Aging In Place

In an almost forgotten wooden box are keepsakes I have saved for no apparent reason. They are an assortment of broken watches that go back to my first watch. It was a high school graduation present from my parents, purchased at the local pharmacy. A Timex, of course.   There are no plans for my treasures. Rarely do I even sort through them. Ab

George Martin’s passing inspired more news coverage than most of us will ever receive. Like most Beatles fans, I always listen up when I hear anything about the Fab Four. In this case, it was on the complexity and uniqueness that Martin brought to the recording of their music. Rather than Goggling to learn more about Martin, I went to my iPod and b

My lovely wife and I have just survived three hacking, coughing, sneezing weeks of headaches, fevers, and fatigue. It was one of those times in life that demonstrate how wonderful it is to be in love with the person you live with. Nothing tells more about a relationship than a stuffy nose and productive cough. This is especially so when it is obvio

While I’m not a financial planner or advisor, my job working with retirees over last 15 years has convinced me that most people have a better understanding of how to work towards retirement than how to live in retirement. This should not be a surprise, as saving and accumulating are ingrained in many of us from an early age. Spending down that mone

Between the ads pressuring us to shop, shop, shop and the Christmas carols demanding joy and yet more joy still, I sometimes want to . . . well, do something decidedly unjolly. Sure, I love the holidays, but I probably loved them more when they started later and weren’t so aggressive. Let’s face it; I also miss a lot of people who aren’t around to

One of the most difficult parts of assisting an older parent, sibling, or friend is that when you become aware of situations, they may already be full-blown crises. Dealing with these problems can not only be time-consuming and needlessly costly, they can also create friction between you and the loved one you are trying to help. My work requires cl

Maybe it’s a coincidence, or maybe just an attitude problem, but since I turned 60, my birthdays have been ambushing me in an aging sort of way. This year I turned 66 and I am shrinking. In elementary and middle schools, I was always one of the shortest kids. This sense of shortness continued with me even as I grew to the robust adult height of 5 f

It turns out 65 is the awkward age of aging: older, but not yet old. I’ve got all the energy necessary to hurt myself. Earlier this season, I had a wonderful week gardening. I dug out and moved 4 junipers and sawed down a dozen or so small trees. I felt invigorated, until a few days later when muscle spasms in my left thigh sent me screaming to the

In a recent column, I rambled on about how things used to be. I also shared a view that could have been understood to say “women weren’t part of the workforce like they are now (which is part of our problem)”. That isn’t what I meant, but that is how it read to the women who quickly shared their correct view that what had been written was offensive

The other night, I was washing the windshield of my car. As I squeegeed the water off, the memory of a Texaco Man cleaning my dad’s windshield came to my mind. That was how I learned to squeegee a windshield, by watching the “man behind the star” doing his job. Young people today can’t imagine it, but there was a time when a man hurried out to your