Helping Girls in Senegal Achieve Their Dreams

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

16-Year-Old Author Writes Story of Love and Dementia

  The subtitle for Grandpa and Lucy, a book by 16-year-old author Edie Weinstein, says it all: A Story About Love and Dementia. In this charming picture book, the main character, a young girl named Lucy, employs simple and loving gestures to strengthen… Continue reading

When Older Students and Younger Students Teach Each Other

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

Speaking Her Students’ Language

My career has been a series of starts, stops and turns. In my 20s, I aggressively pushed myself toward success as a journalist for trade and consumer publications. By my early 30s, I poured my energies into being an occasional freelance writer and stay… Continue reading

Switching Roles in Retirement

Recently, packages that I hadn’t ordered began arriving at our doorstep. A digital kitchen timer, a set of measuring spoons, a vegetable peeler. It’s true our ancient kitchen tools have seen better days, but I never thought of replacing them until my h… Continue reading

Leaving a Legacy No Matter How Much Money You Have

Leaving a legacy — sounds like something only wealthy people can do, right? Like making a giant bequest to a university or passing on a significant estate to your children. Actually, though, a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey and the n… Continue reading

Author Jonathan Santlofer Reflects on Grief

Before The Widower’s Notebook became an eloquent and poignant memoir, it was six composition-style notebooks filled by the novelist and artist Jonathan Santlofer in a nightly practice which he says “kept him grounded” at a time when he felt wholly “dis… Continue reading

How Marie Kondo Actually Talked Me Into Building Up My Library

I grew up an only child on a country road with lots and lots of books for friends. My parents didn’t hold much stock in toys or games, but books they fully supported. I got books as gifts, bought books through the Weekly Reader order form, and took boo… Continue reading

6 Great Health Books to Read This Year

We hear a lot in the news and from the many health and aging advocacy organizations about how we can live better and longer lives if we take good care of ourselves. There are so many aspects to self care, including nutrition, fitness, mental health and… Continue reading

Losing Herself in Art and Finding Joy

My mother, Anne Pols, celebrated her 87th birthday in November. In that same month, she also made her art show debut, exhibiting a half-dozen freehand colored pencil drawings at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook, N.Y. She and six other residents of… Continue reading