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Page 14 avvya yavvy en oniorior avvy S ior io iori by Jim Miller Is Social Security Income Taxable? Dear Savvy Senior, What tips can you recommend for making a bathroom seniorfriendly? My 78-year-old mother has mobility problems and fell getting out of the bathtub last month. I’d like to modify her bathroom with some safety features that can help keep her safe. Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned, Great question! Because more accidents and injuries happen in the bathroom than any other room in the house, this is a very important room to modify, especially for seniors with mobility or balance problems. Depending on your mom’s needs and budget, here are some simple tips and product recommendations that can make her bathroom safer and easier to use. Floor: To avoid slipping, a simple fi x is to get non-skid bath rugs for the fl oors. Or if you want to put in a new fl oor get slip-resistant tiles, rubber or vinyl fl ooring, or install wall-to-wall carpeting. Lights: Good lighting is also very important, so install the highest wattage bulbs allowed for your mom’s bathroom fi xtures and get a plug-in nightlight that automatically turns on when the room gets dark. Bathtub/shower: To make bathing safer, purchase a rubber suction-grip mat, or put down adhesive nonskid tape on the tub/ shower fl oor. And have a carpenter install grab bars in and around the tub/shower for support. If your mom uses a shower curtain, install a screw or boltmounted curtain rod, versus a tension-mounted rod, so that if she loses her balance and grabs the shower curtain the rod won’t spring loose. For easier access and safer bathing, consider getting your mom a shower or bathtub chair so she can bathe from a seated position. In addition, you should also have a handheld, adjustable-height showerhead installed that makes chair bathing easier. If your mom has the budget for it, another good option is to install a curb-less shower or a walk-in-bathtub. Curb-less showers have no threshold to step over, and come with a built-in seat, grab bars, slip resistant fl oors and an adjustable handheld showerhead. While walk-in tubs have a door in front that provides a much lower threshold to step over than a standard tub. They also have a built-in seat, handrails and a slip resistant bottom, and some have therapeutic features like whirlpool water jets and/or bubble massage air jets. Curb-less showers and walk-in-tubs run anywhere between $2,500 and $10,000 installed. Toilet: Most standard toilets are around 15 inches high and can be an issue for taller seniors with arthritis, back, hip or knee problems. If your mom has trouble getting on or off the toilet, a simple solution is to purchase a raised toilet seat that clamps to the toilet bowl, and/or purchase toilet safety rails that sit on each side of the seat for support. Or, you can install a new ADA compliant “comfort height” toilet that is 16-to-19 inches high. Faucets: If your mom has twist handles on the sink, bathtub or shower faucets, consider replacing them with lever handle faucets, or with a touch, motion or digital smart faucet. They’re easier to operate, especially if she has hand arthritis or gripping problems. Also note that it only takes 130-degree water to scald someone, so turn her hot water heater down to 120 degrees. Doorway: If your mom needs a wider bathroom entrance to accommodate a walker or wheelchair, an inexpensive solution is to install some swing clear off set hinges on the door which will expand the doorway an additional two inches. Emergency assistance: As a safety precaution, you should also consider purchasing a voice-enabled medical alert system like Get Safe (GetSafe.com) for her bathroom. This device would let her call for help by simple voice command, or by pushing a button or pulling a cord. You can fi nd all of these suggested products at either medical supply stores, pharmacies, big-box stores, home improvement stores, hardware and plumbing supply stores, as well as online. Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, January 15, 2021 SPORTS | FROM PAGE 10 It was the best start in years for BC football BC came in at 8-2, its best start in years as Bicknell and the Eagles were experiencing the fi rst wave of “Flutie Fever.” BC had played only one ranked opponent that season and lost, 27-17, to #12 West Virginia. But this was Alabama. A perennial national title contender under Coach Bryant and Coach Perkins was expected to stay that course. Future Heisman Trophy winner and quarterback Doug Flutie, leading BC in his junior year season, was quickly building a following for the surprisingly #15-ranked BC Eagles and for football fans like me, it was like this: To go watch the University of Alabama Crimson Tide come to town and play a local team like Boston College was like getting a chance to witness a piece of history. When I found out I was getting a free ticket, courtesy of Coach Bicknell himself and the BC football program, it was like getting a chance to go see that history live. We got to see Flutie... and Godzilla, too Forget about David and Goliath, this was about seeing Doug Flutie in the fl esh. And Godzilla, too. How did these tickets materialize? Well, right place, right time always wins. Throw in a 1972 Chevy Impala, mint condition, with those big, roomy seats, and we were good to go. On November 25, 1983, a kid named Steve Monaco had one day earlier just completed an excellent varsity football season as the starting varsity quarterback for Head Coach Paul Finn’s Malden High School (MHS) Golden Tornadoes football team. Monaco was a steady-under-pressure fi eld general with a rocket