The Cool Grandpa Podcast

Our conversation with Curt and Cindy Liljedahl This week's conversation is with a very cool couple. Curt and Cindy join us to talk about the importance of adventures as part of our retired lives. We hear a great story about their experience of becoming grandparents. Curt does his best to embarrass Cindy with his story, which any good husband does. It is great learning about how Curt and Cindy expe...

Working with your parents or loved ones on managing their aging process can be challenging. It makes you ask personal and possibly embarrassing questions about every part of someone's life. These topics are often areas that "we" don't talk about. These tough topics can include money, physical and mental well-being, estate planning, and many more. Annalee Kruger is passionate about helping family a...

Beverley Glazer MA., CCC is a Coach, Therapist, Internationally Certified Addiction Specialist, Author, and Founder of Reinvent Imposible Inc; a personal development company that educates, coaches and empowers older women who've experienced a 'wake-up call' that left them feeling powerless or without purpose, to build on their strengths, create possibilities and discover the joy in living their fu...

Our monthly one-on-one conversation This is our monthly one-on-one conversation, and this month, I wanted to be sure to celebrate you, the very cool Grandmother and Grandfather. Yes, I know this is The Cool Grandpa Podcast, but we have some fantastic Grandmothers listening in to keep us honest. As a grandparent, you matter greatly to your grandchildren's mental and physical well-being. This statem...

Brian Abram joins us to talk about his experience with being a grandfather. We also discuss how Brian's bicycling accident left him a paraplegic and wheelchair-bound. To explain why he was in a wheelchair, Brian devised a fun and highly exaggerated story for his grandson. You will enjoy how Brian has turned his accident into a charming way to talk to children about disabilities and how life is an...

Debra Weller, a professional storyteller and teacher joins us to talk about her grandfathers AND how we can become entertaining storytellers. We discuss the influence of Debra's grandfathers, Poppy and Grandpa Joe. Each grandfather had a unique background and style of telling stories. Poppy would often talk about growing up in New York and the time during World War II while Grandpa Joe would tell...

Our conversation with Daniel Crandall This conversation with Daniel Crandall is an entertaining discussion about how his grandfathers chose to become better men than perhaps circumstances would have predicted. It is incredible to learn how Daniel's grandfathers had very challenging childhoods full of tragedy, yet they chose to become better men at early ages. Daniel was blessed to have the lengthy...

This month, I discuss some thoughts about being an older job hunter. You might be looking for work because of burnout, no further advancement opportunities, or layoffs. Whatever your particular case may be, we have repeatedly seen and been told that job hunting in your 50s and 60s can be more challenging than when you were younger. Well, job hunting no matter what age you are can be challenging. R...

Jane Honikman joins us to discuss this important and sometimes misunderstood topic of postpartum and postpartum depression. We start our conversation by getting to know Jane and her background, and how she was affected by her first birth. As we continue to learn about Jane, we learn how she came to work and study in the area of postpartum. We continued our discussion of postpartum and learned abou...

Mike Van Pelt joins us this week to talk about his memories of his grandfathers. We reminisce about the sights, sounds, and smells of visiting our grandparents on their farms. I also talk to Mike about his journey to finding his passion and his calling in life, which is to help other men become clear on their purpose as men. Mike believes that men have unique talents and abilities that shine into...

This week's conversation centers on Family Care and how parents and grandparents can get alignment on who is responsible for what and how parents want their children cared for while in the care of the grandparents. DeeDee More, from More Than Gr and , joins the conversation to discuss the importance of clearly understanding how parents would like to have their children taken care of. DeeDee also t...

Will Braunstein is our guest this week. We discuss how grandfathers can help support our adult sons and sons-in-law. It was great to sit down with someone focused on the challenges that fathers are experiencing today and how through A Dad's Path , Will is working hard to ensure that fathers and families have the information and support they need. We talk about how fathers of adult children can be...

