GUEST POST by JANET WEIL “The Gaza Strip is once again the most dangerous place in the world to be a child.” –UNICEF Executive...
Remembering My Mother
On December 15, 2000, fifteen years ago today, my mother, Jane Conrad First, died. She was one month short of her 83rd birthday. I’ve had an incredible post-mother journey. When Jane left this world, I was still holding anger and resentment towards her. I didn’t show this side of myself to the outside world because, like many people, [...]
Pat Taub
What To Do When the Holiday Blues Strike
If you’re an older woman who lives alone; if your family is scattered far and wide; if you recently lost a partner or spouse; if you have limited mobility due to income or health concerns, you might dread the winter holidays, feeling like they’re a curse since they tend to magnify your isolation. To add to your holiday blues, you might [...]
Pat Taub
Don’t Peg Me as Your Run-of-the-Mill Old Lady
In 2015 older women (and men) are redefining old age, embracing it as a complex, even rich period in our lives. We rail against the prevailing stereotypes of the bent-over elderly person hobbling along with a cane or a disgruntled old bag. We are a diverse group, reflecting a wide range of older adults. While I fit the cultural stereotype [...]
Pat Taub
Practicing Gratitude in Crazy Times
With Thanksgiving approaching, if you’re like me, you’re consumed with cooking, hosting family, or traveling, making it easy to overlook that this is when we’re supposed to be thankful for our blessings. Living in such crazy times, where terrorist attacks occur with greater frequency, and where wars are off the charts and when many of [...]
Pat Taub
Madeleines: a Must-See Play by Bess Welden
If you live in or near Portland, Maine, and you’re a woman who struggles in relationship with her mother and/or sister (that’s almost every woman I know!), you owe it to yourself to see Bess Welden’s riveting new play, Madeleines. You can catch it Thursday through Sunday at Portland Stage’s Studio Theater. Welden boldly tackles universal [...]
Pat Taub
Managing Loss on a Personal and Global Level
For me, the absolute worst aspect of aging is the accumulated losses. Death becomes all too frequent a visitor. Dear friends stricken with cancer or suffering tragic deaths leave me in far greater numbers than when I was younger. And now, there’s the global loss of hundreds of lives in Paris, adding to my almost daily grief for the mounting [...]
Pat Taub
Channeling Emmeline Pankhurst and Susan B. Anthony
Having just seen the excellent new film, “Suffragette,” I found myself wondering what some of the early Suffragettes leaders, like Emmeline Pankhurst of Britain and Susan B. Anthony of the US might have to say about the contemporary feminist movement. I suspected they wouldn’t be too happy with us, and thought I could profit from their [...]
Pat Taub
The Trap of Being a Strong Woman
From time to time, I will publish a post for “Flashback Friday” from my prior blog. This post was first published in February, 2013. It remains relevant in that many older single women function well living solo. But when they experience loneliness, they feel unable to fess up to it because they are regarded as “strong,” [...]
Pat Taub
Women Making A Difference: Dr. Jill Stein
Last Friday I found myself at the Amtrak Station in Portland waiting for Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for President, who was in town for a Fund Raiser and a series of interviews . Since I was hosting her, I was the designated greeter and driver. When I spotted Jill, I was a little taken aback by her modest appearance. She [...]
Pat Taub
History’s Mean Trick: From Wise Woman to Witch
For several hundred years during Europe’s Middle Ages old women played a central role. In village after village they were revered as healers, midwives, and caretakers to the dying. In the mid 1500’s as the Catholic Church sought to extend its power, the influential village wise women were a clear threat to a looming patriarchy. Church [...]
Pat Taub