Skip to content
Skip to main menu
A Good Death March 9, 2017 by Flora Davis - While I was trawling the Internet one day, I came across this comment on the blog of a jazz musician: “I’ve often joked that every musician’s secret fantasy is to die on the bandstand, at a ripe old age and…
Save the Planet, Harm your Family? March 2, 2017 by Pepper Evans - I like to think of myself as being more open to new ideas at midlife, willing to change some practices in the name of progress. I have, for example, taken greater personal responsibility in the reduce, reuse, recycle realm. A…
Where Medicare Fails February 20, 2017 by Flora Davis - A friend of mine was hospitalized recently. What really worried her, she told me the day before she went in, was not the procedure she was about to have but her medical bills if the hospital decided not to admit…
In the Fight against Bigotry, Where Does Ageism Fit In? February 15, 2017 by Ashton Applewhite - I wake these days remembering that something awful has happened. Reality assembles itself, and I feel worse. The multicultural, egalitarian, globalized society I hope to inhabit is under assault. Bigotry is ascendant. Racism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance—pick your prejudice!—are sanctioned,…
Mom’s Bridge Club February 1, 2017 by Pepper Evans - Lately I'm reading a surprising number of memoirs written by adult children about their experiences with their parent(s) as they age. I find myself identifying so often with the authors' stories.
Preserving Autonomy against the Odds January 27, 2017 by Maggie Sullivan - When the doctor diagnosed my mother with probable Alzheimer’s, he also told her, “I want you to stop driving.” He said her reflexes and judgment weren’t good enough. By that point in her disease, my mother had trouble following conversations,…
The Trials of a Top Dog January 12, 2017 by Flora Davis - We live in a hierarchical society. Which is too bad because I’ve never wanted to be anybody’s boss or to order anyone around. That mindset may be fairly common among women of my generation—I’m in my 80s. The one time…
Action—Global and Local—against Ageism December 19, 2016 by Ashton Applewhite - October [2016] brought me two very different gigs—one on the world stage and one in a Brooklyn community center. The first was at the United Nations on October 6 to celebrate the 26th International Day of Older Persons. It was…
Books to Give or Keep in 2016 December 5, 2016 by Pepper Evans - It’s that time of year—when I am asked to recommend books I’ve read to friends who are working on their gift lists. I primarily seek out new fiction, but I enjoy deviating for an interesting memoir. Each of these books…
Deep Reading December 2, 2016 by Flora Davis - I’ve spent my life immersed in a warm bath of fiction. I always have one novel going and another waiting. On the rare occasions when I have no new book on hand, I feel slightly panicky. Scientists have discovered that…
Does She Still Recognize You? November 11, 2016 by Maggie Sullivan - An acquaintance I ran into at the supermarket stopped me with that question. It was one I got frequently when my mother was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s. The question made me uncomfortable. It seemed intrusive coming from someone…
Getting over the Cold Shoulder November 10, 2016 by Pepper Evans - About a year ago I had a pain in my shoulder that didn’t go away. I am still not sure what caused the problem but it started with a tingling and got progressively worse. Over a period of a few…
An Ounce of Prevention? Maybe November 7, 2016 by Flora Davis - I’ve always figured that the fewer medications I take, the better. If there’s something wrong with me and a drug can help, I might not have much of a choice. But dose myself daily to prevent something that might never…
New Names for Today’s Households October 22, 2016 by Pepper Evans - As I wrote in a previous blog about older kids returning to live with their parents, it really wasn’t that long ago that it was OK, respectable even, for a young adult to live at home until marriage. Then it…
Think Old People Will Tank the Economy? That’s Just Plain Wrong October 19, 2016 by Ashton Applewhite - Many economists agree that, as the number of boomers leaving the workforce swells, younger workers will shoulder ever-greater burdens. Social Security will be bankrupted by all those lazy old people! Medicare exhausted! These dire predictions of economic turmoil are biased,…
Reverse Mortgages: An Age-Old Bid for Security October 7, 2016 by Flora Davis - What scares most Americans more than dying? The possibility that we’ll outlive our savings. There have been times in my life when that’s worried me. In my worst moments, I even imagined ending up as a bag lady. What does…
They’re Baaaaack! October 3, 2016 by Pepper Evans - I was intrigued to read Gallup poll findings that 14 percent of 24- to 34-year-olds are living with their parents, and more than half of 18- to 23-year-olds are still at home (or are back there again). That is an about-face from…
Overdosed? September 26, 2016 by Flora Davis - When doctors prescribe new medications for me, I always wonder whether they’re getting the dosage right. There’s a reason I’m wary, and it has nothing to do with distrusting my doctors personally. I’m reminded of it whenever someone complains that…
Adrift in Time September 22, 2016 by Maggie Sullivan - I was taking my mother to Maine to visit her brother. They had lived in New Jersey within a few blocks of each other their entire lives until, due to her dementia, she moved in with me.
Age Takes Center Stage around the Brexit Vote—Not in a Good Way September 14, 2016 by Ashton Applewhite - On June 23, 2016, a referendum (a vote in which everyone of voting age can take part) was held to decide whether the United Kingdom should leave or remain in the European Union. Leave won by 52 percent to 48…
Time, Fast and Slow - When she graduated in 1996, Amy Forbus’ four years at Hendrix College felt like a miniature lifetime. College had been the biggest undertaking of her life thus far. But when she returned to the same liberal arts school in Arkansas…
Tough Break - My long-time friend of over three decades is an avid exerciser and has been as long as I have known her. She has a gym membership (maybe two) and attends classes daily. Her reasoning was not to look good in…