The following rumination, published first on Medium, was inspired by “my old ladies”… …women 20 or 25 years older whom I’ve befriended and gotten to know since I was 50. I now am old enough to be someone else’s “old lady.” Still, I continue to seek out “good” much-older women — though I’ve had to […]
Roof Days With Marge
The Blessing of a 103-year-old Friend Roof Days with Marge shamelessly echoes Tuesdays with Morrie, the 2007 bestseller by Mitch Albom, about “an old man, a young man, and life greatest’s lessons.” This post is about an old woman and a somewhat-less-old woman, and life’s most challenging passage! #successful aging Marge will be 104 in […]
Learning About Loneliness from Unlikely Teachers
It is one thing to be like Greta Garbo, who famously declared in her Swedish accent, “I vant to be alone.” It is quite another matter to be lonely. Especially now, as we emerge from a year of COVID isolation, many people feel like they are lacking companionship. Three in five working Americans regard themselves […]
My Sorority Sisters, Myself
A month ago, 19 of my sorority sisters logged on to our first Zoom reunion. We’ve been meeting weekly ever since. A few minutes before the start of this past week’s session, I happened on an essay about “the Iotas” in a rarely-visited directory on my laptop. The piece, written eleven years ago when Consequential […]
Make America Capable Again
When my youngest grandson was 3, he moved a chair to the sink, climbed up, and started washing his dish. He did it mindfully, not like some kid splashing for the fun of it. Watching him, I remarked at how “capable” he was. I explained that being capable meant he could handle stuff. Someone […]