Bathing Demystified: What’s Going On? May 4, 2022 - This is the second of three blogs about dementia and bathing. You’ll find part 1 here and part 3 here. Resistance to bathing is common in people with dementia. But it often blindsides the family caregiver because it seems out of character for…
Aging behind Bars April 26, 2022 - The United States has the largest prison population in the world. What’s that got to do with aging? you may ask. Well, people 50 and older are the fastest-growing segment of the US prison population, increasing 25 percent from 2009 to…
Aging, Fast or Slow April 19, 2022 - When my daughter became pregnant for the first time at 45—with no help from modern medicine—she was told she was probably aging slowly, since it’s rare for women to conceive at that age. She might even be a future centenarian. …
Bathing Demystified: The Person Comes First April 6, 2022 - This is the first of three blogs about dementia and bathing. You’ll find part 2 here, and part 3 here. I didn’t know enough. I knew that people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias are sensitive to temperature, so I heated the bathroom…
Confessions of a Night Owl March 22, 2022 - Sometimes after midnight, as I start for bed, I look out my bedroom window and feel a pang of loneliness. I live in a retirement community, and in the many windows of the apartment building across the way, only a…
We Can Teach This Old Dog New Tricks March 11, 2022 - Over the past several months, I’ve had some tight, lower-back pain that has limited my mobility. Even after consulting my doctor and stretching, I just couldn’t shake it, so I decided to try something new for me. I’ve started to…
Setting the Table March 8, 2022 - As the eldest daughter in a big family, it fell to me to set the table as my mother prepared dinner each night. Once my father arrived home from work, all seven of us ate together. I grew up with…
Being with My Aging February 18, 2022 - It is a poignant time of year and a poignant time of life. Aging can give us the opportunity to be aware of what we may have previously taken for granted. For me, the recent holiday season highlighted relationships and…
Writing Our Lives February 15, 2022 - As a journalist, I explored all kinds of subjects for magazines and book publishers, but I almost never wrote about myself—until I joined a writing group called Reminiscing on Paper. Most other members were there because their adult children wanted…
A Fine Romance February 12, 2022 - The pandemic’s isolation and loneliness hit us hard. At residential care facilities, some residents were locked in, meals left at the door, no one in or out. People who are homebound turned to delivery services, cautioned against having any face-to-face…
More Risk? More life? More Responsibility January 25, 2022 - Joy! Our first live theater event in almost two years, last week. With the booster and masked, my husband and I delightedly saw a one-woman show set in the 1960s, Queens Girl in the World, in which Jasmine Rush skillfully…
A Loss Without a Funeral January 18, 2022 - After months of medical intervention and prayer, a friend made the agonizing decision to euthanize her very old, very loyal dog. I am an animal lover who has been in her shoes, so I could appreciate what she was going…
Life Stories December 27, 2021 - Five years ago, I scoffed when I heard older people comment about starting to read their local obituary columns. I smirked to myself as I wondered if they had anything better to do with their time. Recently, I was startled…
Books to Give or Keep, 2021 December 3, 2021 - Silver Century regularly recommends books—fiction, nonfiction, memoirs—that we feel reflect our mission by portraying aging in a positive light or that offer insights from thought leaders in the field of aging. Here are some of our favorites for holiday giving…
Inner Voices November 18, 2021 - If nothing is going on around you and your thoughts are wandering, what do those thoughts sound like—or look like—inside your mind? Everybody’s answer to that is probably different. According to an article in the Guardian, some deaf people don’t…
So What If I’m Old November 16, 2021 - Every so often, I have a flash of insight about my own internalized ageism. When it happens, I am both disappointed and pleased. To set the stage: I am driving to a doctor’s appointment at a major downtown medical center.…
So Much Stuff November 9, 2021 - I’m a widow with two daughters in their 20s, who both live on their own. I have a two-story, four-bedroom house that is becoming harder to maintain. Could it be a good time for me to sell? It seems to…
The Geography of Ageism October 26, 2021 - A recent study analyzed data from all 50 states (plus DC) and found that, when it comes to ageism, New Jersey is the worst. I was astounded when I read that. I’ve lived in New Jersey for most of my…
Don’t Turn Your Back October 22, 2021 - As recently as 1982, the late Robert Terry, MD, a groundbreaking neuropathologist working specifically on Alzheimer’s disease, was quoted in the Washington Post, saying: All diseases are depersonalizing to some extent. But you’re still human…But a person with a serious…
In the Land of Postadulthood October 15, 2021 - Last month, I returned to the place where I grew up, to the lake where swimming had been banned earlier this summer. The cyanotoxins had cleared, so every morning I went for a swim and a kayak ride. This year,…
Gaming: A Way to Exercise Older Brains - Video games have always been part of Shawn Etheridge’s life. His interest was first sparked as a young teen, when he toted rolls of quarters to a nearby mall to play arcade games like Pong. As a young adult, as…
A Silent Killer in My Family - At my annual physical, I brought a list of concerns, feeling uneasy after learning that three of my siblings have high Lp(a), a form of cholesterol that increases the risk of heart and vascular disease. “I think I should get…