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Young Blood May 10, 2017 by Flora Davis - If you were offered a way to feel healthier and even look younger, would you take it? What if it required you to have repeated transfusions with the blood of teenagers or 20-somethings? This is not vampire fiction. A private…
Mind Your Qs, Help Your Diet April 26, 2017 by Pepper Evans - 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…
19, Going on 90 April 24, 2017 by Ashton Applewhite - Here’s a note that came to me recently from a reader of my Q&A blog, Yo, Is This Ageist? She wrote that:
Now Hear This April 12, 2017 by Pepper Evans - 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…
No More Old Cats? April 6, 2017 by Flora Davis - The other day, I was hunting online for new canned foods to try out on my unbelievably picky cat, and I couldn’t help noticing all the options for “senior cats.” There didn’t seem to be anything at all for “old…
Whose Vision Problem Is It? March 27, 2017 by Pepper Evans - 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.…
Let’s Put Films to the Applewhite Test March 24, 2017 by Ashton Applewhite - Invented by the sharp American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, a movie passes the Bechdel test if at least two women talk to each other about something other than a man. Low bar, right? Yet surprisingly few movies pass it. I propose the…
Accepting Losses, Discovering Gains March 22, 2017 by Maggie Sullivan - After my mother came to live with me, I gradually took on more and more of her care. By the end of the first year I was doing what any Alzheimer’s caregiver does. I bathed her, helped her dress, handled…
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…
Senior Centers Are Evolving - The first time Sue and Mike Miller visited their community’s senior center in Portage, MI, several years ago, they found a few people playing pool or bridge—and decided it wasn’t for them. But the couple tried again in 2022, when…
The Upside and Downside of Being Owned by a Cat - I love my cat, but until now, I hadn’t thought of her as a way to stay healthy. In fact, when I first brought Velvet—a small, feisty black kitty—home, I thought of her as a dog substitute. My beloved dog…