Carbondale Age-Friendly Community Initiative Archives

Mature Content: Navigating the slow lane

by Raleigh Burleigh April 26, 2023November 17, 2023

By Nancy Roen For the past three years, at one time or another, I have navigated our town with crutches, poles, stationary and wheeled walkers, and at best, with unsteady steps. Right now, a neck injury is making street crossings difficult, because I cannot look right or left without turning my whole body. But moving […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: Over the hill and out to lunch? Not really!

by Raleigh Burleigh February 15, 2023November 17, 2023

By Ron Kokish I’ve always believed that deeds define us and respect must be earned. As a lad, I didn’t understand why I was expected to defer to older people. At age 82, the shoe is on the other foot, and I’m still puzzled. By 70, we’ve taken nearly 588 million breaths and experienced over […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: To plan or not to plan, that is the question

by Raleigh Burleigh January 18, 2023November 17, 2023

By Ron Kokish I met Niki when I was 21. She was 19. She enjoyed our first date, so when I asked her to a toga party the following week, she said yes. Then she had second thoughts. “A toga party? At a frat house? Ugh!” She decided to back out, but her mother leaned […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: Goners

by James Steindler December 14, 2022November 17, 2023

By Ron Kokish Carbondale Age Friendly Community Initiative This columnist may have gotten a little mired in dying over the last few months, so this month, I’m going to talk about something different, like … dead people. I can hear your profanities already, but please give me a chance. Although it may seem like the […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: Kristi’s Legacy

by Raleigh Burleigh November 16, 2022November 17, 2023

Kristi Nicholls was a Carbondalian, psychotherapist, triathlete, CAFCI steering committee member and mother of four. On Oct. 30, she legally and peacefully ended her life, with her four adult children at her side, before having to endure the grand mal seizures and strokes that would have been in her future. CAFCI dedicates this column to […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: Whose life is it, anyway? — Third and final part

by Raleigh Burleigh September 21, 2022November 17, 2023

By Ron Kokish “A time to love and a time to die” … Ecclesiastes 3:2 At 85, my father was failing badly enough for his doctor to insist he stop driving. A few months later I called and casually asked how he was feeling. “Fine, physically,” he replied, “but life is hell when you don’t […]

News, Uncategorized

Human-Nature Garden to land on Rio Grande

by James Steindler July 20, 2022November 17, 2023

The Rio Grande Trail only gets more marvelous with age — much like Carbondale residents — and new installments along the ARTway continue its beautification. The Carbondale Age Friendly Community Initiative (CAFCI) is proud to announce its upcoming contribution to the pedestrian pathway. The Human-Nature Garden will bring together all walks of life, anywhere on […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: It (still) takes a village

by Will Grandbois February 16, 2022November 17, 2023

By Dorothea Farris This month’s columnist came to Carbondale in 1960 when there was a population of 612. Since then, she has served on no less than 40 boards, commissions, and task forces. She has taught and counseled students in public and private schools, written articles and traveled widely. Somehow, she also fit in 5 […]

Columns, Uncategorized

Mature Content: A miracle in the Bronx

by Raleigh Burleigh December 22, 2021November 17, 2023

By Ron Kokish Of course there’s a Santa Claus. I saw him up close in the Bronx, in 1959, in the employee bathroom at Alexander’s Department Store. We stood silently, as men do at adjoining urinals, finished our business and returned to our work: he to the Children’s Department on the second floor, I to […]

Columns, Opinion, Uncategorized

Mature Content: Not-so-special needs

by Raleigh Burleigh September 15, 2021November 17, 2023

The Carbondale (AARP) Age-Friendly Community Initiative (CAFCI) works to help make Carbondale friendlier for people of all ages. Sue Zislis, a retired physical therapist, is a member of Senior Matters’ Board of Directors and CAFCI’s steering committee. Promoting Universal Design principles has been a rewarding part of her career. –Ron Kokish for CAFCI Mom’s stamina, […]