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
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
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
I gaze at my beautiful grandchildren, Jane and Max, taking in their vitality, humor, and intelligence. My loving admiration turns to grief when I consider the future that awaits them: an overheated planet, storms of Biblical proportions, polluted drinking waters, deadly viruses and more. As I sit with my grief for the world Jane and Max [...]
Pat Taub
Saturday morning, NPR was playing in the background while I rummaged in my refrigerator for something to eat for breakfast. I wasn’t paying much attention until the program played an interview with Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University, who, for the past two years, was part of the Covid research effort. When [...]
Pat Taub
Poet Victoria Chang’s new book, “Dear Memory,” consists of letters to her deceased parents, asking them questions that have plagued her about her Chinese ancestry. Chang started me thinking about my own incomplete conversations with deceased relatives and close friends. I decided to write my own letters to the dearly departed, but with [...]
Pat Taub
“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 adult daughter tells me to [...]
Pat Taub
I’m seeing a new boldness among older women who are speaking out when ageist behavior is directed at them. These women are standing up for themselves and for all of us, when they challenge a culture that demeans them. Meet some of these badass women: Rachel, age 69, is a frequent traveler who at just 5’ struggles getting her suitcase into [...]
Pat Taub
I have a friend who’s been telling me for years that she’s going to take Italian lessons. Another friend has a long-standing dream to visit Japan. For just as long, every time I pass an art supply store I revisit my dream of taking up watercolors. We’re members of the late-in-life dream club whose engine is stalled. But it doesn’t [...]
Pat Taub
In a society that worships youth, my wrinkles, white hair, sagging breasts and flabby upper arms render me unacceptable. The anti-aging industry to the rescue! If I go in for plastic surgery, facial fillers, hair dye, beauty creams and medical supplements, I can defy nature, while stuffing the pockets of the anti-aging fat cats, on target [...]
Pat Taub