The ways that a grandmother shows love are often very simple: By helping to make a healthy meal, doing the laundry or the dishes, reading to older children in the family or just spending time holding and rocking a new baby so the parent can rest or rec… Continue reading
When Judy Beggs sat down at age 49 with a career counselor, she never imagined that 15 years later she’d be providing career counseling to girls on the edge of the Sahara. Beggs was in the middle of finalizing her divorce and had her mind set on joinin… Continue reading
Sheila Peyraud, a newly retired tech executive, saw herself as savvy when she returned to campus last fall. Then the University of Minnesota Advanced Careers (UMAC) fellow came face-to-face with all she doesn’t know in the class What American Dream? Ch… Continue reading
The e-mail from her son’s kindergarten teacher left Kelly Papa shaking her head — and her fist. “I was infuriated; I screamed at my computer,” said Papa, corporate director of learning at Masonicare, a senior care and living nonprofit in Connecticut. “… Continue reading
Many years after he first started college, Todd Makler is back in school and happy to be there. Makler, 72, is currently a student in the Stanford Continuing Studies Program and takes courses every quarter at the Palo Alto university. A retired physici… Continue reading
It could have been raising chickens, or playing piano or doing double-entry bookkeeping. The point is, learning something completely new while in my 50s — and sticking with it — was a revelation. In my case, it was carpentry. As a lifelong school and c… Continue reading
(Part of the VITALITY ARTS SPECIAL REPORT) Behind the Lens: 50+ Filmmakers goes behind the scenes of the 55+Video Memoir Class at Film North in St. Paul, Minn. and tells the story of Joe Moses, a University of Minnesota professor, who produced a short … Continue reading
Lunchbox? Check. Backpack? Check. New outfit for the first day? Check. So you’ve helped get a grandchild or other youngster ready to go back to school. But what about you? Staying mentally active after 50 stimulates neural networks, increases knowledge… Continue reading
Award-winning cookbook author Ken Haedrich has fairly conclusive proof that he was given the same “pie making genes” both his parents had. “I’ve always gravitated to baking, but especially toward pies,” said Haedrich, 64, who lives in Wilmington, N.C. … Continue reading
Pier I juts out over the Hudson River on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with — depending on your vantage point — mesmerizing views of the New York City skyline or New Jersey. As the waning sun hovered above the horizon, 16 older women wearing name tags wa… Continue reading