I am not a game player. I never have been. Playing games meant sitting still, focusing and mastering a skill: things that didn’t interest me as a child. I liked play that involved moving, not thinking. While my sister and her friends played gin rummy o… Continue reading
Two years ago, my then 39-year-old brother, mom and I went on a vacation in Hawaii (my parents are divorced and my dad has since remarried). The trip coincided with my mom, then in her late ‘60s, entering semi-retirement. After working two full-time jo… Continue reading
In the difficult months after her husband Robert’s death, Joan Price found herself confronted with a veritable mountain of self-help books about grieving. None of them touched on the subject that would preoccupy her for the coming decade: What about se… Continue reading
I can’t help loving you more than is good for me; I shall feel all the happier when I see you again. I am always conscious of my nearness to you; your presence never leaves me. Have you ever received a love letter like this? Or written one? In these tw… Continue reading
If you’re remarried or living with a significant other at midlife, managing your money together may look different than when you were younger. When you’re married for the first time and starting out in adult life, the two of you typically grow, and dev… Continue reading
Children’s books that dismiss ageism and portray loving and fun intergenerational relationships between children and a modern older adult, whether a grandparent or someone outside the family, are powerful in developing a child’s worldview of aging and … Continue reading
When my 78-mother-in-law, DeAnne Mack, died suddenly in 2018, the chore of cleaning out the Omaha, Neb. house she’d lived in for over 50 years fell to my husband and me. We weren’t looking forward to it. DeAnne, we knew, had been hoarding for decades. … Continue reading
Who stresses over playing word games online? I do. Or I did, when the once-enjoyable time suck began to require more attention than I wanted to give it. When anticipation of playing first turned to dread, I waffled for a week or two. Then I deleted the… Continue reading
After surviving a heart attack and a cancer diagnosis, Carol Riddell feared being kept alive by machines more than she feared death itself. The retired teacher had made her end-of-life wishes clear to her wife Debbie Joffe: no extraordinary measures. T… Continue reading
One of the biggest challenges for anyone administering an estate is how to distribute what are called its tangible items. Unlike other property which can be easily sold, turned into cash and divided equally, tangible property is unique and often can’t … Continue reading