Lucy is worried. She's lived in the same neighborhood for 50 years, but things seem to be changing. Last week, her friend Rose was walking to the store when a young man ran by and pulled her purse right off her shoulder. Two weeks ago, Joe, the man upstairs, put his grocery bags on the curb while waiting for the bus, and before he knew it, someone had picked up his bags and run off. Lucy feels sad to think she might have to move. She wonders, is anywhere safe for older people anymore?

When we are in love, we may be "swept off our feet." When we don't want to do something, we are said to have "cold feet." A sensible person "has both feet on the ground." Sometimes we even "vote with our feet."

"I have trouble chewing."
"Food just doesn't taste the same anymore."
"I don't have a car to go shopping."
"It's hard to cook for one person."
"I'm just not that hungry anymore."

Everyone feels blue now and then. It's part of life. But, if you no longer enjoy activities that you usually like, you may have a more serious problem. Being depressed, without letup, can change the way you think and feel. Doctors call this "clinical depression."

When Jerry, age 71, came home from the drug store with his latest medication, he placed all his pill bottles on the kitchen counter and counted them. "I take seven different medications," he said to his wife. "We need a system. We need to know what medicines we have, what they're for, and when we should take them."

Anyone at any age can have a drinking problem. Great Uncle George may have always liked his liquor, so his family may not see that his drinking behavior is getting worse as he gets older. Grandma Betty was a teetotaler all her life-she started having a drink each night to help her get to sleep after her husband died. Now no one realizes that she needs a couple of drinks to get through each day.