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
Lifelong dancer and choreographer Nancy Havlik wants the world to know that regardless of age, physical condition or experience, “people transform through the joy that dance offers them. You can see them light up and become more alive.” Havlik, 78, has… 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
The ways that a grandmother shows love are often very simple: By helping to make a healthy meal, doing the laundry or the dishes, reading to older children in the family or just spending time holding and rocking a new baby so the parent can rest or rec… Continue reading
Every 10 years, my husband and I undertake a long-distance walk somewhere in the world. The year I turned 30, Barry and I spent three weeks walking the Muktinath Trail in the Himalayas. When I was 40, we walked the four-day Inca Trail, ending at Macchu… Continue reading
Have you ever read a friend’s obituary and had any of these reactions?: You cannot reconcile the person described with what was written about him or her; the events summarized did not constitute what your loved one considered important in life and inst… Continue reading