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The Love of Her Life September 30, 2014 by Margaret Morganroth Gullette - 1 I guard my dear mother’s privacy as if she were still alive, but I have decided to rescue this particular part of her story from her secret archives because there are so few narratives about romance in late life.…
The Zen of Tony, Spanning Generations August 25, 2014 by Pepper Evans - I heard a voice from my past when I stumbled upon an interview on National Public Radio with the legendary singer Tony Bennett. It triggered many happy memories. I would know that voice anywhere—singing or telling a story—and it always…
Imagining My Father’s Story August 11, 2014 by Pepper Evans - I recently read two nonfiction books about soldiers from World War II. One was the memoir Breaking the Code: A Father's Secret, a Daughter's Journey, and the Question That Changed Everything by Karen Fisher-Alaniz (2011).
Emergency Rooms Get a Face Lift July 29, 2014 by Pepper Evans - According to a story on National Public Radio, people 65 and older are more likely to go to the ER than any other age group except babies. It may be time for hospitals to consider changing to accommodate the people…
Guess Who’s Confronting Ageism Now? July 23, 2014 by Ashton Applewhite - Ageism in Silicon Valley has been all over the news lately. “The Brutal Ageism of Tech,” a March 2014 feature story in the New Republic, noted that some male techies, still in their 20s, are contemplating Botox and hair transplants, while middle-aged engineers, a swelling cohort of “highly trained, objectively talented, surpassingly ambitious workers,” are being sidelined “for reasons no one can rationally explain.”
A Shortage of Heroes July 18, 2014 by Flora Davis - I think my doctor is a hero and I once told him so. He’s a geriatrician—a specialist in treating older people—and a rare find. From what I read, I can guess he earns less than most specialists and has less…
The Community of Me June 22, 2014 by Flora Davis - When I was a child, my father bragged that my mom kept our kitchen so clean, we could eat off the floor. Mother often warned me about germs, something she worried about a lot because, back then, there were no…
In the Air with a Chair June 13, 2014 by Pepper Evans - A friend received one of those worst-nightmare phone calls. Her husband had had a skiing accident out West and was about to undergo emergency surgery on a very smashed-up knee. Another friend took her mother, who had trouble walking, to…
Playing the Old-Person Card June 3, 2014 by Flora Davis - I was making breakfast when I heard the man from the phone company knock on my neighbor’s door. (I live in an apartment building in a huge retirement community.) I thought nothing of it—the neighbor had just moved in. But…
Fifty Years of Shopping with My Mother May 19, 2014 by Margaret Morganroth Gullette - Not just in childhood, but deep into my middle years, my mother and I shopped together. I got most of my clothes on those expeditions, and she paid for a great many of them.
Salad, for Breakfast? April 28, 2014 by Pepper Evans - What are you eating for breakfast these days? Green tea and a protein bar? McSomething? Coffee and a doughnut? Seeing Michelle Obama with the new USDA food plate (replacing the old pyramid) has me rethinking how my own food habits stack up. 
The Doomed Experiment in Intergenerational Living April 23, 2014 by Pepper Evans - I recently picked up Katie Hafner's Mother Daughter Me: A Memoir (2013). All it took was a glance at the book jacket for me to know that the author was telling part of my story along with her own.
Multitasking after 40 April 10, 2014 by Flora Davis - I’ve always prided myself on my ability to multitask—I hate to do just one thing if I can manage two at the same time. I never go anywhere without a book just in case I get a chance to read.…
Fear of Falling April 8, 2014 by Pepper Evans - My sister-in-law took a tumble down a few steps the other day, ending up in the ER with a badly sprained ankle. Claire is my age, mid-50s, and she is in good physical health. She even does Italian folk dancing…
Finding ‘Modest Delight’ in Asking for Help March 27, 2014 by Ashton Applewhite - When I moved to a Brooklyn neighborhood with a median age of around 23, I said to myself that it would be time to move again when I could no longer hustle up the subway steps as fast as the…
Who’ll Be in Charge When We Die? March 26, 2014 by Ashton Applewhite - The lines used to be drawn more sharply for me when it came to assisted suicide, now more often called “aid in dying.” After all, I had in-the-trenches experience. My mother was a charter member of the Hemlock Society, the…
Why Ageism Matters March 17, 2014 by Ashton Applewhite - In 2007 I started interviewing people over 80 who were in the workforce. At the same time, I was reading and writing about longevity. To my surprise, the more I learned, the greater the discrepancy that emerged between my grim notion of late life and the lived reality.
Recalculating My Expiration Date March 16, 2014 by Flora Davis - At 79, I’m old enough to understand that I’m not immortal. Put it this way: I don’t take out five-year magazine subscriptions, but I’m still willing to buy green bananas. I might have to rethink my position on magazine subscriptions. …
The Art of Shopping, According to the Woman Who Wasn’t Born Yesterday February 9, 2014 by Margaret Morganroth Gullette - When I was young, everyone I knew felt some dissatisfaction when trying on clothes. Some of us found it excruciating. I used to say, “The scream came from the dressing room.” Point of purchase was supposed to be a romantic…- The Art of Dressing, According to the Woman Who Wasn’t Born Yesterday February 9, 2014 by Margaret Morganroth Gullette - When I was young, I used to be so anxious about what to wear that, in the morning or before a party, my room would be strewn with discarded outfits. The mess outside exposed the mess inside—how inadequate I felt,…
A Hidden Epidemic Threatens Older Adults: Malnutrition - For most of her life, Jenny Anne Horst-Martz’s mother worked hard to stay slender. But now, at age 90, her mother struggles to keep enough weight on. The problem started a few years ago when her mother was injured in…
The Parade of Aides - Working as a caregiver for a friend or family member is a rewarding but stressful job. When my mom qualified for an aide (thanks to the pooled income trust and Medicaid), it gave me a break during the day to…