Single? Enjoy A Girlfriend Getaway This Valentine’s Season
February 14, 2012
BY KITT WALSH According to blogger Tom Blake on his website Finding Love After 50, (www.findingloveafter50.com/harvard_husband.html) between the ages of 50-69 there are 1.7 single women for every single man. If you are seeking a husband, that statistic may make you feel like fastening a noose—but, as it turns out, you are in the minority. A [...]
College for Older Adults
February 13, 2012
BY GAYLE THOMPSON There was a time when college, and higher education in general, was almost exclusively reserved for young adults fresh out of high school, who were still figuring out what career path they wanted to follow. Back then, anyone over the age of 25 or 30 who was sitting in a college classroom [...]
Affordable Vacationing: Try a Home Exchange
February 7, 2012
BY KITT WALSH When she felt overworked, my mother used to talk about wanting to run away and join the circus. Jut lock the front door and don’t look back—headed for somewhere exotic. Today we have such a solution: Home-Swapping … just the thing for the “I-hate-my-life” blues. Step into someone else’s shoes and enjoy [...]
Activities for Grandparents
January 27, 2012
By Gayle Thompson It’s one of the most special relationships a child can form–the bond between grandchild and grandparent. Grandparents tend to not notice the second helping of dessert and the messy bedroom, and to think every drawing their grandchild plasters on their refrigerator is the best artwork they’ve ever seen. But when the endless [...]
Saving a Second Marriage
January 16, 2012
BY GAYLE THOMPSON No one ever plans on walking down the aisle and promising “until death do us part,” only to face off in divorce court years down the road. But with the divorce rate at 50% in the United States, many people find themselves single later in life, with hopes of still finding lasting [...]
50 and Unemployed
January 12, 2012
BY CARMEN M. HUBBARD In years past, you’ve weathered the storm of financial uncertainty. You took an extra job to make ends meet when necessary. You went back to school to earn your degree to be considered for that long-awaited promotion—all while raising children. So how is it that decades of hard work and dedication [...]
Considering Bankruptcy?
January 4, 2012
BY STEVE WINSTON If you’re visiting this site, there’s a good chance you came of age—personally and professionally —in the Eighties. Ahhh, the Eighties. We became known as the “Me Generation.” We became Yuppies, 24/7 devotees of the good life … the best clothes, the best clubs, the best cars, the best restaurants, all provided [...]
Eating and Drinking to a Healthy New Year!
December 31, 2011
BY KATHY HESTER The easiest thing to do is put off being “good” until the New Year. That’s what resolutions are for, right? Well, really the best thing to do is have some healthy choices for you and your guests so you can end the year with no regrets. Remember, taking care of yourself is [...]
Have a Happy and Healthier Holiday
December 30, 2011
BY KATHY HESTER It happens to me every year around this time. I’ve indulged little by little until I’m back on the path to unhealthy eating again. Then comes January 1 and it’s time to eat virtuous all over again. It’s hard to go from one extreme to another. Don’t wait until New Year’s Day [...]
The Benefits of Dating Younger Men
December 28, 2011
BY KATHY FOUST It’s becoming more and more common for older women or “cougars” (who the heck came up with that term) to date younger men. While older women should still avoid the men who are young enough to be without a clue and are entirely ruled by their hormones, there is something to be [...]
Home for the Holidays: Dealing with Family Roles
December 25, 2011
BY CARMEN M. HUBBARD Home for the holidays makes for warm and fuzzy thoughts. Being surrounded by parents, brothers and sisters; reminiscing about the old neighborhood; sharing stories and a confessing about throwing a wild teenage party the weekend your folks were out of town. It’s a good time until reality sets in. Those good [...]
Sharing Holiday Traditions with your Grandkids
December 23, 2011
BY KITT WALSH My grandmother often shook her head and muttered that the world was “going to hell in a hand-basket” and one of the indications of the downfall of Western civilization in her eyes was the escalating disappearance of family traditions. Her Sunday dinners, at which she held sway from her carved mahogany “throne”, [...]
Holiday Travel Tips For Those No Longer 20 Years Old
December 18, 2011
BY KITT WALSH The other day my vanity took a hit when a young woman offered me her seat on the subway. I mentally wrestled with the fact I was far too young to need to be treated like a senior citizen and then realized (simultaneously) that I am … –Chronologically approaching legitimate senior citizen [...]
Psychiatry Gone Wacky
December 16, 2011
BY DICK METHIA The American Psychiatric Association has got my cranky synapses firing again. Periodically that venerable organization unveils a revision of its “bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, mercifully abbreviated “DSM.” I wouldn’t recommend this psychiatric encyclopedia as a fun read unless you’re an insomniac. You’ll be in lullaby land before [...]
How to Protect Yourself from Scams During the Holidays
December 14, 2011
Both before and after the holidays, tis the season to get scammed. You are busy, tired, short of money and have little energy to pay as much attention to everything as usual. Unscrupulous people offering deals, jobs, credit cards or soliciting for fake charities come out of the woodwork when you are distracted by shopping [...]
