Skip to content
Skip to main menu
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…
All in Good Taste September 12, 2016 by Pepper Evans - 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…
How to Have a Good Life: Lean In—to Your Relationships September 9, 2016 by Flora Davis - I was stuck for a time when I was in my 20s. My career and dating possibilities were going nowhere, and I struggled with depression. I was far from home, but one day I talked to my father about all…
Fooling the Phone Company August 31, 2016 by Flora Davis - Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, to quote the 19th century French novelist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Very Pinteresting August 26, 2016 by Pepper Evans - 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 by Pepper Evans - 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…
Six More Questions about My New Manifesto Against Ageism August 12, 2016 by Ashton Applewhite - Since the publication of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism (2016), I’ve been asked a lot of questions. Are you curious about why I've become an Old Person in Training?
He Was His Own Miracle August 10, 2016 by Flora Davis - There’s an article elsewhere on this website that expresses doubts about something I believe in. There’s no scientific evidence, it says, that thinking positively can keep you healthy or that being determined to fight back against an illness can help you…
Scammed! A Warning July 18, 2016 by Flora Davis - That day in December, my bursitis had flared up and I’d lost a filling, but what really bothered me was that my computer wasn’t working and I felt stupid. I’d fallen for a scam. What’s more, I’d just read an…- Six Questions about My New Manifesto Against Ageism July 18, 2016 by Ashton Applewhite - Since the publication of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism (2016), I’ve been asked a lot of questions. Are you curious about why I find aging so damn interesting?
Retire? Never! July 15, 2016 by Flora Davis - When I was in my 30s, a friend asked whether I was saving money for retirement. I laughed. As a single mother with two small children, I could barely keep my head above water financially. No, I told her, I…
Avoiding Drug Interactions Just Got Easier July 8, 2016 by Pepper Evans - 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…
An Ageless Tradition July 8, 2016 by Flora Davis - Balloons were drifting around, bumping against the ceiling in my living room, buoyed by helium and the generosity of friends. The previous weekend, they had thrown a baby shower for me. It may have been the first time in history…
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…