Page 4 February 2, 2016 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Seniors What to Do When a Senior Loved One Wanders (BPT) - Virtually all parents have experienced the terror of looking up from what they were doing only to realize their child has wandered off. Your pulse races, your heart pounds and you can’t relax until your child is back in sight. As children grow up, they learn to stay put - or at least let you know where they’re going - and your fears fade. However, if you become a caregiver for a parent, grandparent or other loved one with dementia, you may find yourself having the same fear if your loved one begins to exhibit a concerning symptom of dementia - getting lost or wandering. The Alzheimer’s Association says six out of 10 people with Alzheimer’s experience episodes of wandering. The behavior can take many forms, from leaving the house without telling anyone to leaving and then becoming too disoriented to find their way home. Wandering can also occur at night, when a person with Alzheimer’s gets out of bed and wanders inside the house - or more concerning, goes outdoors - in the dark. “Wandering is one of the potentially most dangerous symptoms of dementia,” says Juliet Holt Klinger, senior director of dementia care for Brookdale Senior Living. “The Alzheimer’s Association notes that up to half of those who wander will suffer serious injury, or even die, if not found within 24 hours. It’s important for caregivers to understand why and how wandering happens, when it occurs and what they can do to prevent or minimize occurrences.” Why Wandering Occurs To understand why your loved one may be wandering, look for a pattern, Holt Klinger advises. Does he wander at a particular time TerriAnn in Torrance from front page work keeping out the water while the rain comes down. Tarps have been placed on the hills on Pacific Coast Highway near Calle Mayor so landslides are avoided. The next day cleared except for a few isolated downpours, and as I drove around town, I noticed roofers’ trucks in and around the neighborhoods. It appears that I am not Boots Ready for the Rain. Raindrops on the Window. alone in my leaking predicament. And as we make our way through this wet winter, may I suggest we consider it a blessing because how else would many of us find out we needed roof repairs? So keep your umbrellas handy and remember to sign up for TorranceAlerts. It is free and gives vital information to all Torrance residents. • Entertainment Film Review Grindhouse Comedy I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore Wins Sundance Grand Jury Prize By Ryan Rojas for Cinemacy.com Cinemacy just came back from covering this year’s Sundance film festival (the first time for me and Morgan!) and we were lucky enough to see the film that took home the top prize. That film was Macon Blair’s comedy-thriller I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, which won the coveted Grand Jury Prize after leaving audiences in stitches with its raucous tonal mixings of genuinely side-splitting comedy and shockviolence action that plays like an indie grindhouse comedy. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is built on the premise that the world is full of self-centered jerks. It’s certainly the world that Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) lives in, where minor violations like witnessing lifted trucks pumping out black exhaust, people carelessly discarding items on the floor at the grocery store, and finding constantly not-picked-up dog droppings on her lawn are a part of everyday life. The easygoing nice-person levee breaks when, after the discovery of a home invasion with personal affections stolen, Ruth decides to take matters into her own hands and track down the culprit--if for nothing more than to confront the perpetrator for the moral wrongness. Ruth enlists the help of her quirky karate-obsessed neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) to help find the burglar, but little do they know that they’re tracking down a band of junkie nutsos led by slithery and vampiric Marshall (Tony Zow), who are planning an even bigger smash and grab job- -which sucks them into an underbelly world full of bloodbath mayhem that puts them in way over their heads. As Ruth, Melanie Lynskey is great as an elder’s nurse turned homespun moral crime-fighter, playing the full comedic range of meekly expected disappointments at the beginning of the film up through passing her tipping point and boiling over into DIY revenge when she steals back her grandmother’s silver from a seedy pawn shop in one of the film’s most jarringly and unexpectedly hilarious moments as the store owner tries to stop them. Even the notion of being one of the last few moral defenders in a world run amuck by schmucks is a feeling that taps into the collective conscious that we all have (haven’t we all fantasized about confronting that jerk who uncaringly spoils a major twist in that fantasy novel?), making the cathartic and comedic effects here even greater. Wood as Ruth’s nerdy, karate-loving loner neighbor Tony may have never been funnier onscreen. With his rattail hair, old man specs, and nunchucks and ninja stars, Wood plays the punchline sidekick that keeps the filming motoring confidently ahead on its screwy head. Wood gets rich deadpan dialogue at every turn from Blair’s original script (after struggling to get a ninja star out of a wall, Tony surmises, “That’s how hard I threw it…”). But Wood’s sensitivity also conveys the introverted antisocial neighbor that makes his Tony a perfect companion. He’s more looking for a friend than a reprobation, and the chemistry between him and Ruth makes one wish those two would get into more adventures. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (its mouthy title comes from a gospel LP that Blair received from director pal Jeremy Saulnier, whose name ended up fitting the tone of the film perfectly) is a true bellylaugh of a film and a great watch for when you’re in the mood for a weirdly hilariously and insane hybrid of a movie. Director Blair, who Morgan and I had the fortune of actually running into while walking down Park City’s Main Street earlier in the day before his film would win at the Awards Ceremony later that night, could not have been a more pleasant and nice person. Which just goes to show--as the film will be streaming on Netflix later this year--that nice people don’t always finish last. • Elijah Wood and Melanie Lynskey in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. Photo Courtesy of Sundance. Like Us on Facebook See Seniors, page 6
Torrance_020217_FNL_lorez
To see the actual publication please follow the link above