Friendships

Lately, I’ve been thinking a great deal about friendships. Friends and social acquaintances are a big and important part of a woman’s life. Therefore, it remains vital, as we age, not to let those relationships slip away. It’s so easy to get…

Author and diarist Anaïs Nin wrote that “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” According to a 2011 study in the journal Oncology Times, women with early-stage…

It is my profound good fortune to be spending this week with an amazing human being called Julie: she is and has been one of my besties for 25 years. We live quite different lives, and almost entirely in different parts of the world, but we have an unerring…

Years ago I would often have people over for dinner. We called these events dinner parties, and I would usually invite anywhere between two to five couples. I would spend all day in the kitchen, cooking up a storm and still be busy when the company arrived…

As I write this article, I find myself in a phase of life where I am 61 years old and very suddenly having to supervise care for my mom who just turned 85. This situation is further complicated by the fact that our relationship has not been the most fabulous…

I am very much a woman who follows her gut instincts and goes by the belief that first impressions are lasting impressions. So, when I form a positive opinion about somebody that proves to be wrong, I actually disbelieve myself – until I am ready to accept…

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?

I ask myself this question often: how did I remain good friends with not one, but two ex-husbands? First, let me say that I am eternally grateful for that. There is no magic answer, but rather an ironic one; I chose two good men. If tomorrow…

Social isolation is defined as the lack of relationships with others and little to no social support or contact. Loneliness, on the other hand, shows itself as feeling alone or disconnected from others even if you aren’t alone. It can feel like you lack deep…

“Social Connectivity” is science-language for a simple and obvious experience, that of connecting with others. We humans are, like it or not, fundamentally social creatures. Even introverts, such as myself, need to interact with others…