Diana French
Special to the Tribune
Like father like son. No rocking chair for Ed Kozuki, who was in the news last week for snow boarding, usually a younger person’s sport. When Ed’s dad, Fred Kozuki, became an older person, he took up water skiing, which wasn’t considered a senior’s sport at the time.
Speaking of age, people of my era expect some of their body parts to be wearing out, but I was surprised at how many younger people have arthritis.
READ MORE: B.C. family first to receive reimbursement for life-altering arthritis drug
Arthritis victims can usually spot each other, our hands are the giveaway. We’re good at dropping things, not good at picking them up. My hands find zippers, buttons and curling irons uncooperative, and those plastic containers that supermarkets use for salads and fruit are over-protective of their contents. Some packaging is too much for anyone, like a box of coffee pods I met recently. Had to use a knife to get into the outer box only to be greeted by two heavy plastic bags. Took scissors to open one, found two cardboard boxes in it. Another knife job to get to the pods. Not good environmentally, economically, or conveniently.
People with arthritis share “helps” and suggestions range from herbal drinks to eating nine gin-soaked raisins first thing in the morning, and from the tried and sometimes true wearing a copper bracelet, or not wearing gold rings.
The Copenhagen based Happiness Research Institute ranks Canada seventh out of 177 countries on a happiness scale.
We once were fifth. The happy countries are mostly in the north with Finland #1. Happiness was related to personal freedom and social security, and being happy apparently outweighed paying some of the highest taxes in the world. Interesting that nine of the top 10 countries have a proportional representation election system, Finland since 1906. Canada is the exception.
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