Family

Estrangement from an adult child can be an incredibly distressing and tumultuous experience, especially for parents over 60. The deep pain and grief resulting from severed ties and the longing for reconnection can impact your emotional well-being. The uncertainty of the situation may weigh heavily on your heart, causing overwhelming waves of sadness and anxiety. […]

Perhaps because my late husband was a pastor, some people thought they were helpful after Tom’s death to tell me, “God needed another angel in heaven.” (Wrong! I needed that angel beside me, not gone away.) Or they said, “I know exactly how you feel…

The definition of skip-gen travel is simple: grandparents traveling with grandkids without the parents along (i.e., skipping the “middle” generation). Why is it becoming so popular? That’s simple, too: it’s the perfect win-win-win situation!

We do not usually identify ourselves by what we are not. We do not say I am not blonde or not good at knitting or I do not come from a large family. Nor do other people think about these things when they think of us…

Before Great Gram got hitched at age 20, as they used to say, she was a teacher in a one-room rural Iowa schoolhouse. After marriage, she wasn’t allowed to teach. That was written in her contract. As a teacher, she called her readin’ and writin’…

Now we are 60 (as A.A. Milne of Christopher Robin fame might have said), we are of an age to think about grandmothers. Perhaps you are a grandmother or hoping to be one. Perhaps your friends are grandmothers…

Parent-adult child estrangement is a complex and deeply challenging experience. It can be overwhelming, leaving parents with feelings of guilt, shame, and grief. This article offers guidance on navigating this painful journey, emphasizing…

You’ve probably read professional relationship advice about how to survive with your partner into retirement. That always comes with lots of practical instructions about working together and enjoying each other’s company. It all sounds a bit twee…

When I taught writing, I asked my students to describe their parents by using the five senses. Gosh, does this writing exercise elicit vibrant responses! Here are some words my community college students, who ranged in age from 18 to 60, used to describe…

Having children is overrated. The idea is you raise your kids until they’re 18 and it’s over. No, it isn’t. It’s never over because your those kids become your parents when they grow up. My children are grown and I’d love to get over them, but I can’t…