Full disclosure: I’m 57 years old, and twenty pounds over weight – and that was fine with me, at least until I caught a glimpse of myself, ambushed by a an unexpected mirror. I can’t tell you exactly what I saw (I’m sure you can guess) but it did not match up with my svelte 20-year old self-image. It was a stiff dose of reality I couldn’t shake. All those pairs of pants kept getting tighter, and it wasn’t just the shrinking effects of the dryer, though I remain a staunch supporter of the shrinking effects of the dryer....

There are plenty aspects of aging that present challenges and there is no doubt that some of those challenges become greater if one lives alone. An elder orphan has been defined as  someone with no children, spouse or companion to rely on. There are more then 13 million older Americans living alone. The majority of whom are women, 9.2 million, vs. 4.1 million men. Carol Marak ,elder orphan advocate, columnist and editor at SeniorCare.com has created a Facebook Group to help people aging alone. She says; "Each person joined for different reasons, but primarily to find community, connection and support — my particular...

  When I was in my mid-thirties, my mother fell in love and got married. She and her husband enjoyed an extraordinary decade-long romance before he became ill and died. Seeing this decade-longer caused a tectonic shift in my thinking about old age. Everything moved and grumbled; cracks appeared in the structures of this assumption that had been standing since my adolescence.   For young people old age remains an era of life like the blank spaces on Medieval maps: here there be dragons. Old people don’t like talking about the ‘declining years’, stigmatized as disease and senility, the long...

  We all have been told again and again to sit still. There is  some notion that by moving we aren’t paying attention or are being down right rude.  The truth is we are wiggling our way to better health. The  definition of “fidget” makes it feel wrong: "Make small movements, especially of the hands and feet, through nervousness or impatience.". The synonyms add to the pile of negativity: " move restlessly, wriggle, squirm, twitch, jiggle, shuffle, be agitated; jittery" You don’t have to be nervous or impatient to fidget and most people would freely admit that fidgeting can be fun! In 2015...

 Atul Gwande introduced us to Dr. Thomas in his extraordinary bestseller Being Mortal. Dr. Thomas has done many wonderful things for all of us aging in America.  He believes: The opportunity to live in the place and manner of one’s own choosing should not be restricted by age or ability. He has recently begun promoting his goal of helping people become independent— together. " Independence Rising is a movement that breathes life into what will likely become a booming new sector in the aging services economy and I am trying my best to play a helpful role in this revolution.  "The truth is that living...