by Liz, Melba and Anne

We’ve heard it many times: It’s the little things that make life zesty. From my 40-year career in the aging field, I found, as I helped families find the best care and services for their relatives as they got older, it was often the small things — pets, friends’ visits, hearing from grandkids, getting the garbage emptied —that kept them on an even, happy keel.

Easier said than done!

Today at age 76, I know what I should do to enjoy my last years — but I don’t always do them. Good nutrition and exercise — two of the most important ingredients of healthy aging — are incredibly easy to let slide. I have an abundance of excuses. Lucky for me, I also have IslandRides — a low cost, electric car and driver non-profit that takes me where I need to go on the island. IslandRides is a game changer.

My favorite exercise is creaky yoga, but getting to class — with its long uphill walk and me without a car —became too much, so now my neighbor, Melba, and I take IslandRides there twice a week. I can get groceries easily, thanks to IslandRides that takes me to the store when I call. A friend who lives miles from the Village has IslandRides pick up and deliver groceries to her door. I can get to the library, visit friends, arrange meet-ups for lunch. Not even the rain is an excuse now.

Small, rural communities like Lopez rarely have the array of services that make life easier for older people in larger cities. We are so fortunate to have IslandRides — with its friendly drivers (well, except for one), punctual and easy scheduling, clean cars, and bon homie that make our island just a bit nicer as we age.