Pepper Evans works as an independent-living consultant, helping older adults age in place. She is the empty-nest mother of two adult daughters and has extensive personal and professional experience as a caregiver. She has worked as a researcher and editor for authors and filmmakers. She puts her time and resources to use in the nonprofit sector and serves on the Board of Education in Lawrence Township, NJ.
If the Shoe Fits June 22, 2018 - Many years ago I worked for a sarcastic boss with a wicked sense of humor. He loved to tease, and even when I was the target, I found him funny. Once, noticing that I had small feet, he said it…
Books to Give or Keep in 2017 December 6, 2017 - Friends all know I’m an avid reader, and it’s that time of year when they ask me to recommend books for holiday gift lists. I primarily seek out new fiction, but I enjoy deviating for an interesting memoir. Each of…
Not Your Mother’s Genes? November 15, 2017 - I once had a discussion with a friend, who is a geneticist, about his research. Perhaps a bit tongue-in-cheek, I suggested that he rethink his current cell experiments and instead study someone healthy—like me.
Lying to Mom? August 14, 2017 - A few years ago, a New York Times New Old Age blog had me thinking about my mother's later-life driving. The blog is about lying to an older person, ostensibly for his or her own good. In one tale, a grown daughter sabotages her mother's driver's license renewal to avoid confrontation over concerns about waning driving skills.
Helping Hands, Joined Online July 21, 2017 - When you’re coping with the needs of someone who is hospitalized or convalescing, you may wish you could clone yourself to handle everything on your plate. Take heart—a website can become your personal assistant.
Weighty Issue June 16, 2017 - Are we teaching our children today what they need to know to assure good health beyond childhood and throughout their lives? Confuse Hamlet with Macbeth and you may not graduate from high school. Forget that pi is 3.141592 and it’s…
The Happiness Check May 15, 2017 - I received a milestone-birthday gift from a dear, longtime friend. It was a generous monetary gift that came with a caveat: I must spend it on myself. No college tuition help, no car repair, no electric bill—I had to spend…
Mind Your Qs, Help Your Diet April 26, 2017 - Is your midlife palate bored to ambivalence about mealtime? Often I lament the ho-hum of my menu repertoire, but I still go back to the tried and true in every food group. But recently, in an unlikely coincidence, I tried…
Now Hear This April 12, 2017 - I love to feel connected and informed—both, keys to successful aging. I no longer get a newspaper and don’t watch much television. I live between New York City and Philadelphia, where there’s no shortage of media outlets, but I get…
Whose Vision Problem Is It? March 27, 2017 - I recently saw a feature in a magazine about an item so intriguing that I was compelled to investigate the retailer’s website. I left my comfy reading chair to go to the computer with the intention of making a purchase.…
Save the Planet, Harm your Family? March 2, 2017 - 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…
Mom’s Bridge Club February 1, 2017 - 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.
Books to Give or Keep in 2016 December 5, 2016 - 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…
Getting over the Cold Shoulder November 10, 2016 - 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…
New Names for Today’s Households October 22, 2016 - 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…
They’re Baaaaack! October 3, 2016 - 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…
All in Good Taste September 12, 2016 - Recently, I overheard someone turning down a gooey, brownie-like concoction, saying, “No thanks, it’s too sweet for my taste.” Wait a minute, was that me uttering those words? Too sweet? That’s up there with too rich and too thin, isn’t…
Very Pinteresting August 26, 2016 - Lonely? Can’t find your best girlfriends, not even on Facebook? Don’t despair; I know where they all went. They are on Pinterest (pronounced like interest, only starting with a p, pin-trest). What, you ask, is Pinterest? It’s sort of an…
Homesick August 15, 2016 - Two friends of mine recently experienced something you don’t hear about often: grieving the loss of their childhood homes. For people who spent a long stretch of their formative years at a single address, the childhood home is a repository…
Avoiding Drug Interactions Just Got Easier July 8, 2016 - My mom had a great relationship with her regular pharmacy. In addition to getting prescriptions filled, a visit there included a dedicated, professional woman assembling our nonpharmacy shopping list so Mom could go to the back of the store and…
