Dealing with Grief and Fears

Mental health issues are not uncommon as we age, and anxiety can be among the most common challenges to well-being we face as women over 60. Anxiety may occur in isolation or in conjunction with depression and cognitive decline…

With nearly a year under my belt of being a divorced 65-year-old, mother of four grown children, I have had time for reflection. The divorce was my choice. I sought and embraced it after years of apathy, contempt and hostility. I couldn’t change…

I was devastated. A few days before I turned 60, I was suddenly a widow. But really, I was typical. Surprisingly, the average age at which a wife becomes a widow is 59.4. About 1 million women a year in the U.S. experience what may be the most stressful event…

It was a plaintive voice. From someone who knows they are dying, but whose family can’t accept the fact. Perhaps that’s your situation – when you are 60+, because we have lived more years than we are probably going to live, it does happen that people…

I recently agreed to be a guest on a podcast. Although repeatedly encouraged to do podcasts by my marketing manager, up to this point I have resisted. Why? It’s very simple: Fear! There have been times in my past when I felt that I did not respond…

Stress and anxiety need no invitation to hassle us and invade our day-to-day lives. Very few of us are immune. If we are fortunate enough that the underlying causes are less serious, it would usually be a great help if we could do something…

Have you ever had a great idea about something new you wanted to try or place you wanted to go and then immediately thought, “I can’t possibly do that.”? We are very creative with our excuses…

There are approximately 44 million adults in the United States of America caring for their aging parents. People are living longer. With this comes the stress of being older ourselves when our parents need a caregiver. Many people over 60 have found…

Imagine that I said to you, “I hate your purple hair. It looks terrible on you.” Assuming that your hair is any color except purple, you might wonder about my eyesight but aside from that, you wouldn’t give the comment a second thought…

My neighbor, Heidi, recently told me, “I’ve forgiven my mother, but I won’t go to her funeral.” My friend Lynne has not communicated with her mother in 30 years. She occasionally trolls for a death certificate because, as the only child, there might be something…