Friendships

Yesterday I took my 79-year-old friend to the hairdresser. We go out a couple of times a week, with occasional stops at the store to stock her refrigerator or at the drug store to pick up a prescription. Then we visit for a while when we get back and catch up on family news. Read More

As baby boomers, we have collected a lot of friends over the last 50 to 60 years. Some of us still stay in touch with people we knew as children. Most of us have at least a few high school or college buddies. We have work friends and social acquaintances, poker buddies and professional contacts. Read More

One of the most basic rules that all parents try to drill into their children’s heads is “don’t talk to strangers.”

I’m sure that you did the same thing with your kids. I know I did. From the time that my boys were old enough to play outside, I used repetition, role-playing and threats to get them to follow this simple rule. Read More

Isolation sneaks up on ya! Has it snuck up on you too?

I had been building my business as an “Influencer” for over 35 years and this year decided to do something differently. However, disconnecting from that business network for a different focus caught me with a sideline surprise. Read More

Hopscotch. We played the game every day after school. We played it on the sidewalks and in the playgrounds outside the eighteen-floor brick building that was our home in Brooklyn, New York. We played as a way to hang out with each other. We were friends. We were friends because we were the same age and lived a floor from each other.

How do we hang out with our friends as adults? Read More

My friends are getting sick at an alarming rate. No doubt it goes with the aging process. We all get our share of aches and pains but some illnesses are a matter of life and death.

When your friend is diagnosed with a serious illness, what’s the best way to respond? Read More

Have you ever found yourself listening to a friend’s disclosure that she was sexually abused as a child? How did you handle it? What’s the best way to receive such news?

Here are some of my ideas, based on my thirty years as a trauma therapist. During that time, I helped women who had been sexually abused in childhood. Read More

­­I’ve moved to a new city and I don’t know anyone. Like many older women, I left my comfort zone to be near my family. When I say I didn’t know anyone in my new city, I mean I missed people with whom I shared history and a comfortable sense of belonging. Read More

Nothing will hold you back more than toxic friends. By the time we reach our 60s, you would think that we would have let go of all of the people who make us unhappy. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. Read More

Before I disclose the secret ingredient, let me reveal it is not love, sociability or friendship. At least not exclusively – despite that these cherished values may encourage us to reach-out to others in the first place. Such prizes of humanity are indeed the more fulfilling results of a congenial dinner as compared to any winning kudos for pulling off a fancy gastronomic shin-dig…