Olivia de Havilland, Oscar-winning actress, dies at 104

[Marion Morrison]

I can't believe it.
How did she die?

She had TMB.

 

[Marion Morrison]

Apparently, her enjoyment of champagne and crossword puzzles kept her going.

My mother kept her mind sharp by working crossword puzzles. Many times she said, "The harder the better!"

For her 92nd birthday (Christmas Day), I gave her 12 crossword puzzle books, several of which were published by The New York Times--said to have the hardest puzzles.

Her birthday being Christmas Day, she very seldom received a birthday cake. When she turned 80, I gave her a Hostess Snoball with 80 candles poked into it. We lit them all! Thereafter, she got a birthday cake each Christmas, along with gifts.

After a mild stroke at 93, she had trouble finishing sentences. She knew what she wanted to say, but could not remember the proper words to say it. On one visit to her bedside, I played my guitar using chord progressions and melodies of hymns printed in an old Methodist Hymn Book that she cherished. At first she would hum the melody. Then she began singing the words...all of them...and asking that we go through all the verses.

Remember this: If you sing the alphabet to the melody if Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, you will not miss a single character.

Music is the universal language.

Crossword puzzles do work to keep the mind sharp.
Music even works on Alzheimered people. Music they know.. with their siblings n stuff.

 

[boedicca]

Apparently, her enjoyment of champagne and crossword puzzles kept her going.

My mother kept her mind sharp by working crossword puzzles. Many times she said, "The harder the better!"

For her 92nd birthday (Christmas Day), I gave her 12 crossword puzzle books, several of which were published by The New York Times--said to have the hardest puzzles.

Her birthday being Christmas Day, she very seldom received a birthday cake. When she turned 80, I gave her a Hostess Snoball with 80 candles poked into it. We lit them all! Thereafter, she got a birthday cake each Christmas, along with gifts.

After a mild stroke at 93, she had trouble finishing sentences. She knew what she wanted to say, but could not remember the proper words to say it. On one visit to her bedside, I played my guitar using chord progressions and melodies of hymns printed in an old Methodist Hymn Book that she cherished. At first she would hum the melody. Then she began singing the words...all of them...and asking that we go through all the verses.

Remember this: If you sing the alphabet to the melody if Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, you will not miss a single character.

Music is the universal language.

Crossword puzzles do work to keep the mind sharp.
Music even works on Alzheimered people. Music they know.. with their siblings n stuff.

It's important to keep one's brain excercised as well as one's body.