One Man's Adventure. . .

In today's New York Times octogenarians report on "wing-walking" (on top of an airplane, across the English Channel -- PULL-EASE!), mountain climbing, and other relatively extreme adventures they're exploring in the name of Active Aging. I'm not sure I want to jo... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RETIREMENT | 16 Views | 0 Comments | January 08, 2010 10:34:41 am

Gym Rats

Three days as a slug have got me thinking I need to go to . . . the gym. But this thought process itself runs counter to the latest mind-body study which suggests that exercise, nay, the right kind of exercise – the kind that makes you perspire and breathe heavily – can ma... Read full blog entry > >

Category: HEALTH | 124 Views | 0 Comments | September 22, 2009 08:24:04 am

Mothers, Daughters & More

A quick note about a couple of new books featuring grown-up mother-daughter relationships. Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret life of Bees) and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, just this month published Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story and are currently on the book-selling cir... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 175 Views | 0 Comments | September 14, 2009 11:16:25 am

A Conversation About Health Care

A sister blogger, Paula Behnken, has made a huge contribution to the conversation about health care reform. And I do mean conversation -- not inane, or insane chatter. I commend her thoughts -- and others on her site -- to you! Lest this seem self-serving -- Yes, I know my post is there, t... Read full blog entry > >

Category: HEALTH | 120 Views | 0 Comments | September 06, 2009 7:20:07 pm

A Boot Camp for Retirement

I found the most helpful advice I've seen to date in a Times story called "A Boot Camp for Retirement." Not surprisingly, the "camp" is run by two women -- investment counselors -- who advise their clients to get their financial and emotional houses in order before retiring. They so believe in wha... Read full blog entry > >

Category: FINANCE | 160 Views | 0 Comments | July 27, 2009 2:49:01 pm

Finding Meaning

Would you consider establishing "Finding Meaning in the 3rd Third" as a separate category? I think that this is the deepest--and least discussed--aspect of the last third of life. For many of us, the jobs/relationships/issues which gave meaning to our lives in the 2nd third are now receding. What ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: LIFESTYLE | 223 Views | 1 Comments | July 10, 2009 08:59:48 am

Don't Call Me Old!

I saw a new, young doctor (aren’t they all?) this week who called my most recent infrastructure failing (a torn bicep, for the record) the result of “Life and Time.” I love that!... Read full blog entry > >

Category: HEALTH | 187 Views | 0 Comments | July 10, 2009 08:57:11 am

The Curse of Independence

Ellen Goodman writes of our need for a Declaration of Dependence if both we and our parents are going to understand what's needed from all of us to make our relationships work responsibly and lovingly through our parents' aging and decline (and, in turn, our own). Refuting my father's belief that ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 113 Views | 0 Comments | July 06, 2009 3:00:55 pm

Take a Hike

Free counsel! Free advice!! Should Jenny Sanford give her philandering husband (currently South Carolina governor) Mark Sanford a chance (another chance?) to "try to fall in love" with her again. Or should she tell him to "Take a hike!" Your thoughts and comments, please.... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 162 Views | 0 Comments | July 01, 2009 7:23:45 pm

Turn, Turn, Turn

Turning 60 was like being told I had six months to live,” writes Vivian Gornick in the June issue of Persimmon Tree, the online magazine. Hers is one of a series of provocative, reflective essays by women writers called “Turn, Turn, Turn” on “Turning” 60, 70, 80, 90, and ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: LIFESTYLE | 171 Views | 0 Comments | June 18, 2009 09:11:47 am

Twitter as Policy Tool?

Twitter as Policy Tool? It’s a fascinating “ and humbling “ thought. Fascinating because so many of us all-too-parochial Americans of a certain age who have previously found Twitter to be alien turf (I don't really get it. Who has the time? Why do those people think we care what ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: CURRENT | 162 Views | 0 Comments | June 18, 2009 09:07:03 am

Loving Again

Here’s a dilemma for our age. As I have written, we lost my friend, Jan, to ovarian cancer in December. Her husband of 38 years was a rock. He generously shared Jan with us even when it was clear her days were numbered, and he has been good about maintaining our relationship and open about his ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 167 Views | 1 Comments | June 09, 2009 10:54:49 am

Welcome to the Departure Lounge

Welcome to the Departure Lounge: Adventures in Mothering Mother is author Meg Federico's memoir of the misery of long-distance care-taking for an aging, failing, and ultimately, dying mother -- and stepfather. It is a How-Not-To-Do-It. It is, also -- and I was never sure Federico recognized ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: AGING PARENTS | 242 Views | 2 Comments | May 26, 2009 12:10:47 am

What Exactly is a Safety Net?

The New York Times recently profiled a number of families whose living arrangements were dramatically altered after a younger generations' lifestyle and desires outpaced a realistic -- much less a failing -- economy and the "kids" (some in midlife) moved back in with Mom and Dad. While the article ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 177 Views | 1 Comments | May 18, 2009 10:47:46 am

Bullying Broads?

Mean Girls, the movie, came to mind the other day when a friend started talking about the "new girl" on her tennis team, a player of considerable skill and youth who had been placed on the team to help them compete in the next season. Hardly a practice round was played before the bitching began: "... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 219 Views | 1 Comments | May 12, 2009 10:51:28 am

Encore: Mothers and Daughters

More on the mother-daughter relationship from the disarmingly simply stated words of Elizabeth Berg, whose new novel Home Safe explores it. A conversation with the women on www.wowowow.com even suggests a grandmother can offer special comfort to both generations as they work out the normal ebb a... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 216 Views | 0 Comments | May 08, 2009 11:37:23 am

Progress for The Skirts

I wish we lived in what I believe would be called a truly Post-Feminist World. That is, we wouldn’t have to be measuring women’s “progress;” we could simply measure human progress. Women would need not be the “other” anymore. But considering, much less thinking about our decisions and... Read full blog entry > >

Category: CURRENT | 491 Views | 0 Comments | April 30, 2009 10:13:52 am

The Girls From Ames

Jeffrey Zaslow is a jealous man. The author of The Girls From Ames, he wishes men were as good at making and keeping friends as women are. Check out his story at: www.wowowow.com. ... Read full blog entry > >

Category: RELATIONSHIPS | 216 Views | 0 Comments | April 27, 2009 2:29:47 pm

News You May Need -- An Update

I'm going to sound like the blogger my son says I should be today and simply send you, sans much editorial comment to sources for some good information (which is different from good news, unfortunately). First, finances: The Wall Street Journal's Getting Smart About Annuities does just what says -... Read full blog entry > >

Category: CURRENT | 260 Views | 1 Comments | April 21, 2009 11:00:01 am

The Hourglass Solution

The Hour Glass Solution: A Boomer's Guide to the Rest of Your Life is all about recognizing -- and making -- choices, according to authors Paula Forman and Jeff Johnson. Further, they posit, most of us are "stuck" and unwilling and afraid to make those choices that might enhance what they call (I l... Read full blog entry > >

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