A profound sadness has settled over our planet. Whether it’s the loss of visits with loved ones, the loss of steady work and income, the loss of our usual routines or the full-stop loss of a person in our life whose own life has been extinguished by CO… Continue reading
(Across caregiving and community, business and intergenerational attitudes, the pandemic and how we respond to it could change us forever. Next Avenue turned to some of our Influencers in Aging, a diverse group of thought leaders, for their insights, c… Continue reading
“A wife who loses a husband is called a widow. A husband who loses a wife is called a widower. A child who loses his parents is called an orphan. There is no word for a parent who loses a child. Lose your child and you’re nothing.” — Tennessee Williams… Continue reading
I am a 65-year-old widower, living alone between two communities — during the week in a big city high-rise and on the weekends in a small condo in the rural western North Carolina mountains. My intimate, social and professional networks are broad, soli… Continue reading
If you never used video conferencing or “video chat” services before the COVID-19 pandemic, you probably are doing so now, or at least thinking about it. After all, video chats are a safe way to interact face-to-face with those you love. I used to hate… Continue reading
Traditionally on Easter Sunday, the Church of the Assumption is awash in beautiful spring flowers, with hydrangeas and lilies covering the marble steps on the altar of this 145-year old Catholic church in St. Paul, Minn. Every pew is normally filled, a… Continue reading
Teresa Elwert usually is out and about every day, doing volunteer work, exercising and meeting up with friends. Four times a week, the 68-year-old leads a group of other retirees in her New York City neighborhood on what she calls “brisk walks” through… Continue reading
You know all those things you say you want to do — then don’t? As disruptive as the coronavirus is proving in all our lives, there’s a silver lining: confinement is creating the time, as well as the hunger, opportunity and need, to pursue those interes… Continue reading
Pueblo, Colo. guitarist and singer Tom Munch has performed everywhere from restaurants to dude ranches to the Royal Gorge Bridge, but nursing home concerts take up much of his time, accounting for 50 gigs a month. That all changed in March, as COVID-19… Continue reading
You may have seen news reports or social media posts calling for people to sew medical masks to help protect health care professionals from contracting COVID-19. If you’ve been thinking of joining the sewing brigade or organizing a mask collection effo… Continue reading