The Framework of a Love Story

“I know someone I think you should meet,” my friend Kathleen blurted out almost as soon as I answered the phone. “Her name is Connie and she photographs nudes under water.” That caught my attention. “I just have a feeling,” Kathleen continued. “Here’s … Continue reading

5 Things About Aging I Learned From My Favorite Books

Writers have strived to survey the landscape of old age since Shakespeare wrote King Lear. But the Bard’s iconic image of the dying and raging patriarch is hardly a contemporary portrait. Today, when writers, like all of us, are living and working into… Continue reading

Yes, It’s Still Important to Protect Yourself From STIs

News flash: Just because you (or your partner) cannot get pregnant does not mean you get a free pass to not practice safe sex. Unfortunately, this is a fact that many older Americans are realizing the hard way. Data from the Centers for Disease Control… Continue reading

I Am Dating a Married Man: Don’t Judge Me. Here’s Why.

I am dating a married man. His wife doesn’t know. She resides in an assisted living facility, a tragic victim of a brain disease. Like a young child, she can no longer walk alone, needs help being fed, showered and going to the bathroom. She and my fri… Continue reading

Married? Widow? Whatever

I was sitting in the office of a new doctor, which is to say, I was filling out a lot of paperwork. There were blank boxes that required my health insurance information. Columns of medical conditions that required Yes/No responses to document my health… Continue reading

Next Avenue Readers On What Love Looks Like

Unexpected love, unplanned separation and the caring bonds created by family are just some themes of the love stories shared recently by Next Avenue readers. We received many lovely contributions, more than we are able to spotlight here, so thank you t… Continue reading

Next Avenue Readers Tell Us What Love Looks Like

Unexpected love, unplanned separation and the caring bonds created by family are just some themes of the love stories shared recently by Next Avenue readers. We received many lovely contributions, more than we are able to spotlight here, so thank you t… Continue reading

Pros and Cons of Older Workers’ Office Romance

It’s a fact: the American workforce is getting older. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, employees age 55 and older are one of the fastest growing populations there. And one in four professionals will exceed the traditional age of retirement by… Continue reading

The Impact of Forgiveness

(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