Healthy aging empowers you to live a full, vibrant life, maintaining independence and quality of life for as long as possible. This September, during Healthy Aging Month, it's a perfect time to focus on adopting habits that promote wellness at every stage of life.

Planning for long-term care in advance provides peace of mind and ensures you have control over your future. By preparing early, you can explore all your options, protect your assets, and make informed decisions without the pressure of a crisis. It also allows you to secure the best possible care, reduce financial strain on loved ones, and avoid legal or logistical complications. Ultimately, early planning gives you the confidence that your needs will be met with dignity and compassion when the time comes.

There are an estimated half a million, more or less, persons of Finnish origin, including 2^nd and 3^rd generations, in America, and we probably assume that about one-half of them understand or speak Finnish, even as a dialect. The other half is likely to eventually lose Finnish identity. It would of course be a great achievement for posterity, should it be possible to retain the younger generations within the Finnish environment. The American born Finns could perhaps become more interested if instilled by our fomenting and encouraging the use of the American-Finnish dialect language. Call it “Finglish,” if preferable, as suggested by the late Professor Nisonen of Suomi College, Hancock, Michigan.