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SUMMERTIME (AND THE LIVING IS EASY) You know the aria from Porgy and Bess: Summertime (and the living is easy). It’s a wonderful time of year to be outdoors, to wear less clothing and to feel freer. Unfortunately for those of us who live in places with four seasons, summer is slowly coming to an end like the conclusion of a riveting novel.  Darn it. We may even grieve the loss with the anticipation of cold, dark days to come. Newscaster Katie Couric waits all year for summer. In a recent conversation with licensed psychologist Monica Dragust from partner Talkspace, they...

If you’re a parent or grandparent, it’s not unusual to wonder what your role is. Are you doing too much or not enough? With social media and the news in our faces 24/7—and friends sharing their stories—we tend to compare ourselves with our peers. That can be counterproductive.  However, there is good news. There is not one formula but a universal approach that is unconditional love and care, as we strive to do the best job possible. For guidance, we talked to Dr. Amanda L. Meltzer, a double-boarded Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. Here’s her take based on our questions and...

Everything. In other words, when do we stop torturing ourselves and say, “Give it up?” and be done? We think now, in our mid- and late 70s, is a wonderful time to stop. The clock is winding down. We have fewer years to enjoy that new upholstered chair with expensive fabric and down cushions. It’s a suitable time to tamp down our expectations for all our purchases, whether in clothing, home design, appliances, work, exercise, food, college choices, friendships, weight, recipes, restaurants, hairdos, and everything else that we debate.  We have learned through our adult decades that buying a bigger...

We’ve all had disappointments from not getting a part in a show, a top grade, an article published or an award; losing a job, getting outbid on a home, rejection from the college of your choice or the perfect career after going through seven or eight interviews. Disappointment sucks, but…there is an upside. Yes, really, there is if you can face the hurt.  Many famous people had big disappointments before finding success. They lost, got up, dusted themselves off, and with no money, no flint, no plan, went on to achieve. Here are some notable examples: Michael Bloomberg, fired from...

  Everyone seems to have a book club or reading list, including celebrities such as Jenna Bush Hager, Zibby Owens, Katie Couric, Reese Witherspoon, Barack Obama, and even Her Majesty Queen Camilla, who has a dignified name for a charity she set up to promote reading: The Queen’s Reading Room. We both love to read, but not in an organized, once-a-month, nibble-and-lunch-or-dinner kind of way. We prefer suggestions from friends and family, publications such as The New York Times’ “Best Books of the Year” and its weekly Book Review section, what we spot on library counters or at friends’ homes,...