Dating After Cancer: How Men and Women Navigate a New Reality

When Joy Leather, 56, of Waco, Texas,  was diagnosed with breast cancer, finding a new boyfriend was not top of mind for the single mom. In addition to having cancer, she was also weighed down with grief. Her oldest brother, an aunt and her stepfather … Continue reading

Diving Into the Online Dating Pool

Editor’s Note: In April, we asked Next Avenue readers to submit their questions about dating and relationships after 50. We received many thoughtful inquiries that touched on a wide range of topics. This story is another in our six-part series called “… Continue reading

Should I Accept a Date By Text?

Editor’s Note: In April, we asked Next Avenue readers to submit their questions about dating and relationships after 50. We received many thoughtful inquiries that touched on a wide range of topics. With this story, we are launching a six-part series c… Continue reading

Creating Community Connections During Ramadan

(Editor’s Note: With Ramadan beginning on April 23, 2020, we wanted to share this story about community iftars that was originally published on Next Avenue in May, 2019. Given the restrictions on physical distancing due to the coronavirus pandemic, the… Continue reading

A Home for Grandfamilies

Sometimes Sabu Waters grows wistful when he thinks about how he used to sleep. These days, the alarm sounds early for the 67-year-old, who has two grandsons to rouse and get ready for school in Washington, D.C. “I have to make sure these boys are dress… Continue reading

Some Enchanted Evening: The Story of a Midlife Blind Date

(This is an excerpt from Love, Loss and Moving On, a memoir by Lorie Kleiner Eckert, about life post-divorce, which she discovers includes both challenges and opportunities.) Going on this date is either a very romantic or an entirely insane thing to d… Continue reading

Planting Coral Bells for Mom

After 23 years of marriage, I was finished. For the last nine of those years, I’d owned a house with a garden in East Tennessee where I grew herbs, perennials, wildflowers and vegetables. I gathered herbal bouquets and dried flowers. I was a member of … Continue reading

Maintaining Long-Term Friendships After a Move

When 57-year-old Brenda Thompson, a communications consultant, transplanted from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles after marrying her partner in November 2017, her greatest fear was losing touch with her three closest friends from Austin: Jane, Mary and And… Continue reading

What, Me Date?

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

Why ‘Women Rowing North’ May Be the Next Boomer Bible

Resilience. Authenticity. Bliss. These are important words in Mary Pipher’s new book Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age. And then there’s schlimmbesserung, a German word that means “to be worsened by improvement.” … Continue reading