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When Margaret’s husband died in his late 60s, she lived through a crash course in burying a loved one. He wanted to be buried in the St. Louis zip code in which they raised their family. She met this request, and found a cemetery across from their children’s elementary school with the perfect aisle plot since he loved an aisle seat on an airplane and in a movie theater.  But eight years later, when she moved from the Show-Me State to the Big Apple (New York City) to be closer to her sisters and older son, she felt she was...

Valentine’s Day, the Hallmark-inspired “Day of Love (with a big ‘L’),” is when many of us in a relationship spend it looking googly-eyed at our romantic partner over dinner and a bottle of bubbly. There are also the de rigueur gifts exchanged: candy, flowers, lingerie, jewelry, good wine, perfume or a romantic night in a hotel. But why not aim your bow and arrow in a different direction this year and make the target more inclusive? Those who aren’t in a romantic relationship may only see red on Feb. 14, and not in a good way. They may feel left out. We...

  How do you plan for those “what if” moments as we age?  We admit that we’re firm proponents of living in the moment. However, there are some issues we have learned as we age to plan for now, including our estates, health proxies, wills and housing, especially in case we become ill, lose mobility, eyesight, hearing or worse, our memories.  It’s good to have a detailed road map rather than deal with these issues in a crisis and have someone take charge, who may not know our wishes.  A few of us, all 70-plus, had a dinner table dialogue...

  As our clocks run down, we may reflect more on our past—our loves, likes and losses, our children and grandchildren, our experiences, our parents possibly long deceased, our ups and our downs, what we’ve contributed to society and what we’re leaving behind as our legacy. It’s also a time when spirituality comes more into play as we face our mortality, search for the meaning of life and wonder what happens to our soul after death. In our book, Not Dead Yet, when we asked a few friends and colleagues how they define spirituality, we learned it takes many individual forms. Here...

An annual holiday letter from a dear friend Dennis L, written in a distinctive tongue-in-cheek voice rather than one of those more traditional over-the-top essays, prompted this post holiday season blog.  Dennis entertains. He’s Promethean in his holiday letter writing each year, giving it a facetious, human and refreshing twist. This year was no different and the humor added a much-needed detour after a sad turn in his life. He lost his wife and had to think about the real will she left behind. So, to add the humor he is known for among family and friends, he made this...