This week's conversation is with two of the three founders of BoomerTech Adventures. Ed Brazee and Jill Spencer join us to talk about the founding of BoomerTech and how these educators came together to start working with Boomers and Seniors on understanding their devices and how they can connect them to their families, friends, and community. We learn how Chris, Jill, and Ed learned the lesson dur...

In this month's conversation, I talk about Father's Day. I think that, for the most part, dads and grandfathers have most of the material things they want or need. Despite what retailers bombard us within the lead-up to Father's Day, I think what Dads value and cherish are experiences either with the family, their friends, or even alone. Experiences are so much more valuable because they are often...

Everyone needs to have a goal—something to work towards or work through. Tina Sibley joins us today to talk about how we can infuse a spirit of adventure into our personal and professional lives. You will enjoy how Tina planned and then participated in climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro twice in one calendar year. She brings that enthusiasm for life into her successful coaching practice and the lives of the...

Joe Cochran joins us to discuss his experience supporting his grandson and his family through a very trying time. We learn about Joe, his pediatric dentist background and his life in Oregon raising three wonderful daughters. Recently one of his grandsons, Theo, was diagnosed with Leukemia. As you can imagine, that diagnosis was like a punch in the gut. With his pediatric dentist experience, Joe ha...

This month's one-on-one conversation is about how to make in-person visits fun and stress-free. Like most things in life, communication and planning are the keystones to making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to when you are going to visit, what you are going to do when you are there, and when your loving and adoring family can expect you to head back to your home. Here are my top...

Jan Lipes is a cool grandpa. Forty years ago, Jan was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). As an Emergency Room doctor, Jan was faced with a number of constraints AND opportunities in his professional and personal life. I first learned about Jan when he wrote an article for our good friend Ted Page's blog, Good Grandpa. In that article, Jan asked, Can an ill Grandpa be a Good Grandpa? Well, I w...

Frank Williams and Jim Isenberg are on a mission to get grandpas active at home and especially in their communities. Grandpas United was founded in 2018 to provide multigenerational mentors and leadership to youth in their community. You will enjoy learning how Frank, Jim, and other men of 'grandpa age' came together to identify a need in the community. I am not just talking about the youth of the...

A friend of the show, Frank Pomata, joins us to discuss how grandfathers can release their creative spirits with projects and play with their grandchildren. Frank and I enjoy catching up and talking about how Frank started creating books based on the interests of his grandson. The first book, The Boy That Loved Garbage Trucks, is based on seeing a garbage truck making its rounds and following the...

This month, I want to talk to you about the need for a nemesis in your life. I am not talking about a person here. That kind of nemesis is different from what I want to discuss. The nemesis I am talking about here is that obstacle in your life that keeps you from advancing in a sport, hobby, or some other endeavor you have. We all need a nemesis, something that is pushing against us and keeping us...

Steven Arms joins the Cool Grandpa Podcast to discuss the importance of having a rite of passage for young men. Steven and I have the opportunity to discuss the concept and need for a rite of passage for young men and women. While we focus on rites of passage for young men, Steven does share some great stories about his female cousins having their own rites of passage. We dive into a great discuss...

Nina Bard from BRD Sport joins us to discuss how having the proper compression brace can keep athletes and seniors active and participating in life. We had a great conversation about how NAFTA adversely affected her husband's business and how they are now focused on producing the best compression brace on the market. Nina shares some interesting stories about everyday people who have suffered for...

Ryan Nothhaft joins us to discuss his grandfather, Roy "Butch" Voris. We talk about Butch's life, growing up in Northern California and developing an interest in flying before the outbreak of WW II. We find out that Butch worked as a mortician before starting his pilot training. We also find out that Ryan and his grandfather were not both stellar students in high school, but the post-high school,...

This month's one-on-one conversation is about helping our grandchildren manage stress. Regarding stress, I know that as grandpas, we have all had our share. Some of us have learned to deal with stress well, and some haven't. I think I am in between managing it well and having complete freakouts at other times. No matter how you deal with stress, as grandfathers, I think that we have a great opport...