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...
Women 60+10
How Did Aging Become So Complicated?
Both of my grandmothers lived well into their 80’s, making an easy transition into old age. Neither one took mega doses of vitamins or exercised to stave off the Grim Reaper. Nor were they bombarded with advice on how to slow the aging process. They each continued to dress up almost every day. My paternal grandmother was rarely without [...]
Pat Taub
Milestone Birthdays – the Gift that Keeps on Giving
by Shelly Schlueter, Guest Blogger Professional boxers like to say that everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Milestone birthdays can be that punch. On the other hand, there is also a Zen saying, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” At 50, the waters of life can get downright roiling. So, how was [...]
Pat Taub
Parenting Adult Children
by Lisa Savage, Guest Blogger One of the rites of passage for an elder mom is when her children become full-fledged adults. Do they still need our nurturing? What’s the best way for a mom of adults to transition to offering support that both meets her need to nurture and her grown child’s need to be acknowledged as capable? Things have [...]
Pat Taub
My Time is Running Out!
As I move through my 70’s I’m forced to face the fact that I’m running out of time. It feels scary. I’m healthy and financially secure, but no one lives forever. How much time do I have left: 15 years, 20 years? The last 15 years raced by. If the next 15 years are going to be equally accelerated, how can I make the most of them? How [...]
Pat Taub
Bastille Day, Cool Older Maine Women & Practicing Gratitude
Happy Bastille Day to All You Francophiles! I’ve had the good fortune to celebrate Bastille Day in France. I was just 19 and spending the summer in the small French town of Chambon-sur-Lignon in the French Alps. I was part of an international work camp helping out at a secondary school. The Bastille Day celebration went on into the wee hours [...]
Pat Taub
Why Do Mothers-in-Law Get a Bad Rap?
“A mother-in-law should be blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.” —Armenian proverb Without going to this extreme, many contemporary mothers-in-law make conscious efforts to monitor their behavior, but often to no avail. Once a woman becomes a mother-in-law she’s typically the butt of mother-in-law jokes and pejorative labels. [...]
Pat Taub
Alexandra Merrill: Aging Meaningfully
“I’m not done with my transformation.” Alexandra Merrill, on the cusp of 80, quoting Stanley Kunitz in his poem, The Layers, which he wrote upon turning 90. Zanda, as she is called, embodies aging meaningfully. I’m proposing substituting “aging meaningfully” with the commonly used phrase “aging successfully,” [...]
Pat Taub
Celebrating the WOW Facebook Community
Today marks my 100th posting since launching WOW in August 2015. WOW came about when, looking for resources for my course “Women and Aging,” I goggled “blogs for older women.” To my dismay the vast majority consisted of advice on how to dress younger, lure a man, up your sex drive, cosmetic surgery and the like. In other words, how [...]
Pat Taub
Expanding Mother’s Day to Include Our Spiritual Mothers
I propose that we expand Mother’s Day so that we honor not just our biological mothers but also our spiritual mothers. Our spiritual mothers 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 [...]
Pat Taub
“Make Me Look 20 Years Younger”
Recently a professional photographer told me, “Every time I photograph an older woman she says, “Make me look 20 years younger.” I incredulously responded, “Every time?” “Without fail,” was his affirmative answer. What a sorry state for women! How can we ever enjoy old age if we hate the faces that accompany it? Our [...]
Pat Taub