Flora Davis has written scores of magazine articles and is the author of five nonfiction books, including the award-winning Moving the Mountain: The Women’s Movement in America Since 1960 (1991, 1999). She currently lives in a retirement community and continues to work as a writer.
Daylight Saving Forever? March 7, 2023 - Daylight saving time will begin on March 12, and I’m not looking forward to it. Every year after we lose that hour of sleep, I feel groggy for days. Now that I’m in my 80s, it hits me harder than…
Gallows Humor February 14, 2023 - I live in a retirement community, and when somebody turns 90 here, we like to celebrate. A few months ago, a friend had a 90th birthday party that made me envious. I’m just 88, but I announced that I too…
How Dry Eye Am January 20, 2023 - I’ve just spent a couple of hours on my computer, and the words on my screen are beginning to blur. I have something called dry eye disease (DED), as do quite a few of my friends. Sixteen million Americans have…
Memory Hacks November 8, 2022 - When I was young, I could memorize epic poems with ease and recite the Gettysburg Address years after I learned it in school. I seldom forgot the names of books I’d read, the films I’d seen or who starred in…
Is Old Age Overrated? October 14, 2022 - Yes, that’s a joke. It has to be, in a culture where most people expect the worst of their later years. But that wasn’t me. I launched myself into my 70s and 80s with gusto. Lately, though, I’ve been wondering…
Confessions of a Worrywart September 21, 2022 - My mother used to do what I call “prophylactic worrying.” In the late afternoon every weekday, she’d worry about my father, who was driving home on a busy highway where there were lots of car accidents. She once admitted she…
Just the Facts July 12, 2022 - In this age of online falsehoods and conspiracy theories, it’s sometimes hard to figure out what’s true and what’s not, so I was fascinated when I read about a study done early in the pandemic. It set out to determine…
Overdosing on Sleep June 10, 2022 - I used to worry about my late husband because he spent so much time sleeping. Sometimes he’d log a solid eight hours overnight and then refuse to get up in the morning, dozing on until early afternoon. I assumed, as…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Home Health Care Dilemma June 3, 2021 - In 2008, my husband, Mike, fell down a flight of stairs and suffered a disastrous brain injury. Afterward, he was like a five-year-old trapped in an 80-year-old body: he was impulsive, talkative, mischievous, stubborn and convinced—no matter how many times…
A Diagnosis in Search of a Disease? May 11, 2021 - Back in 2016, my doctor told me I was prediabetic: my blood sugar level was above normal, and if I didn’t do something about it, I could wind up with type 2 diabetes. That scared me. I know what a…
I Swear March 26, 2021 - “Good gravy!” When I came across that exclamation recently in an online essay, it fueled a whole train of thought. Good grief Golly Gosh Criminy Darn you Doggone it These expressions have passed their use-by dates, as have those of…
The Memories That Escape Me February 17, 2021 - The other day, I took my cat to the vet. When we were done, I needed some prescription cat food from the practice’s pharmacy, and the vet’s assistant offered to collect it and meet me at my car. But then…
What Was the Silent Generation Silent About? January 15, 2021 - I’ve never much liked the fact that I’m part of the Silent Generation. Sandwiched as we are between the heroes of the Greatest Generation and the rebellious, idealistic Baby Boomers, we silents sound so boring. And when I stopped to…
Forest Bathing November 20, 2020 - The house where I grew up had miles of woods behind it, and my brother and I spent a lot of time walking the paths there or hiding in the brush, pretending to be early settlers or Indians. Those woods…
The Benefit I Earned October 22, 2020 - I was thinking the other day about how thrilled I was, shortly after I turned 65, when I signed up for Social Security. It was a watershed moment, and my husband took me out for lunch to celebrate. I was…