arm who had already begun to attract the attention of college scouts, despite it just being his sophomore season. Just 36 hours earlier, Monaco had directed a brilliant comeback attempt in the 96th Annual Malden-Medford Thanksgiving Game, only to see the Tornadoes fall, 25-14. Despite the loss, the 15-year-old Monaco was sensational, staring down a 25-0 halftime defi cit at windy, frigid Hormel Stadium and completing 18 of 21 passes for 177 yards and two TDs. I was an assistant coach, just my second season of many on Coach Finn’s football staff ; we all had visions of what lay ahead for this kid, who would go on to set records and be one of the best Tornadoes signal-callers of all time. A high school sophomore already on the map Games like that had already put Monaco on the map, and about a week earlier Cowboy Jack and the Eagles had invited a passel of local high school prospects, including Monaco, to come see what was arguably the most anticipated BC home football game in its history at the time. Since Monaco wanted to take two of his MHS football buddies to the game, Moose Gennette and Jake McGrath, who had been on the receiving end of many of Monaco’s passes the day before, there left one more ticket to be had. “Thank you very much,” I said, “I’ll drive,” as we loaded up the Impala and headed down 95-South to go see Godzilla and try and see what Flutie Fever felt like in person! Despite the horrendous weather, with wind and rain drizzling at the beginning and then whipping up stronger and stronger like an orchestral storm, the game lived up to its billing...if you were a BC fan. An Alabama fan? An utter disaster. The Crimson Tide was supposed to mop up the fl oor with the lowly Eagles, who had somehow surreptitiously snuck into the Top 20. First half all tied at 6-6, a disaster for Alabama The fi rst half was a deadlock, tied at 6-6. The rain, wind and snow had been a steady threecourse, sloppy serving of weather that football fans and players all swear they love, but most of them are fl at-out liars on that one. Obviously, being from Malden, we had brought neither umbrellas, proper rain gear nor decent footwear, except Monaco, who swore by work boots even at that young age. For all of us, it was plastic trash bags all around, belay the ponchos, with holes ripped open to poke our heads through, of course. For the Eagles, it was not “Flutie Magic” that ruled the night – it was the BC defense. Leading the way for BC was middle linebacker Steve DeOssie, a senior captain who simply ate the Crimson Tide for dinner, one of the best games of his senior year. Alabama was stopped at the BC two-yard-line on one fi rst-half drive, then at the BC one-yard line in another deep drive. It had to settle for fi eld goals of 20 and 28 yards for a 6-0 lead. (An aside: I actually knew DeOssie at the time, having met him when he played in the Shriner’s High School Football All-Star Game in 1980 with my younger brother, Gary. The two became good friends, having both been born in Charlestown, and they stayed in touch. They both went on to be college football captains, DeOssie at BC, after a great high school career at now gone Don Bosco, and Gary a three-year starting tight end at UMass Amherst. DeOssie went on to a 12-year NFL career and is now an analyst of the present-day Patriots. My brother got some professional football off ers from the then fl edgling USFL, but he opted to go start earning a paycheck and became a career corrections offi cer.) Back to the game: Flutie took his team 66 yards in the closing minutes of the half to a fourthdown, one-yard touchdown dive by Steve Strachan to make it 6-6. But kicker Kevin Snow missed two chances at the extra point – on the fi rst miss Alabama was penalized – and the score was tied at intermission. The weather continued to be incredibly bad. Let the record show that over 58,000 tickets were sold for this game, a near sellout. But the place was, maybe, just over half full at kickoff . Thousands more fl ed the wicked weather at halftime. When asked about the game at the time, Flutie said in one published report, “It was so bad that when you came out of the game after not moving the ball you were almost glad because you had a chance to get warm. That sounds ridiculous, but it’s true.” A weird night got weirder: “The Big Blackout” A weird and crazy night then got a little weirder, and a little crazier. Then came “The Big Blackout” just before the second half began. The Sullivan Stadium lights went out just before the second half was to begin. It was later reported that the nationally televised CBS picture transmission went out, too, although the commentators, Lindsey Nelson and Jack Snow, continued the play-by-play audio. But they kept playing the game! The game had started at 1:30 p.m., but now it was well after 3:00 and heading to 4:00 as the second half started. Daylight wasn’t burning, to quote John Wayne from “The Cowboys,” it was running away and hiding, it being late November. With about 4:30 left in the third quarter, no times were exact because of the absence of a scoreboard; a punt by Boston College’s John Mihalik from midfi eld was blocked by Paul Tripoli. Anthony Smiley got the ball at the Alabama 42, picked up several blockers and went all the way to give the Crimson Tide a 13-6 lead. That must have been what jumpstarted the “Fever.” Flutie had been not much of a factor up until the fourth quarter. That changed in the fourth quarter as Flutie took over and along with two fourth-quarter touchdowns by fullback Bob Biestek, one on a fi ve-yard pass from Flutie, the other on a three-yard dive with SPORTS | SEE PAGE 18

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