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Now that the Presidential election has been decided, many of the conversations we age-defiers focus on revolve around our aches, pains and upcoming or recent medical procedures. In our forthcoming book, Not Dead Yet: Rebooting Your Life after 50, we devote a chapter to this topic with good takeaways.   Talking about our ills and pills is hauntingly similar to our parents’ and even our grandparents’ conversations. We acknowledge that we’re past 50, maybe even 60, 70 or–gasp--80, but does all of our schmoozing and get-togethers have to begin and sometimes end with what someone we heard refer to as an “organ...

After we lay our loved ones to rest, we sometimes think about all the questions we never asked and what we wish we had told the dearly departed before they passed away.  Margaret often says that she kept news from her parents when they were alive, so she didn’t alarm them or have them judge her. Her actual conversations with them were often sanitized, and she realized afterward there were so many questions she had never asked but wish she had.  Barbara feels the same way, wondering, for example, what it was like for her father, the son of immigrants...

  When it comes to language, clichés are old news. They’re the convenient fast food of communication; something to fall back on when we are trying to make a certain point. They pop out of our mouths like bread in a toaster. There are clichés in many categories that work well to describe how we feel, how we should behave, how we mark time, life, loves, emotions, describe others and on and on. Clichés come from movies, TV shows, books, magazines and even the Internet. How many times have you said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst...

When we die, most of us leave behind some unfinished business or wish we could have spent our last days doing what we love best. So, we started thinking about what would we do if we died and were allowed to return for one day?   Might you spend the 24 hours learning to make croissants with a great pastry chef, which could consume most of that time since it requires careful measuring, rolling out the dough, layering on butter, rolling and folding and waiting?  Or would you prefer to fly to some wonderful destinations, see sights and peoples you’ve...

It’s seems easy to pick up a phone and check on someone, yet not everyone does. Some are loath to be the one to initiate a call. Maybe, they’re shy or don’t like talking when it’s not in person. Others say they’re too busy and can’t take the time. Or maybe they just don’t care.    These days, during Covid-19, who knows what’s really going on in someone’s life. They could be desperately ill or have long-term Covid-19 effects, which has zapped their energy and spirit.  Whatever the reason, there is something we do know. Staying in touch with those...