Like most Americans, I’ve been feeling empty, numb, shell-shocked and dumbfounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve been socially isolating as directed, except for daily walks. I am used to working from home as a freelance writer, but I’ve often had troub… Continue reading
Maybe you are sorely missing your weekly watercolor class. Maybe the shelter-in-place mandate brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has given you unexpected time or is compelling you to take this opportunity to fold some creativity into your new routi… Continue reading
Eight years ago, long before there was a hint of the coming pandemic, Miami-Dade County Associate Administrative Judge Steven Leifman delivered a lecture about the intersection of criminal justice and mental health at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, F… 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
(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
Rich and Kirsten Meneghello and their daughter Lucy have dinner with Rich’s mom Margaret “Marge” Meneghello, 75, every Sunday, trading off between gathering at their house in southwest Portland, Ore., and Marge’s apartment a few miles away. But they’ve… Continue reading
Millions of Americans were wound tighter than a rubber band due to work stress before the coronavirus crisis. Now, things are worse. But Celeste Headlee, the NPR and public television host who just published the de-stress book, Do Nothing, says: “You h… Continue reading
When you meet Tisha Kenny — vibrant and enthusiastic — you’d never believe she’s a cancer survivor, not to mention a three-time survivor of breast cancer in her 30s. “I never thought I’d see 40,” says Kenny, 74, a San Francisco artist who’s a retired n… Continue reading
On a table crowded with microphones and wires, Sam Thiessen Devine places an unpainted wooden truck, outfitted with chunky wheels. At first glance, the simple toy appears to be a well-loved memento from Devine’s childhood. But this is an object that ho… Continue reading