The American Geriatrics Society sent out a timely e-mail today on the impact of the holiday season on some older adults.

A case of holiday blues, it seems, is more prevalent among older people.

Here are some tips, adapted from the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging:

If you feel blue, try to:
Get out and about: Ask family and friends for help traveling to parties and events. Invite family and friends over.
Volunteer: Helping others is a great mood lifter.
Accept your feelings: There’s nothing “wrong” with not feeling jolly; many people get the blues during the holidays.
Confide in someone: Talk about your feelings; it can help you understand why you feel the way you do.
Recognize warning signs of depression: Holiday blues are usually temporary and mild but depression is more serious and can linger unless you get help.

Look for these signs of depression: sadness that won’t lift; loss of interest or pleasure; changes in appetite or weight or sleeping a lot more or a lot less than usual; crying often; feeling restless or tired all the time;
feeling worthless or helpless or guilty; slowed thinking; thoughts of death or suicide.

Here are my two cents: Thanksgiving is the perfect time to invite someone who might be alone this year for the first time. Don’t automatically assume that everyone already has plans.

I don’t think anyone gets offended by an invitation, especially when it’s heartfelt.

How often have you told yourself you should write down a loved one’s stories?

Well, now you’ve got an official reason to do it: next Friday is the second annual National Day of Listening.

The day was established last year by StoryCorps, an independent non-profit organization with a simple mission: to honor and celebrate lives through LISTENING.

There’s no need for fancy recording devices. Just have a pen and paper ready, ask questions and stay silent as your friend or relative speaks. Of course a tape recorder is nice too.

After all, there’s no rule saying you have to hit the stores on Black Friday. As StoryCorps points out, gifts come in all forms — and listening is truly a gift in itself.

To learn more about interviewing techniques, and for details on reserving time in StoryCorps’ recording booth in downtown Manhattan, visit StoryCorps.org.

The Westchester County Office for Women has a Facebook page aimed at caregivers who are members of the sandwich generation.

Click here to go to the page.

For more information, visit the Office for Women’s Web site.

The AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has two interesting products that would make useful gifts for people on both sides of your sandwich.

For teen drivers, there’s a DVD called “Driver-ZED,’’ which goes over safe driving tips.

For families wondering if an older parent should still be driving, there’s a screening tool called “AAA’s Roadwise Review,’’ a CD-ROM that uses a series of videogames and interactive activities to assess skills.

As noted by AAA,  “Roadside Review” helps assess the following:

• Leg Strength and General Mobility


• Head/Neck Flexibility


• High-Contrast Visual Acuity


• Low-Contrast Visual Acuity


• Working Memory


• Visualization of Missing Information


• Visual Search


• Useful Field of View

That, unfortunately, is a different discussion.

For information on ordering these products, go to AAAny.com/Safety.

I blogged about my long-distance marriage a while back, but since then I’ve met other women in the same situation. In every case, it’s the economy that has forced the split. When a job is miles away from home — but it’s a job, as opposed to no job — the choice is pretty clear.

People keep asking me if I’m moving to California. Others ask if I like having a spouse who’s never there, and if it’s added some interesting facets to the relationship.

Clearly, things change when you rarely see each other. Distance can lead to communication problems in relationships where communication might already have been difficult. Decisions made solo can have an impact on the uninvolved spouse. And kids who see the absentee parent on an on-again, off-again basis learn to deal with a certain degree of unpredictability.

Overall, it’s not a bad experience. But it is weird, I will say that.

Anybody else out there in a long-distance marriage?

Two local sites have teamed up to present HBO’s “The Alzheimer’s Project” in four installments, each featuring a speaker well versed in different aspects of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Edna L. Roker Social Adult Day Center and the Osborn retirement community will kick off the film series Monday at 10 a.m. with a screening of “Momentum in Science,’’ followed by a Q&A with neurologist Dr. Alan Jacobs.

At 10 a.m. on Nov. 19, they’ll be showing “Grandpa, Do You Know Who I Am?’‘’ with a talk afterward by Elaine Sproat, president and CEO of the Hudson Valley/Rockland/Westchester chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

On Friday, Nov. 20, at 9 a.m. it’s “The Memory Loss Tapes,’’ followed by a presentation by Dr. Naveed Iqbal, head of psychiatry at Hudson Valley Hospital Center.

And the series concludes Monday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. with “Caregivers,’’ followed by a talk from social worker Judy Fink, director of geriatric services for Westchester Jewish Community Services.

All screenings and presentations are free. Reservations are required. Films will be shown at the Osborn, 101 Theall Road. To make a reservation, call 914-761-3885.

FYI, you can also see all the films online at HBO.com/alzheimers.

So who among you is hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year?

I am. And already I am worrying about how I’m going to do it. I remember making a turkey probably ten years ago. I put it in the bathtub to defrost it and I think it never properly warmed up. Then I had it in the oven for hours, waiting for that little thing to pop up.

File photo by Angela Gaul/The Journal News

This year, I plan to be more organized, especially since it is a nice intergenerational mix and I don’t want to disappoint relatives in every age group. The kids, of course, would like to see their mother produce a decent meal.  And my older family members will just be hungry and not in the mood for another excuse for rubbery meat.

Any tips on putting together a nice Thanksgiving dinner that doesn’t involve stress?

I just read a fascinating story about a videocamera that is having a tremendously beneficial effect on people with memory loss.

The story, on CNN.com, reports on a study being conducted in the U.K., in which patients wear a simple, lightweight videocamera around their necks, which records all their daily activities.

In many of those wearing the camera, the impact has been astounding.

Watch the video (click on above link, and scroll down a bit to second image) and you will be fascinated too.

One of the most difficult parts of being a caregiver is dealing with end-of-life issues.

Next Friday, the Collaborative for End of Life Care will present a free conference at the Westchester County Center in White Plains for caregivers, families and professionals.

The Westchester/New York State Southern Region Collaborative for End of Life Care is a consortium of more than 40 public and private organizations.

The event will include workshops running throughout the day,  from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. More than 400 people are expected to attend.

The workshops, on a wide variety of topics, include two afternoon sessions of particular interest to caregivers:  “Caring for Caregivers: Bridging Research to Practice” and “Improving Physician-Patient Communication in Long Term Care and Other Settings.’’

Workshop leaders include physicians, social workers, attorneys, professors and experts in gerontology and elder-care issues.

The keynote address, from 8:45 to 10:15 a.m., is titled “Balancing the Right to Die and the Right to Care: Neuroethics Meets Palliative Care.’’

To register for the Nov. 13 conference, go to westchesterendoflife.org or call 914-666-7616, ext 235.

At a recent 50th birthday party, a guy seated next to me attempted to guess the age of another man at our table.

“So are you in the 60-to-70-year-old bracket?’’ he asked,  a bit too forcefully, in my opinion, since it was a man he’d never met before.

The guy was an extraordinarily good sport. “I’m 55,’’ he said. “How about you?”

The age-guessing game, when you’re no longer a kid, can be as potentially embarrassing as asking when a woman’s baby is due—and having her tell you she’s not even pregnant.

I really felt bad for the 55-year-old, and even worse when I found out the guy who’d asked the question was 53 himself! How could he dare to suggest that his tablemate was perhaps 70 years old!

Anyway, it turned out to be a very nice evening and the two men actually exchanged phone numbers at the end. Turns out they went to the same high school in the Bronx all those many years ago.

Still, one thing I learned that night is never guess someone’s age — out loud, that is.

It’s not worth it.