While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Women 60+10
Book Review: Vivian Gornick, “The Odd Woman and the City” (An Older Woman’s Life Review)
This Christmas I received the new memoir by Vivian Gornick, The Odd Woman and the City. (The city in question is Manhattan.) It’s a book I’ve been eager to read, being a Gornick fan of many years. I read the young Gornick when she wrote for The Village Voice, documenting fiery protests of Second Wave Feminists. Later I read her mother-daughter [...]
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
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
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
It’s Carpe Diem Time!
Carpe Diem, the Latin phrase that means “seize the moment,” is often bantered around to inspire one to take advantage of the present moment, or not to postpone til tomorrow what you can do today. For older women, carpe diem is especially relevant. We don’t have a lot of time. If a new opportunity greets you, why not embrace it rather [...]
Pat Taub
GUEST POST: Cropped at Sixty
“How long ago did you stop coloring your hair?” I brought up this question to my CODEPINK buddy Jackie Barshak as I drove her and a couple of 20-something activists up Highway 95 from Las Vegas to Camp Justice, across the road from Creech Air Force Base. We were in Nevada to take part in Shut Down Creech, a major mobilization in [...]
Janet Weil
Does Dining Alone Intimidate You?
When I tell other women my age that I frequently eat out alone, they tend to look at me like I have two heads. When they catch their breath, they say something like, “Aren’t you embarrassed?” Or, “How did you work up the nerve?” I understand their reactions. It’s not always easy for me to walk into a restaurant alone. More often [...]
Pat Taub
Life After Retirement . . . Doesn’t Have
to be a Black Hole
Many older women find themselves feeling empty when they retire. At work they were valued for their contributions and intellect, while enjoying the camaraderie of workplace associates. Once they retire they often face a big void. Some try to fill it with hobbies, travel, extended lunches with close friends, or taking courses at the local senior [...]
Pat Taub
Are You Guilty of Romancing the Past?
My elegant 82 year old widowed neighbor speaks longingly of the years she lived in Italy during the time her husband was a Renaissance Arts scholar. Her three children learned to speak Italian and developed a passion for foreign travel. Another friend, who recently turned 80, frequently reminisces about her younger head-turning beautiful self—she’s [...]
Pat Taub