They call themselves the Brainy Bunch, a group of East Orange senior citizens who improve their memory in a class that teaches them how to recognize and reduce stress.
Pat Williams was frustrated as she recited homework meant to test her memory. Each time Williams took a stab at the inspirational quote, she missed it by a word or two during her class at the East Orange Senior Citizen Center.
"If we try to learn everything, we will ..." Flustered, Williams paused, realizing that wasn't right.
A retired court administrator, Williams, 74, knew she had to focus and work through the stress points blocking the moment. Some of her classmates did, too, during exercises that required them to repeat colors or names in sequential order, then in reverse.
Welcome to the Brainy Bunch Club, a group of senior citizens -- all East Orange residents -- who work on improving their memory in a class that teaches them how to recognize and reduce stress.
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Sidney Snead, 75, doesn't fret over losing his reading glasses anymore. Misplacing them once a week has changed to once every other week. Now, he concentrates on remembering where he puts them with the same effort it takes to rattle off his confidence-building homework adage:
"A good leader inspires people to have faith in the leader, but a great leader inspires people to have faith in themselves."
That best describes Marc Riddell, the guy coaching everyone through their mental gymnastics. However, Riddell, a retired clinical psychologist, deflects any credit from what has taken place at the senior center every Friday for two years.
Still, it's hard to ignore his work -- and him, for that matter. He's a 75-year-old man whose 1960s hippie appearance is as interesting as the club's name. Riddell wears a blue bandana tied around his white hair, which is pulled back into a ponytail that falls halfway down his back. A peace dove hangs from a chain around his neck, a lasting symbol of free-speech protests at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a doctorate in clinical psychology.
Nowadays, Riddell just sees himself as a facilitator nudging seniors to understand the dangers of stress and what to do should they get confused.
"I guide them into the direction where they have to think for themselves," he said.
True, but his impact is inescapable. Without him, there isn't a class. The East Orange resident saw a need when he joined the center after relocating to New Jersey from Pennsylvania in 2007. Seniors he met talked about their worries, the stress of aging, the isolation retirement can bring.
Boredom and inactivity had become roommates for some. Without a meaningful routine, "the brain essentially gets lazy," Riddell said.
He volunteered to stretch their minds after pitching the idea to Rita Butts, the center's division manager. One brain exercise class became two, free for East Orange seniors only. Both average about 15 to 20 members in each session. From the time they walk into the conference room, Riddell is in their heads.
Seniors close their eyes to meditate, following his instruction.
"Steady your breathing," he said while soothing classical piano music fades to serene sounds of ocean waves. "Take your time. Work through your stress points."
They remove tension from their forehead and eyes, from hunched shoulders and clinched fists, releasing tightness in their legs, lower back and feet.
The day before a recent class, Deborah Stokes, 62, relied on the technique after the medical transportation van was an hour late picking her up. The old Deborah, she said, would have gone off on the driver. This Deborah controlled her anger. She had the driver stop the van several blocks from her apartment, so she could walk home calmly.
"I had got to get it together, because I was going to church later," she said. "You can't go to church with a mean spirit."
Gerry Dotson, 76, said the class has the same tranquil effect on her 52-year-old daughter, Julie, who is diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenia. In class, however, Dotson said Julie doesn't exhibit any symptoms of her mental disability.
"She really looks forward to this," Dotson said. "That's why I keep coming."
The thumbs-up reviews, well earned, go on and on. Brainy Bunch disciples work hard to pinpoint stress and memorize phrases from Riddell's handwritten index cards.
Another homework assignment, unscrambling letters, is not so easy, either. Try to figure out the words they solved last week: S-E-J -A-M-R-A-E-L-P-U-N-A-T-E-R-C-E- A-R-T.
Hint: The first two words are the first and middle names of a president, the second is a food, and the third word is the president's last name.
Give up? It's James Earl. Peanut. Carter.
In class, they're challenged to count how many times they've heard a certain word in a story Riddell has read. Or he'll have one class member read a phrase, then have another member repeat it.
"When I let go of who I was told to be, I became who I was meant to be," Lilieth Young, 79, responded correctly.
The class is creative and fun. They play charades and rock, paper, scissors, a game that has them remember which element trumps the other.
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"How do you like us old folks so far?" Mabel Hill asked me.
I'm impressed, Ms. Hill. Riddell is, too.
"They (seniors) justify all that I've ever felt and learned about people," he said. "They're honest. They care."
Hill, an 80-year-old retired AT&T bankruptcy specialist, said the class helps her maintain memory that was once ironclad. On Friday, she was razor sharp when it was her turn to recite.
"The heart is a string instrument that can only be tuned with love."
This is where Pat Williams re-enters the story. She had missed class for two weeks due to illness. When she returned last Friday, the class, which considers itself a family, greeted her with hugs, then encouragement as she struggled with her homework phrase.
Williams knew she could do it. She has been able to take control of stressful moments when her bowling game went south or when someone worked her last nerve.
She took a deep breath and started again.
"If we try to know everything, we will learn nothing," she said. "If we try to learn everything, we will understand nothing."
"Bingo," Riddell said.
The applause from the Brainy Bunch was all she needed to hear.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or
nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL
