WOW: Women's Older Wisdom
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March 2024
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Getting Old10

Breaking the Taboo on Loneliness

“I hate coming home to an empty house.  The silence can be deafening.”  “I can go days without speaking to anyone except the clerk in the grocery store or my mail carrier.”  “I rarely reach out to my friends when I’m feeling lonely because I’m too embarrassed to admit I’m lonely.”  “My daughter tells me to stop feeling [...]

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Lessons On How to Die

When I mentioned to a friend that I was reading Katy Butler’s new book, The Art of Dying Well, her response was:  “That sounds grim.”  Another friend was similarly put-off, saying,  “I try not to think about death.  It’s too depressing.”   After finishing Butler’s book I felt anything but depressed. I felt empowered [...]

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Beating Back the Holiday Blues

If you live alone; if your family is scattered far and wide; if you recently lost a partner or spouse; if you can’t afford the plane fare to visit family or to enjoy a holiday escape, you may be feeling miserable and lonely, making you a prime candidate for the holiday blues.  No one wants to feel left out, but wait a minute, let’s pause [...]

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Miserable with Getting Old

I recently received an email from a WOW reader, who described herself as “miserable with aging.”  She wrote,  “I hate getting old.  I hate the wrinkles, sleep problems and bouts of loneliness . . .  I hate having aged out of the dating scene.” The reader’s complaints carry a universal ring in our ageist and sexist culture, which [...]

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Witnessing Death

GUEST POST BY MARGIE MARTIN CAMPBELL I first encountered death when I was three. I watched my beloved Grandpa (Dad’s father) restlessly walking the floor, then sitting on the couch only to return to his pacing. I had noticed he hadn’t eaten, so I suggested to Mom that she fix him something. I wondered why she had such a strange look on [...]

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Bemoaning My Physical Decline

I’ve more or less accepted the changes aging brings to my appearance:  wrinkles, a sagging jaw line, droopy breasts and a puffy tummy.  The physical limitations are another story.  I am frequently at war with the arthritis in my left knee and right shoulder. I curse my body when my long walks have to be curtailed because my knee swells [...]

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My Jane Fonda Problem

GUEST POST BY JANET WEIL   “Wow… what a body – she’s incredibly well-proportioned!” The thought bubble over my head filled in as, a few months ago, my husband and I watched on Netflix a rather dull film (California Suite) with only 2 characters. Relaxed West Coast ex-husband, played by Alan Alda, hosts tense [...]

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