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This is the conversation that seems to occur like clockwork when someone new asks how I--a native, suburban New York gal who went to college and grad school in New York City but raised my two daughters in the Midwest--ended up in the Hudson River Valley, farm country two hours north.  How did I? Well, there was a slight detour, I always reply. After moving to the Midwest nine years after I married, I, the proverbial New Yorker who viewed its overblown importance in a similar way to how artist Saul Steinberg did in his famous New Yorker cartoon, came...

The desire to own fewer things in our lives can be seen with the current decline in luxury spending or spending in general, and the cult success of listening to the decluttering superstar author Marie Kondo. Whether we buy fewer possessions or just bid thanks and adieu to things we already own that fail to spark continued joy in our lives, all signs point to the fact that for many of us aged 50 plus, it’s time to move on--and with far fewer things.  As we shed our stuff after each of us lost our spouses, both of us had...

Every experience, good and bad, teaches us how to live our life going forward regardless of age. My terrible slip on ice and the breaking of two bones in my arm and wrist has certainly provided a good supply of life lessons--and this time past age 67. I hope you never need these but just in case here are 14 that stand out boldly:  Walk carefully, always, but also look down to check out the ground, whether rough pavement or snow and if ice lurks beneath be extra careful. Wear the right shoes for the conditions. I am now getting...

  Neither of us had dated since our early 20s. How do you find single men when you’ve been out of the dating pool for 30 plus years? Stand around in grungy bars? Wait to be fixed up? Start talking to single men in grocery stores with shopping carts filled with stuff for single guys who sit on a couch eating alone?  Truth be told, neither of us had any idea how to go about dating like when we were young, beautiful, full of hope, and--yes, so naïve. And let’s face it, it doesn’t get any easier when you’re AARP-eligible,...

The kids grow up and go their own way. Time to breathe a sigh of relief. However, if you’re lucky enough to have parents still alive, your caregiving days will not be over. Now in our much later years when we are trying still to work and enjoy our new lives as singles--whammo! The caregiving demands spring up anew. But this time around, it’s very different.  As anyone who has been in our shoes knows--caregiving is rarely easy at any age--putting aside your own needs, listening and being empathetic, answering frantic phone calls in the middle of the night, cooking,...