Getting Older

Lately, I’ve been looking at getting older a little differently. I don’t see it as something slipping away anymore. I’ve started to think of it more like a 1943 Ford – still standing, still running, but with a few parts that have needed attention along the way. If I take inventory, I’ve had my share of work done. There’s a screw in my knee from a skiing accident back in…

Have you been told “you are your mother’s daughter” or at least heard that said to someone else? Or perhaps you look like your mother in some ways? In this month of Mother’s Day, I thought it would be interesting to look at the research and reflect on our own situations…

There is a certain ripeness that comes with age that can only blossom when nourished properly, inside and out. Apart from having a grateful, loving mindset every day despite life’s numerous challenges, and a vital body to support our adventures…

We’ve gone from being individuals with personalities and interests, to neatly labeled groups with shared characteristics and assigned flaws. Boomers are this. Millennials are that. Gen Z is… well, I’m still trying to figure that one out. But what I find more interesting than the labels themselves is how firmly people define themselves by what they will never become.

Is it just me or does everyone who grows older alone think about the current circumstances and ask, How can I create a safe and independent lifestyle?

Just a few days after returning home from three full weeks exploring Cambodia, I found myself in tears on a not-so-comfortable plastic exam table in my chiropractor’s office.
Three weeks of hiking, biking, and wandering through temples in 100+ degree tropical heat – and I had felt fantastic…

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…

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?”