Today's Features

Individuals with arthritis are often stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Doctors want people to exercise to keep up the range of motion in affected joints. However, even some limited movements can cause pain and suffering to those with arthritis. Furthermore, individuals with arthritis may shy away from the activities they once enjoyed because the pain is simply too overwhelming.

Senior Circle is a non-profit resource program offered by Springs Memorial Hospital. The mission of Senior Circle is to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle for seniors by providing programs that encourage continued learning, wellness, health, volunteer opportunities and social activities at our hospital and throughout the community.  We also provide a forum for fellowship and member-only discounts and privileges.  

Susan Singleton admits to tearing up whenever she goes to the grocery store.

Instead of lean proteins like fish or chicken, she goes for the meat that’s about to expire because it’s what she can afford.

Instead of brand-name products, she fills her cart with knock-off items or whatever she has coupons for. The mother of three from Columbia  worries about what she is feeding her family.

“When I go to the store, I cannot buy healthy. I buy cheap,” Singleton said.

One of my favorite childhood memories is of hiking a mountain trail in southwest Virginia with my father.

We were walking along admiring the flowering Mountain Laurel when suddenly we were in a clearing staring up at a very tall fire lookout tower.

I was fascinated by the idea of someone living so high above the trees scanning the horizon for puffs of smoke.

For years afterward I secretly dreamed of being that person, the sentinel standing watch over the forest.