Yom Kippur is a time when it’s comforting to be in familiar surroundings, in a synagogue that you like, with family and friends by your side. That’s because you can use all the support you can muster to fulfill the demanding rituals: fasting for 25 hou… Continue reading
(Excerpted from More Beautiful Than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us) My high school friend Neal’s grandfather had a simple way of summing up forgiveness that I think about a lot every year as Yom Kippur, the Jewish Holy Day devoted to forgiveness, … Continue reading
This is a story about me, a woman of a certain age, gray-haired and a little thick through the middle who, a few summers ago, asked a much younger, positively lithe national park guide …well, I asked her a question I didn’t really want answered. At lea… Continue reading
Weeks before my firstborn grandchild, Lyn, went off to her freshman year of college, she called to say goodbye. “I’d like to visit with you before I leave,” she said. “I have something I want to talk to you about.” I was delighted that she wanted to sp… Continue reading
As I approach the age at which my grandparents’ lives ended — when living past 70 was considered a full life — I feel an urgency to live life to the max. You could say I’m making up for lost time, for every opportunity I let slip by, every time I allow… Continue reading
When psychologist Barry Jacobs saw that his aging mother’s mental faculties were weakening and confronted her about it, the two of them began to argue. Despite being an expert on aging, Jacobs, a Springfield, Pa.-based clinical psychologist, author of … Continue reading
My mother sat in her recliner all day, barely communicative with no appetite. She had trouble walking to the bathroom by herself and couldn’t take care of her little dog. After suffering a heart attack at 79, she’d returned home two weeks prior. I met … Continue reading
In my childhood neighborhood, “moving on up” meant a 1970 move from our New York City apartment on 155th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues to a three-room apartment in a building on Riverside Drive West, near 159th Street in Washington Heig… Continue reading
As she turned 83, my mother, Jill Burger, declared that every birthday is worth marking in a big way. I jumped on a plane to be with her for her most recent special day when she was the star of a family party featuring cake, presents and three generati… Continue reading
If you’re over 60, you’ve reached a time of life with some great new possibilities, but also some new challenges. What’s pretty certain is that you’ll need to make some fresh choices and learn some new skills to stay happy. I’m turning 70 this year, an… Continue reading