Let’s Get Together

Reading another chapter in Ashton Applewhite’s book, This Chair Rocks, I found her discussion about having friends of all ages fascinating. She says that we tend to choose friends who are close to our own age. It’s nice when other share a common social history with you. Whoopi Goldberg once said that she knew it was time to end a relationship …

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Sticks and Stones…

I read a post published online about whether life is what you make of it. The piece was written by a graduate student in gerontology—the study of aging and older adults. Having recently completed a Masters of Gerontology myself, I was surprised by some of the language she used. In my gerontology classes, we were taught the negative impact of such …

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The Invasion of Social Media

I was flipping through the May issue of O magazine which features a cover story about social media. Before I knew it, I started to feel like a victim in a horror movie. While I pride myself on staying current with technology, this is one area that has sent me screaming in terror and running away, despite its huge popularity. First …

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The Health Connection

Supportive social connections do a world of good for your emotional and physical health. This is especially true as you age, so nurture those ties that feed your soul. Remember that old Barbra Streisand song? The lyrics suggest that people who need people are the luckiest people in the world. Studies now show that they are also among the healthiest people …

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The New Scarlet Letter

Back in high school many of us read Nathanial Hawthorne’s classic novel, The Scarlet Letter. While the book was published back in 1850, its story is relevant today, but in a new way. Hawthorne wrote about Hester Prynne, a young woman who had a child with a man who was not her husband. As punishment for her sin as well as …

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The Invisible Woman

Not since the movie “9 to 5” have we seen the combined comic genius of Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. That was 35 years ago, and the core of that comedy centered on them battling sexism. I recently watched the third episode of their new comedy series “Grace and Frankie” streaming on Netflix. Now they are facing ageism. It’s wonderful to …

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