They’re shooting at our regiment now.” I read the quote above and put down the New York Times, the gallows humor too profound to ignore. The article by Mark Epstein was quoting a friend whose contemporaries were dying. Mine are, too. At an alarming rate. My Christmas card list this year showed a disturbing number
Do the people you love own certain times of your day – stalwart custodians of some magical clock? I never meet a day or a coffee pot without remembering the sound of my father’s voice in the early morning. I see him standing by the coffee pot, his greeting optimistic as dawn, cup in hand [ Read More ]
It all started with a cocktail party conversation about the surprises Middle Age throws at you (hot flashes? Seriously?) and what to do about them – but it ended in everybody glumly deciding a facelift might be the only hope for a happy future after middle age sets in. Nobody admitted to having had any [ Read More ]
Shared history has immense power. I didn’t know how much until my divorce. It wasn’t only my future dreams that vanished with my husband, but the comfort of shared history that had been far more a source of strength for me than I’d realized. We were the same age, so we shared the same jargon, [ Read More ]
I admit it. I loved my hair. All those wild red Irish tresses were as much my signature as the freckles that went with them. By age 30 I knew I’d never let my hair go grey, red was too much part of me. What I didn’t know then was that color would be the [ Read More ]
It’s who we are. On the Inside . Untouched by time or infirmity. Untrammeled by sorrows and losses and terrible truths. Unfettered by the vulnerability of old age or the fear of oblivion. Inside we are forever young.
A snapshot can do it… a store window reflection… a chance remark by a friend. It’s the moment you realize you’re not young anymore. You’re not old either, thank the Lord, just – you know, not young. You don’t feel any different on the inside. But your inside doesn’t match your outside the way it [ Read More ]
My friends are reaching birthday numbers they thought they’d never have to cope with, taking up Causes or Yoga, planning retirement, talking about their portfolios, their golf game and their cholesterol. They’re also burying their parents, becoming rich and Republican, having grandchildren and heart attacks – and oddest of all, they’re calling themselves Seniors. How [ Read More ]
I recently spent a hilarious afternoon at the hairdresser, as all the women there and the witty, astute owner of the place, shared our strategies for never really seeing ourselves in the mirror again… except, of course, when we’re at the hairdresser and look our absolute best. We each had our own mid-life mirror-avoidance technique [ Read More ]