The Senior Paper

18/06/2025

As AI becomes more used and widespread, scammers are also using it to scam people. Watch and share this video to help let your friends and family be aware of AI fakes.

🚨 Deepfake Scams Are Getting Real — And That’s Exactly the Problem.This public service announcement is not fiction — it’s a real warning about the growing t...

05/01/2025

A DIFFERENT KIND OF LEAD FOOT – Even though I wasn’t a swimmer, when I went to Little Manitou Lake near Watrous, Sask., everyone said I’d be able to float because it’s a salt lake. So, I gave it a try. To everyone's surprise but mine, my lead feet sank and so did I. That salt water didn’t hold me up at all.

A few years later, I decided I would take swimming lessons. I thought I was doing great! I could sit on the bottom of the pool and also do the dead man’s float in the shallow end, so they sent me up to jump off the 10-foot diving board.

I went right to the bottom, sinking like a stone. I managed to come up just as they were coming to rescue me and that was the end of my swimming adventure.

It was the strangest thing. They could make me float with only one finger under my back, but the moment they let go, my lead feet always took me right down to the bottom again! 🤣

04/01/2025

GRANDPAS GO GROUSE HUNTING – In mid-September, my wife and I decided to visit her sister and brother-in-law in Williams Lake, B.C. While visiting, my brother-in-law decided that he (age 83) and I (age 87) should go grouse hunting up in the mountains. It sounded like a wonderful idea, so away we went in his old mini-pickup truck up into the hills where we spend a few hours chasing game birds.

On our way out of the hills, we came across a huge mud puddle. We talked it over and decided that if we went fast enough, we’d get through it. Not so. We got stuck halfway through. We then decided that if I got out and pushed, we’d get unstuck. Not so.

My brother-in-law got out of the truck to look things over. He thought he was stepping in a small puddle but it was knee-deep and down he went! I went to help him and down I went too!

There we were, two men in their 80s, rolling around in the mud in the middle of nowhere. You know, I do believe deer, moose, and wolves know how to laugh. I heard them.

I never want to go grouse hunting again!

02/01/2025

A teenage boy was visiting his grandmother during the Christmas holidays. He was looking at his smartphone for a bit and, she noticed he looked sad, so she asked him what was wrong.

“Lately,” he told her, “it seems like my friends are against me. They criticize me, say things about me to others, and aren’t very nice to me. It hurts.”

His grandmother smiled gently and invited him to sit with her at the kitchen table. She handed him a small box: “Imagine this box is a gift. Go ahead and open it,” she said.

Confused, he opened the box and saw that it was empty. “There’s nothing in the box, grandma.”

“Exactly!” she replied. “And if I offered you this empty box as a gift, would you accept it?”

“Of course not,” he told her. It’s worthless. There’s nothing there.”

His grandmother nodded and said: “When people criticize you or mistreat you, they are handing you an empty box. Behind that box is all of their own negative baggage, fears, anger, and insecurities. You don’t have to accept it. Just because someone offers you something, it doesn’t mean you must take it.”

The young man thought about this for a few moments and came to understand her meaning and the truth behind it.

“The power is always in your hands,” she continued. “Words and actions only have value if you accept them. You can choose to carry someone else’s baggage, or you can leave it with them, just like this empty box.”

* * * * *
“You’re allowed to care about others without accepting their problems as your own.” –Author Unknown

01/01/2025

I hadn’t heard the expression “parenting is not for the faint of heart” when my husband and I became parents over 60 years ago. I'd lost my mother at age 10, and my father, eight years later, so didn't know who was going to give me tips and show me how to be a good parent.

I was looking for creative ways to bypass too much motherly nagging when I noticed our daughters weren’t making their beds before they went to school. When they came home, I spoke to them in a controlled manner, saying: “If your beds aren’t made before you leave for school, you can’t watch TV.”

Though not yet in school, our five-year-old wanted in on that arrangement, so she was included. The next day, I noticed the older girl’s beds were made, but not the five-year-old's bed. When I commented on it to her, she replied: “Oh, I didn’t want to watch Mr. Dressup anyway.”

