If you have been married for a long time and are now divorced or widowed, or even if you have never married at all, chances are your ideas about love are outdated. I don’t mean that as a criticism. I mean it as a relief. When I found myself single in my 60s after more than 30 years of marriage…

A woman once told me something I hear often, but rarely so honestly: “I want to enjoy my retirement… but every time I spend money, part of me wonders if I should be saving it for my children instead.” She wasn’t being pressured by her family…

I did not picture my life as it looks approaching 70 – not as a kid or young adult, not as part of a couple for 35 years. Not ever. Yet the script seems so perfectly written, I know this is exactly where I’m meant to be. Even 10 years ago, I’d have laughed if you predicted I’d be twice divorced at 70…

There are many reasons women are single, yet the term “single woman” is still often narrowly defined – usually referring to someone who is not married and, in some cases, someone without children. But that definition…

I have been interested in death for a long time. I am not a morbid person or even a pessimistic one, but I like preparing myself for what is to come. My interest started 30 years ago when I became close friends with a very reflective young man dying from AIDS. We ended up…

If you step into your ideal self at age 95 and look back, what do you want to see? Is it a life of happiness? Of meaning? Certainly, you want to feel…

Have you ever quietly wondered what your retirement plan would look like if it were just you? Not “the two of us.” Not “we’re set.” Just you. It’s not a question most couples linger on. And yet for many women, it eventually becomes reality. After my husband died, I discovered something no spreadsheet had prepared me for…

One thing I love about living in an apartment building is that, while I live alone, I’m surrounded by caring humans. We look out for each other. We hold doors, water plants, have the occasional glass of wine, exchange keys, and check in when someone…

Close your eyes. I know it may seem a little silly when you’re just starting to read an article, but for a moment, imagine it’s a Tuesday, and you’re 85 years old. Society often puts older women into stereotypical boxes: frail, dependent, out of touch, irrelevant…

A reader once told me she loved her home more than any place she had ever lived. The garden she planted years ago still bloomed every spring, and the kitchen held decades of memories. But she quietly wondered: “How do I know when staying makes sense and when it might not?”