“We call it couple’s therapy,” the young fella said who was orienting us to the art of paddling a tandem kayak. “Either you make it or you don’t,” he added, laughing. As we stood next to the Chicago River last Saturday, my husband, Marv, and I laughed along. I remembered when we’d tried to take …
Category: retirement
U of Chicago – Degree and Certificate Program Convocation Ceremony – 2013
The only thing I know is that I don't know. A thought attributed to Plato or Socrates (From my notes the last day of class, June 4, 2013)Today I want to give thanks for the University of Chicago's Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults. And thanks for retirement years to be able to do …
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Senior Happy for Spring Break
I’m a senior, not in high school or college, but in life. You could also say I’m a senior in the University of Chicago Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults, because I’m in my fourth and final year. It is Spring Break, and I’m happy to be free for a bit. Readings this past …
Snow Kindness in Chicago
Shootings in Chicago make national news. Snow kindness does not. It rarely even makes local news, except for the occasional gratitude letter to the editor about someone returning home to find his or her walkway shoveled. But my friend and I experienced a heartwarming degree of snow kindness last week, the day we had six …
What do nurses do? Let me count the ways…
Once upon a time, two women in their late sixties met at church and soon became friends. Letty is now 76 and Martha 74. Martha is a widow and moved to Letty’s small town after her retirement and the death of her husband to be near her children. Last week, Letty sent me this email, …
Seventy: A Major Milestone for Women?
As quoted in an Atlantic article (12/2/12), psychological researcher Ellen Cole says, “Seventy is a major milestone for women—a wake up call." She goes on to say, “It’s the age at which, according to Pew, most women think ‘old age’ begins.” Wow. This struck home as I’m on this year-long celebration of turning seventy. I …
Who am I at seventy?
Do you ever ponder who you are? Now don’t get spooked, but I like to mull over who I am. Think, before you read further, of how you would describe yourself. Like others, I usually describe myself in terms of the roles I play: sister, wife, mother, grandma, nurse, teacher, friend, writer. But these don't …
Untapped potential? Try the Tennessee Fitness Spa.
I never heard of wallyball until two weeks ago when my friend Marianna and I spent three days at the Tennessee Fitness Spa. To celebrate turning seventy this year, we wanted to do something new, something different, and something a bit crazy. A fitness spa deep in the TN woods, home to a Natural Bridge …
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To my older friends: Don’t let the lovely fall leaves make you fall!
The first thing I did last week at the Tennessee Fitness Spa was fall. I have a history of falling. I slipped on a pebble in San Francisco (cut my elbow), fell on the ice on my front porch in Palos Heights, IL, (broke my arm), and caught my sandal on a sidewalk grate in …
Continue reading To my older friends: Don’t let the lovely fall leaves make you fall!
Nurses are Lifelong Learners (Part 2)
A few months ago, I wrote about looking forward to going back to school. Back to the Basic Program of Liberal Education for Adults at the University of Chicago. I'd completed three of the four years a few years ago and had a feeling in my bones that I wanted to complete that last year. …
Write Along with Me 