Friendships

I never had a sister. As the older sibling to two boys, my childhood was spent dodging mud pies, swinging from trees and washing dirty clothes. Ok, I’m not really complaining. I love my brothers dearly. The point that I’m making here is that I never understood the power and value of sisterhood until much later in my life. Read More

So much of our life is spent trying to please other people. While some women are able to find the strength to truly be themselves at every stage in their lives, the majority of us feel compelled to care what other people think along the way.

But, regardless of how we got here, the good news is that, now that we are in our 60s, we all have the opportunity to be who we really are. Read More

Have you ever thought about the fact that, for most of our lives, the majority of our friends are “accidental?” When we are children, we choose our friends from among the other kids in our classes. When we join the workforce, our colleagues form the backbone of our social life. When we become parents, our life becomes an intricate dance of sports events, sleep overs camping trips and family dinners. Read More

As we reach our 60s, many of us find that our social circumstances are changing. Our kids, once the center of our lives, are grown up and are pursuing their own dreams. Our careers are either winding down or changing dramatically. Many of us are dealing with a divorce or separation. As a result, many baby boomers find themselves having to make new friends again for the first time in years. Read More

What is friendship? It’s a harder question than you think. When you think about the phrase “making friends,” what images come into your mind? Read More

Making friends as an adult is always difficult, but, it’s not until we reach our 50s and 60s that things really start to get interesting.

For most of our lives, our friendships follow our social context. As kids, our lives are filled with schoolmates, neighbors and teammates. As parents, we follow our kids to BBQs, sports events and school activities. When we are building our careers, our co-workers are a constant source of social contact – even if we wish that they weren’t.

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One of the challenges when it comes to overcoming loneliness is that everyone’s idea of friendship is slightly different. In addition, each of us has a different level of comfort when it comes to social interaction. Read More

Have you noticed how some friends love to be around you when times are good but run for the hills at the first sign of trouble? Were they ever true friends? A few weeks ago, a friend of mine told me about her experience with cancer. Her husband, who was relatively young, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and given about a year to live. Over the next 12 months, she did everything that she could to keep him comfortable, before he sadly passed away. Read More

Women over 60 are much more technologically savvy than most people give us credit for! But, even if you are comfortable with technology, it can often be difficult to know where to look for people who share your interests. This is especially true at a time when we need to be more careful than ever about our privacy and security online. Read More

When you think about the word “extrovert,” what comes to mind? Read More