The Beginning and The End
November 25, 2011
BY MARY JANE HORTON She was 13, I was 53. She was irritable. I was grumpy forgetful, hot, and bloated. She was getting her period, and I was getting rid of mine. Neither of us was really happy about it that year that I went through menopause and my daughter started menstruating. I felt sad [...]
Mid-Life Career Switch
November 16, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON Question: What do Ernestine Shepherd, Carmen Ware and Julia Child have in common? Answer: They each switched careers at the age most people are at least contemplating retirement – and became widely successful in their new roles. Ernestine Shepherd is a body-builder, fitness trainer and model, who happens to be 75 years [...]
Volunteer Opportunities for Any Age
November 8, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON We’ve all heard the phrase, “It’s better to give than receive,” and we can probably each recall moments when we lived by that principle, and the euphoria of that experience lasted for days, or maybe even weeks. But what if we could give of ourselves on a regular basis, and have fun [...]
Product Placement
November 1, 2011
BY DICK METHIA Captain Morgan, anyone? Apologies to our teetotaling, beer-guzzling or wine-sipping readers, who may not appreciate the reference. Captain Morgan is a popular brand of spiced rum favored by college kids, football fans and retired librarians. During a National Football League game in 2008, Captain Morgan rum received a million dollars worth [...]
The Grandparent Clock
October 28, 2011
BY MARY JANE HORTON I want grandchildren. Plain and simple. Yet, considering that my kids are only 22 and 19 years old, I don’t want grandchildren. Do I sound confused? Yes. Am I alone in this? No. With more and more women (and men) having children when they are older, the biological clock, and yearning [...]
Spotlight on Reba McEntire
October 18, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON Her first album hit shelves long before Taylor Swift or Miranda Lambert were even born, but in the 34 years since country superstar Reba McEntire’s self-titled debut album was released, the fiery redhead’s career is still stronger than ever, proving that age really is just a number. Born in Oklahoma, the 56-year-old [...]
Making Potpourris & Sachets: Scent And Protect Your Home
October 12, 2011
BY KITT WALSH Making use of those dried blossoms and herbs from my now-hibernating garden not only scents my life through the winter months, but helps stave off moth damage when I finally put those winter woolies away at season’s end. If you start now, you can also use nature’s bounty as inexpensive –and very [...]
Why Personal Umbrella Insurance Matters
October 6, 2011
BY JOHN R. DIFORTE You don’t have to be worth millions to be sued for millions. This is why personal umbrella insurance matters. If you are involved in an accident with serious injuries and you are sued, it will invariably be for an amount that far exceeds the limits of your primary insurance. Your insurance [...]
Notes from the Nursing Home Part 2
September 24, 2011
BY KITT WALSH I recently shared that my elderly mother came to live with me, eventually moving to a nursing home up the street. In the eight years she spent there, I learned many lessons (making me the go-to person among my friends now that many of them are facing that dreaded fact that their [...]
Parenting as an Older Adult
September 20, 2011
BY GAYLE THOMPSON It was only a generation ago that if someone old enough to have an AARP card was waiting in the school carpool line, it was almost certainly a grandparent picking up the child. But now, as adults wait longer and longer to have children, seeing middle-aged Americans with young children in tow [...]
Surviving Sending Your Kid Off To College
September 9, 2011
BY KITT WALSH Seeing your baby off to college is a milestone moment. No matter if he is bearded or she towers over you without stilettos, that young adult is still your baby, and you need to stop and pay attention to yourself now. The hubbub is over. The packing, rushing, arguments and turmoil of [...]
Connecting through social media
September 7, 2011
BY BOBBY L. HICKMAN Suzi Balis and four of her closest friends just spent a week together in California. She flew from Atlanta to San Francisco, where one of her friends loaned her his car for the week so she could drive to Sacramento. Another pair from Texas joined them to visit their friend who [...]
Notes from the Nursing Home, Part 1
September 1, 2011
BY KITT WALSH The men in my family check out early—a combination of overwork and less noble pursuits like smoking and drinking—but the women live forever. So it was that my mother came to live with me and eventually moved to a nursing home up the street. In the eight years she spent there, I [...]
How to be Spiritually Fit in Your Fifties
August 28, 2011
BY STEVE WINSTON As we reach middle-age, we often spend a lot of time thinking about our physical fitness. But isn’t it just as important to be at a place in life – especially at this age – where we’re spiritually fit, as well? Don Lubov has spent most of his life helping people improve [...]
Dress your age, not your shoe size
August 26, 2011
BY CARMEN HUBBARD True story. I shopped for bargains at a preppy store with a nautical name, enjoying the silence as I hunt for deals. The silence was broken when two women browsed the sales racks as they complained about being hard to fit. One lady pulled a cute, red cap-sleeve cashmere sweater from the [...]