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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Europe calls when you need to find peace

Catherine Johnston Rebecca Nappi

Note: On occasion in this space, adapted excerpts from the EndNotes blog, www.spokesman.com/blog/endnotes, will substitute for the usual question-and-answer format for the column.

Europe’s five most spiritual places

Attending funerals and holding vigils at the bedside of dying friends and family allow time to reflect on what is ultimately important in life, as well as how we nurture our own spirituality.

Travel writer Rick Steves, recently interviewed by U.S. Catholic magazine, talked about the five most spiritual places in Europe.

His picks:

• The Alps. “The greatest cathedral in Europe,” Steves said.

• Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage Trail. “There’s a reason pilgrims have hiked from France to the distant northwest of Spain for more than 1,000 years.”

• Assisi, Italy. “I have a personal ritual of sitting quietly on the rampart of a ruined castle high above Assisi, the town of St. Francis.”

• St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican. “Worshiping upon the tomb of St. Peter under the towering dome of Michelangelo in the vast expanse of the greatest church in Christendom … I ponder the centuries of devotion and tradition that have gone into building both this magnificent church and the Catholic faith.”

• Taizé, France. “In the wine country of Burgundy … a rough lane leads to the ecumenical monastic community of Taizé. It welcomes all to gather with no regard to culture, language, or denomination.”

Grief behind the wheel

One of the hardest activities for older people to give up is driving a car.

Some even report feelings similar to the classic stages of grief: Denial that they shouldn’t drive. Bargaining with grown children who urge them to stop. Anger when the grown children persist.

And, eventually for most, acceptance that putting away the keys is a good idea.

A recent study might give these grown children some ammunition.

The National Institutes of Health recently reported on Australian researchers who studied the driving habits of 266 healthy drivers, ages 70 to 88. The drivers aged 85 to 89 averaged four critical mistakes (such as failing to check a blind spot) in a 12-mile road test; drivers 70 to 74 averaged less than one.

The study, first reported online in the journal Neuropsychology, is likely to be controversial, NIH acknowledged.

Secondhand survival

Some of us in our 50s and beyond often comment about growing up in smoke-filled homes. Almost all the parents of our childhood years smoked cigarettes, morning, noon and night.

A recent National Institutes of Health report listed all the dangers of secondhand smoke: 50,000 deaths attributed to it, the same brain changes for the nonsmoker as the smoker, a propensity to smoking later in life for kids raised around smoking adults.

It makes us wonder how so many of us made into adulthood, surrounded by the haze.

Coming soon: Generational wars?

Comedian, author and actor Albert Brooks has written a novel that takes place in the near future titled “2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America.”

In it, aging baby boomers are in a constant struggle with the younger generation over politics and resources.

We’ve seen other predictions of the coming “generational wars.” Brooks discussed this in a recent USA Today interview.

USA Today: “Old people are targets in your novel. You’re 63. Do you worry about this scenario?”

Brooks: “Yes, I have. I’ve always thought because of our generation – the size of it – it’s apparent that unless we’re killed off by some Boomer flu, we’re going to be here and people are going to have to deal with us.”

Grief work

• Hospice of Spokane is offering a series of classes for the newly bereaved, starting Thursday.

Those who complete the series will learn about the bereavement process and are welcome to transition into Hospice’s grief support groups.

The series is free. Classes will be held on the first, second and third Thursdays of each month beginning in June, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., at 121 S. Arthur St. near downtown Spokane.

Call (509) 456-0438 or email info@hospiceofspokane.org.

• Nancy Copeland-Payton, medical doctor, Presbyterian minister and author of “The Losses of Our Lives: The Sacred Gifts of Renewal in Everyday Loss,” will facilitate a one-day retreat in Sandpoint Saturday.

The retreat will explore “ways of experiencing the sacred in loss.” It will be held at the Brown House, 602 N. Third Ave., from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Cost is $30. To register, call (208) 263-6057 or email virginiamoody@gmail.com. 

Catherine Johnston, a health care professional from Olympia, and Rebecca Nappi, Spokesman-Review features writer, welcome your questions about what to do in times of illness, dying, death and grief. Contact them through their EndNotes blog at www.spokesman.com/blogs/ endnotes.