Gary Tetz

1 week ago | mcknights.com | Gary Tetz |James M. Berklan

The birth of my child. The Seahawks winning the Super Bowl. My first visit to a nursing home. The day I learned flossing might be pointless. These are seminal life events burned into my permanent memory. The flossing thing stands out, because I recall being incredibly relieved to discover I didn’t necessarily need to do something I never did anyway.

3 weeks ago | mcknights.com | Gary Tetz |James M. Berklan

I’ve always been a creature of darkness — in my external environment, if not in my soul. For decades, my workspaces have been dimly lit, moody and cave-like. People who come to my office door to ask a question must think they’re talking to Deep Throat at midnight in a parking garage. This preference carries over to meetings I attend at my place of long-term care employment, where my work is mysterious and important.

1 month ago | mcknights.com | Gary Tetz

“Older adults with smartphone addiction have poorer sleep,” the headline read. Though normally skeptical of the work of “scientists” who are “smart” and “study” things to help “improve our lives” and “keep us from dying,” this one rang true to me. Because I’m older. I’m addicted to my smartphone. And I can’t sleep. I don’t spend much time in nursing homes at night, but because the rate of seniors with smartphone dependence is now eclipsing younger age groups, I can imagine what I’d see.

1 month ago | mcknights.com | Gary Tetz

I don’t appreciate it, McKnight’s. The way you forced me to relive the pandemic with such a vividly written, flashback-provoking piece on the occasion of COVID’s fifth anniversary. What do you get a pandemic on its fifth anniversary, by the way? My research suggests it would need to be something wood. So maybe a carved commemorative syringe? Anyway, on the heels of that excellent article and all the traumatic memories it revived, I’m suddenly facing a deadly scourge of my own: mice.

2 months ago | mcknights.com | Gary Tetz

Seniors who walk dogs have better balance and fewer falls. This is according to a reputable study reported on by McKnight’s. But a nursing home administrator I know was once pulled off a curb and fell into the street while running with her dog, breaking her nose and dignity. So this is definitely a point-counterpoint situation.