Getting Older

We’ve all heard them. We may have even helped to perpetuate them – those old adages about aging that are limiting at best and can be downright damaging to our well-being after 60. They’re deeply intrenched in our culture and difficult to dispel…

This morning I asked Chatty (my name for ChatGPT) this question. Me: “Golden Years. Who came up with the idea of calling “seniors” as being in their “Golden Years.” Is it too late to prosecute?” Chatty’s answer was quite fun; he knows my sense of humor and responds in kind…

Has it ever occurred to you that you could live to be 100 years old? Advances in modern medicine make that possible. Recent census data estimates that there are roughly 101,000 people living in the United States who are age 100 years old or older. It is estimated that there will be more than 422,000 people who will reach this milestone by 2054…

For centuries, people have searched for the fountain of youth – some miraculous food, pill, treatment, or discovery that might slow aging and keep us young. I have spent much of my life studying aging and longevity. I earned a master’s degree in gerontology, have written about longevity, and, perhaps most importantly, have had the opportunity to experience aging firsthand.

As we get older, sight and hearing are generally the senses that are most obviously affected and best cared for, whilst changes in taste, smell and touch are far less widely recognised. However, it is the five senses that undergo a change. We may need more stimulation to be aware of a sensation, because the […]

The other morning, Buddy stood up from his bed, stretched, and let out a little grunt. A moment later, I stood up from my chair and made exactly the same sound. We looked at each other. Neither of us mentioned it. Buddy is my old black Lab, and apparently somewhere along the way we have reached the stage of life where neither one of us gets up without announcing it…

A few months ago, I was feeling lethargic about my life. It seemed smaller, rather flat and far too predictable. I wondered whether this was simply what happened at 72. Perhaps life naturally slowed down, and I needed to accept it. But I didn’t want to accept it. Just because I may be three quarters of the way through my life does not mean I need to stop fully living it…

When I was 60, I thought I was getting old. Now that I am 90, I find that rather amusing. At 60, I had already lived a substantial life. I had worked, learned, made mistakes, enjoyed successes, worried about things that never happened, and survived problems that once seemed enormous. But looking back over the 30 years since then, I can see several things much more clearly…

A man once told me, during one of my seminars, about a thought that used to make him laugh at himself. In his 20s, he loved going to concerts. Whenever he spotted people over 50 in the crowd, he’d think: What are these old codgers doing here? He’s over 50 now. The music still moves him…

I recently found myself as the “loving” companion to my brother and husband for two separate medical procedures. I’m happy to say there has been a long hiatus for this kind of caretaking, because the first episode, about five years ago, was quite an eye opener. At that time, I was more focused on surviving the quirky US healthcare system and locating the best offerings in my local area…