GUEST POST by EDWARD MOONEY Age is a time for looking back— on a life, on a family; on a vocation, a profession. It’s a time for pleasant memories from the past and also for present day by day enjoyments— enjoying a community orchestra, a choir, an invitation to lunch or dinner. It’s a time to phone family, to walk for a cappuccino, [...]
Pat Taub
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 wood. They too are called “strong women.” [...]
Pat Taub
One of the hardest aspects of aging for me is losing dear friends–friends I looked forward to spending time with in my dotage. In this post I’m paying homage to them, grateful for our close connections and for the invaluable lessons they gave me. Diana died just a few months shy of her 60thbirthday; Zoe was 63 and Ray [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST by MARY DUNN When one retires, the world around us often shifts in unexpected ways which can cause confusion and doubt. That was true for me. When I retired from teaching, I struggled with what direction my life would take and what I would do with my time. I began to notice friends going about their lives as they always did. Many, [...]
Pat Taub
Thousands of years ago during “The Age of the Goddess” older women, known as Crones were sought out and worshipped for the wisdom they imparted. Becoming a Crone was the crowning achievement of a woman’s life—a far cry from 2019 where our ageist and sexist culture dismisses the older women. Barbara Walker, author of The Crone describes [...]
Pat Taub
Stop the World I Want to Get Off! This week I’ve been identifying with the ‘60’s musical, “Stop the World I Want to Get Off,” rattled by the news of the blazing fires in the Amazon to reports that the world has experienced the hottest summer ever to the rolling out of Trump’s increasingly meaner migrant policies, like keeping [...]
Pat Taub
I think I will tear my hair out if one more person asks me, “How’s your bucket list coming alone?” The implication is that I’m running out of time to see Morocco, jump out of an airplane, learn Italian or any number of demanding feats. If I were to answer, “The hell with a bucket list!” in all likelihood I’d be [...]
Pat Taub
Guest Post by Emily Capelle I always heard that as you get older you lose your filter and start saying whatever comes to mind. Or behave in ways you wouldn’t have in the past. Well now that I’m 58, I have noticed it more and more. Growing up in an “in-between” time like the sixties and seventies, I suspect many young girls, like [...]
Pat Taub
A Little Help from My Friends After blogging this week about my struggle to accommodate to my aging body’s inevitable decline with a focus on my newly visited sciatica, I received numerous helpful suggestions on the post’s comment section and on the WOW Facebook page. There was lots of supportive advice from others describing how they’ve [...]
Pat Taub
Guest Post by Stephanie Raffelock We arrive at the doorstep of older age without a plan. Often retirement isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. We often find our sense of self, tangled up with what “we used to do” instead of “who we are now.” THE PURPOSEFUL LIFE Life comes down to this at any age: we are [...]
Pat Taub