While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Pat Taub is a family therapist, writer and activist and life-long feminist. She hopes that WOW will start a conversation among other older women who are fed up with the ageism and sexism in our culture and are looking for cohorts to affirm their value as an older woman.
Honoring Our Spiritual Mothers on Mother’s Day
I propose that we enlarge Mother’s Day so that we honor not just our biological mothers but also our spiritual mothers. These are the teachers, neighbors, aunts, family friends and others whose influence made an indelible impression on us. Frequently these women didn’t have their own children, but lovingly nurtured and guided the children [...]
Pat Taub
An Hilarious Novel, Heart-Warming TV Series, A Loss & More!
“The Vixen” This week I devoured Francine Prose’s witty new novel, “The Vixen,” which takes place in the 1950’s and revolves around the infamous Rosenburg trial and execution, where Ethel and Julius Rosenburg were executed for passing along secrets to the Russians. The protagonist, young editor, Julius Putnam, is assigned a book [...]
Pat Taub
Soulful Spring Cleaning
Spring is typically the time when we tidy up our living spaces by washing windows, sorting kitchen cupboards, and getting rid of clothes we no longer wear. What if we applied this same thinking to our interior lives? What if we engaged in spring-cleaning for the soul? What would that look like? It might involve reworking the formula in [...]
Pat Taub
The Mother-in-Law Curse
When my oldest son became engaged, a luncheon was arranged to introduce me to his finance’s family. When I glanced around the table, I caught my future daughter-in-law’s sisters scrutinizing me. I experienced the uncomfortable sensation that I was being sized-up to determine the extent to which I’d be a problematic mother-in-law. I [...]
Pat Taub
A Recommended TV Series & Book, April Holidays & More!
Escapist Indulgences After a week of reading about the horrors in the Ukraine and watching a webinar on the necessity for peace talks over escalation, I had my fill of despair, so I turned to a light-hearted TV series and a witty novel about an eccentric family. Julia This new series on HBO Max is part of the current trend reviving the indomitable [...]
Pat Taub
Celebrating Women’s Home Altars
Archaeologists have found traces of women’s home altars as early as 8000 BC. They pop up in the goddess civilization of Minoan Crete, during the Roman Empire, and sporadically in European, African, and Asian history. But in the US, the popularity of women’s home altars is a recent development. The women’s spirituality movement, which [...]
Pat Taub
The Strong Woman Trap
A neighbor, an elderly woman, who’s been through the mill caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s is referred to as a “strong woman.” I know several Maine women, well into their ‘70’s and ‘80’s, who have carved out self-sufficient rural lifestyles, including chopping their own firewood. They too are called “strong women.” [...]
Pat Taub
Good News, A Caring Community, Home Altar, Tulips & More!
Good News at Last A peace treaty was signed between the Ukraine and Russia. Biden has scaled back his military budget to provide money for universal health care. Cities across the country are pledging to shift from fossil fuels to green energy. APRIL FOOLS! If only I weren’t playing a joke but reporting on what actually transpired. [...]
Pat Taub
Too Much Stuff
GUEST POST by MICHAEL STEINMAN I’ve collected Things all my life. Children look enviously at the Things adults have and copy. An early reader, I not only tunneled through books but wanted to HAVE them (thus a career in academia, where a full bookcase was a credential). I bought jazz records, CDs, and memorabilia. Aloha shirts, folk [...]
Pat Taub
Ketanji Brown Jackson, Ukraine, A Great Documentary & Novel & More!
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Just when one thinks the racist, sexist Republican Senators couldn’t stoop any lower with their mean, baseless behavior, they proved us wrong this week in the ugly way they questioned Judge Jackson during her confirmation hearings to be a Supreme Court Justice. Throughout the questioning Judge Jackson remained [...]
Pat Taub