”

However, batch testing does not identify individuals who have tested positive, only that there have been positives in the pool.

Where does this leave the OVC?

“I think a lot of people are really hopeful that this batch antigen testing will be very, very helpful and will have a lower price,” DeBauche said. “We’ll find a way. If we’re doing this, we’ll do it right and we’ll find a way to structure that when we play that we’ll do what is needed in the sport. What I anticipate what will happen is sports will be classified as having different levels, so while one sport will require frequent testing other sports, if managed appropriately with social distancing and students wearing masks, may not need as much testing. So it may not be every sport, every contest . . . so we’ll listen to the science and to the doctors and we’ll have some decisions to make as how to structure it. Where there’s a will, we’ll figure that part of it out.”

The difficult part is that time is running out for such decisions, especially given that the United States is again seeing a rise in positive coronavirus cases.

Despite this, DeBauche remains steadfast in her commitment to collegiate athletics.

“We know how to run sports. We get paid, in part, to run championships, build schedules, handle sports administration. We know how to do that, and when the facts become more clear, we’re going to know how to respond. So perhaps one of the biggest challenges right now is to fight your internal drive to create certainty in a situation that’s not very certain,” she said.

DeBauche added,”We’ll know how to manage; it’s just the facts we need to clarify a bit more. I think one of the biggest challenges that we’re going to have as we move forward is making people feel comfortable and safe in those decisions. We’re playing intercollegiate athletics because student-athletes love it and it’s part of their overall experience, so we need to make sure that these student-athletes really do love it and feel comfortable in that situation and we’re doing the best thing for these students.

“When they look back on the fall of 2020, and they look back long-term and say it was a good thing to do and I’m really glad that we did it. We need to be attentive; these students are having to manage an awful lot. As an adult, this is a hard thing to manage. As a young person, they’re trying to go to school, get an education, play sports. [We’ve] got to feel comfortable with the decisions that are ultimately made.”