Category: The Aging Journal
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Brains in Fog: Cognitive Decline and Dementia
My friend Robin stood quietly pondering the café ice cream display. So many choices: blueberry pomegranate, rum raisin. The server gently suggested mango sorbet, but Robin shook her head. Others came for ice cream and suggested their favorite to Robin. She began to look anxious. The decision was overwhelming; finally…
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Aging Wisely: Insights from an Inspiring Centenarian
I had an inspiring conversation with one of the centenarians living in our senior community the other day. She was using her powered wheelchair, whipping down the hallway of our senior center to view a craft show in our center auditorium and she stopped to chat. “I’m great” she responded…
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Letting Go of Dignity
Last summer, I stood in line at a New York City theater, eager to see the Broadway play, Hadestown. The wait was long, the air was thick with the heat of the city, and suddenly my vision blurred and darkened. I managed to gasp “I need help!” before collapsing. My…
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Mobility Cart: Surrender or Tool for Aging?
I looked longingly at the signs of spring just outside my window. Stepping outside, I could smell the spring fragrances of hyacinth and the banks of daffodils along the tree line. I could see the white dogwood blossoms and hear the songs of birds announcing spring. I knew our community…
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Retirement Mobility: Physical Therapy or Electric Scooter?
I have always loved bike riding! As a little girl, riding the rural roads to visit my friend; as an adult with a child seat behind –-bikes always signified speed, freedom, control and independence. Retirement promised new opportunities for bike riding, and I joyfully asked that my retirement gift be…
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Whak-a-mole living
Most seniors suffer from multiple medical diagnoses. I am currently endowed with at least three different diagnoses, each with a different physician specialist. I am not alone in this “co-morbid” state. According to NCOA research, 94.9% percent of adults age 60 and older have at least one condition, while 78.7% have two…
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Elderly Perspectives on 2024 Election: Cognitive Decline and Leadership
Everything about the 2024 election adds to my awareness of being old. The focus on the ages of both Biden and Trump and their cognitive status was just the beginning. Awareness of the gap between my world and that in which my grandchildren live is another. Both Candidates are too…
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Embracing Interconnectedness
I am in the midst of mind-numbing group editing, Debate is raging among 11 opinionated seniors on whether it is best to say that culture, relationships and experiences are recursive, circular, interconnected or intermixed. Our task is to deliver a report to our resident association with recommendations to sustain the…
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Two-hour travel – a trip to St. Petersburg, Fl
Our last few trips have been marred with illness. Worried about finding healthcare in far-away places, we haven’t traveled anywhere for almost a year. A recent opportunity to join beloved cousins in celebration of their historic gay marriage in Florida was too tempting to resist, however, and we set about…
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Spring Joy, with help
Our senior community is part of a 500-acre campus, with woodlands and mature, planned landscaping interspersed with meadows, blueberry patches and lawns. It is absolutely stunning in the spring, as brilliant cherry blossoms compete with delicate woodland redbuds in joyous pinks, while native dogwood and viburnum trees provide snowy white…
Uncharted Waters 