"Old Is The New Black"

I am posting this reprint today because the holidays are upon us and I still believe giving books as presents encourages people to read, especially children.  Here is a list of the best children's books of 2016.    The Best Children’s Books of 2016 "From love to mortality to the lives of Einstein and Louise Bourgeois, by way of silence and the color of the wind."  Brought to you by www.brainpickings.org Happy book buying!

This is an article from the Huffington Post today by Dr. Karl Pillemer. I'd like to share a revelation with you. It took me months of pondering my interview data from hundreds of long-married elders, but I finally got it. It's about sex and older people -- not something younger folks think about a lot. However, when I have given talks to 20- and 30-somethings about my  book  of advice from people married a half-century or more, I know there is one question in the back of their minds, even if they don't come out and say it: How can sex possibly stay interesting for a lifetime? I have good news for you. I'm going to allay your worst fears and help you to relax about the idea of sex in the later years of marriage. I will tell you the spoiler right now. The message from our elders is: don't waste your time worrying about sex in later life, because it's pretty good. But first, here's the revelation. Ready? The reason you are worried about this issue is ...

Online dating - gosh, this has been going on for over ten years for me.  And yes, I've dated a few men but not for long.  Baggage, you say?  Yes, baggage can be a part of it but more than that.  What I'm finding out is a search for Old Mr. Right can't be a search for Old Mr. Perfect because there isn't such a thing and there never was such a thing.  Not when I was younger, not ever.  And, unfortunately, the older I get the more I wish for perfect or at the very least as close to perfect as possible.  For example, a little weight is acceptable but twenty or more pounds are not good.  Not good for the body, heart health or self-image.  Thinning hair is eventually inevitable in a lot of men but letting it grow long (picture Donald Trump) to compensate for the lack of hair is not attractive.  I know what you're thinking "oh, my, aren't we Miss Hoity Toity?" but what I'm talking about goes for women too.  Most of us older people...

My mom is moving. To a senior apartment in a fabulous place. It has a movie theater, a fine dining restaurant, a cocktail hour bar. She’s moving from a 2300 square foot 3 bedroom, 2 full bath townhome. She’s downsizing but to a much nicer place with lots of social activity and more.Although we’ve never, really, gotten along for all my or her life, she thinks (or needs to believe) we are best friends now. She’s constantly telling me “I don’t know what I would do without you.” And, because we’ve never (and still don’t) get along all that well, I tend to think she’s only saying that because there is no one else in the family who can, or will, help her. I have a sister who doesn’t and hasn’t done anything to help her in years. The only other person who helps her is my son who, conveniently, lives 7 miles away and can fix “stuff”. Thank goodness because her *stuff* isn’t the only stuff that needs help; I’m always first or second on the list of “help me, please?”Point being is I think ...