At Next Avenue, we’ve heard from many single readers who would like to see themselves better represented in our stories. The fact is, not everyone is married or with a partner. There are people over 50 who are happily on their own, while others are cur… Continue reading
Former friends occupy an unusual place in our social orbits. We all have those people who knew us “when” — prom dates, pledge brothers, sorority sisters, college roommates, high school biology class partners with whom we dissected frogs. These are the … Continue reading
(In 2008, National Geographic writer Dan Buettner published his bestselling book, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, about the five “longevity pockets” around the world: The Nicoya Peninsula of Costa R… Continue reading
The late Hollywood animal trainer Tony Gentry put it in his will that when he died, his best friend, Jiggs, who he lived with and took care of for decades, was to be euthanized. Jiggs was better known to the public as Cheeta, Johnny Weissmuller’s com… Continue reading
Mall stores are shuttering, and David Brown is shuddering to think what mall walkers can do when the malls close, too. By title, Brown is a behavioral scientist with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) division of nutrition, … Continue reading
After serving time in a long-term marriage, I got divorced and joined the dating market. I’m a boomer, and, while it’s been a challenge to find straight, sane men to date, nothing could have prepared me for the wacky world of online dating. Before Inte… Continue reading
College admissions season always makes families jittery. High school seniors wait anxiously for the fat or thin envelopes or emails that will determine their next four years. But this acceptance season has unnerved the whole country. Mind-boggling deta… Continue reading
Stories shared around the dinner table or nostalgic anecdotes about “when I was a kid” often become rarer when a loved one living with dementia is eventually left with limited access to his or her precious memories. Family members and caregivers, strug… Continue reading
Perhaps it is fitting that the declaration was made in Paris, a city that has been honored by poets for centuries. In 1999, during its 30th General Conference, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) proclaimed that Wo… Continue reading
“It’s peaceful here, calm,” he’d say. “I have my books. I read the newspaper and listen to the radio. Of course, the news is no good. People are devising bigger and better ways to kill each other every day.” He’d sigh. We would sit facing each other in… Continue reading