Some people make a difference in over-the-top, attention-getting ways. They’re the ones making loud proclamations about their philanthropy or funding buildings with their names emblazoned on every hallway and parking garage. And then there are people w… Continue reading
(Editor’s Note: This story originally ran on Rewire.) National and international politics are reaching a cacophony. It’s hard to cut through the chatter to know where our country, and planet, is really headed. To top it off, we’re living with feelings … Continue reading
During a dinner party, friends mentioned they were going to China. It was a 10-day, dirt-cheap, fully-guided, all-inclusive trip — and there were still spaces available. I’d never had the country on my bucket list, but when my husband said “I’ve always… Continue reading
With age comes wisdom. Also, a Medicare card. “What’s the big deal? I filled out your AARP paperwork for you,” my husband Marc says. He’s being practical, trying to fix things the way guys like to do, while I’d rather talk about my feelings. I’m sure t… Continue reading
My husband’s mother, Rebecca Frank Rikleen, celebrated her 96th birthday on Halloween, but likely did not have a lot of time for festivities. Most days, she walks down the steep hill behind the rent-controlled New York City apartment where she’s lived … Continue reading
Perhaps it was good fortune that turned our children into creative individuals, but I’d like to think my spouse and I had a hand in it, too. Here are our 10 words of wisdom for parents, as well as for grandparents: 1. Encourage. My relationship with ou… Continue reading
“Time to open Christmas presents,” I shouted after our family finished our holiday feast. “Penny first.” We all rushed into my parents’ living room and watched their precocious puppy rip open her package, carefully wrapped in red and green striped pape… Continue reading
(Editor’s Note: PBS will air the premiere of QUILTS, a new episode of the Peabody-Award winning series Craft in America, on Friday, December 27, 2019. Check local listings for details.) It’s Friday afternoon at Senior Court, a public housing complex in… Continue reading
Stories about retirement and unretirement are perennially popular on Next Avenue; readers are always curious about just what the transition, or “graduation,” to a new phase of life will hold. Sometimes, the answer is: “Not what was expected.” In this s… Continue reading
On a chilly Monday in New York City, legendary dancer and choreographer Jacques d’Amboise and I meet in his cramped, book-strewn office at the National Dance Institute (NDI). We go back a long way. In the early ’70s, when the dance boom made household … Continue reading