Good morning, Senior Corner readers. It’s early on a Sunday morning, I have my favorite jazz station on and I’m feelin’ good.

My daughter, Judy, suggested I write a little bit about how it is to live alone, so here goes.

Bottom line, I love it. I answer to no one. I can write my articles at 5 a.m. without the worry of disturbing anyone. I do as I please, when I please. It’s great.

OK, maybe it does get a bit lonely at times. Dining alone is pretty much the pits.

Up until my husband died, I had never been alone. We had four children and always a household of family and friends, and it was wonderful. I loved every minute of it. When Tom died, bam, it was another world entirely, but you’re forced to make adjustments. Seventeen years of living alone, you get used to it.

I have learned, however, you must get out with people after a while or you can get the gloomies. I’ve also learned that you’re not playing fair if you don’t give back, through some form of volunteer work, in thanks for your blessings.

Speaking of volunteering, and I hope you will, the American Cancer Society needs drivers to provide rides for cancer patients who are unable to get to treatment. All you need is a car, a driver’s license and a compassionate heart. Call (1-800) 227-2345.

The same applies for volunteering for Meals-On-Wheels. Call Leslie at Senior Nutrition, 253-6111. This entails using your vehicle to deliver meals to homebound seniors. You will be bringing them nutritious meals and a bit of companionship. Deliveries are made Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.

Also, Senior Services at 252-6222 needs volunteers to visit seniors and transport them to medical appointments. If you’re handy with tools, they could use your services to install grab bars, build small wheelchair ramps or handle some minor home repairs for seniors.

These are just a few opportunities to help others less fortunate than yourself. You’ll feel good doing it and you meet some terrific people.

Speaking of terrific people, meeting Chuck Castellar was one of the really great perks for me when I volunteered to serve on the Napa County Commission on Aging. Chuck is liaison between the Napa County Board of Supervisors and the commission. He is manager for Behavioral Health Care for the Napa County Department of Health and Human Services.

I’d like to share with you a presentation he made before the Board of Supervisors in April, 2005, in celebration of Older Americans Month.

“In a society obsessed with youth, I think it is fitting that we don’t lose sight that aging and growing older are all part of the same spectrum of life. Although age and youth are at opposite ends of the life continuum, our points of commonality and the things we yearn for remain pretty constant throughout our lives. Whether it is friendship, familial ties, health, financial security, adventure, spirituality or needing a sense of connectedness, the fact is that we all yearn for the same things; whether we are 18 years of age or 98.

“There is no question that the demand for health care, affordable housing, social security, transportation and end-of-life care will certainly strain our limited resources. With proper planning and preparation we can favorably position our county to meet this challenge and assure that our older adults are given the opportunity to continue living their lives with the greatest amount of autonomy, independence and dignity.”

Pretty terrific, don’t you agree? Thanks, Chuck for telling it like it is in your eloquent, heartfelt way.

Here’s an event you won’t want to miss. The folks at Hospice and Adult Day Services of Napa Valley, 414 South Jefferson St., will be presenting “Alzheimer’s: A Historical Perspective — 1906 to the Present.”

Mark your calendar for Nov. 15, 3 p.m., to hear Carole Bibeau, with the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UC Davis, make her presentation.

We will learn that Alois Alzheimer was the first to learn about Alzheimer’s disease more than 100 years ago. Bibeau will address where we are heading with regard to research, medications, and what is happening in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. She will focus on all the positive changes that have occurred, especially within the last decade.

Light refreshments will be served and respite care is available. Call 258-9087 to register or to inquire about respite.

I’d like to thank you folks for e-mailing comments and ideas for future columns. How about sharing your experience of what it’s like to live alone? I always enjoy hearing from you.

(Betty can be reached at bettyrrhodes@sbcglobal.net. This column appears every other Monday, sharing this space with Jim Ford’s “Napa As It Was.”)