I remember our 12-year-old son often walked out of the house without combing his hair, so I got the biggest comb I could buy, and my husband hung it from the ceiling by the door. Our son ran into the comb, gave a surprising laugh, and went back to comb his hair. When he became a teenager, I couldn’t get him away from the mirror! He was forever admiring his combed hair.

One day my now adult daughter and I were discussing the expectations we had of our children. I said how I wanted good, respectable, kind, and mature kids. Her 11-year-old son heard our conversation and quipped, “Oma, did you get one?”

I realised early that if I wanted respect from our children, I needed to show them respect as well. It’s easier on our families if we can show them kindness, taking responsibility, and forgiveness. To be a positive and moral role model is powerful in parenting.

31/12/2024

My son came to my rescue today. He bailed me out when I couldn’t access my regular desktop on my computer. All my treasures and writings, current and past, are stored there. All corners of the universe that I want to access, I do that from my desktop. How could it disappear on me?

It seems I committed the error of not closing my Google window when I use it. The result: I had hundreds of open Google windows and my computer rebelled by, without warning, refusing access to my desktop.

I have an iPhone and can do so many things with it: check on my health status, find the best way to get somewhere, pay bills, check home security, you name it – but it’s all I can do to get it to operate properly sending and receiving calls.

Now approaching my 90th birthday, I can’t present myself as an example of an up-to-date citizen. I try to keep up with the news, keep in touch with my friends who are still alive, and surround myself with members of the younger set, and family.

I can stay awake in a crowd and even engage in conversation, but I must admit, I sometimes don’t understand what’s going on because the motivations of many are a puzzle.

Lately, when I have a problem, I turn to one of my offspring, or a younger relation. Almost every time, my seemingly insoluble problem goes away. What seems so simple to them seems complicated to us. I don’t know about you, but I’m way behind the curve!

Today I talked to my daughter, my granddaughter, and my grandson, who live over 3,000 miles away. I saw them at the same time. I have no idea how that works but I did that. I remember when we used to wait till after 6 p.m., so we wouldn’t have to pay long distance charges. Today, I didn’t have to pay a dime extra for that call!

15/12/2024

Here's something great! We've just released our latest podcast episode and we think you'll enjoy it! Click the photo below to give it a listen! ❤

In this episode, we'll travel with a young lady who makes a big trip to meet a friend and we'll accompany a young man as he leaves the comforts of home and goes off to university. We also visit a woman who recalls how an early childhood incident helped shape her life and we hear of one man's foolpro...

29/11/2024

Do you remember your first newlywed home? We hope it wasn't like the one! 🤣 Click/tap the photo to hear all about it!

Young newlyweds in the 1950s quickly discover that you get what you pay for when hunting for their first home! If you enjoy this story and want more lighthea...

23/11/2024

Have a listen to this – our latest podcast episode is out!

In this episode, we join newlyweds in the 1950s on their first home hunting adventure and we hop a tractor and head out onto the wintery roads of Rural Ontario. We meet a woman who finds new respect for an old foe, and we learn of at least one reason why city folk prefer being city folk when nature coming calling.
Click the photo below to listen in or find it on your favourite podcast app! ❤

In this episode, we join newlyweds in the 1950s on their first home hunting adventure and we hop a tractor and head out onto the wintery roads of Rural Ontario. We meet a woman who finds new respect for an old foe, and we learn of at least one reason why city folk prefer being city folk when nature....

05/11/2024

Check out the latest podcast episode of Precious Memories: Stories from The Senior Paper! Find it on your favourite podcast app (search 'precious memories') or click the image below and listen on YouTube. 😊

In this episode, we travel back to rural Manitoba in WWII and hear about a young mother who did what she had to do to raise her six children alone. We'll hop aboard a giant ore transport ship on Canada's Great Lakes and sail with a new ship hand. One author recounts a moment of morality from both far and near past in a story that has her beaming with pride, and we'll row along with two young lads whose adventures around a sleepy Nova Scotia harbour led to a perilous predicament. ❤️

In this episode we travel back to rural Manitoba in WWII and hear about a young mother who did what she had to do to raise her six children alone. We'll hop ...

02/11/2024

Great News – the latest issue of The Senior Paper is on the way! ❤ Subscriptions make a great gift that last a whole year! Happy reading! 😊