Pace, pace, pace yourself. My mantra since accepting about a decade ago, finally, that I have fibromyalgia. Of course, I’d had it years before, but never wanted to acknowledge that the fatigue and deep burning muscle pains needed my attention. But I learned at last and now know if I’m ignoring my body and listening …
Category: retirement
Growing Older: The Move (3) – “Gloriously Blinded”
I sit here at my desk, overlooking Millennium Park, with a pile of mail, including renewal notices for Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Art Institute, Grant Park Orchestra, a few museums, Lincoln Park Zoo and more. And I’ve had two calls in the last week, Am I renewing or not? If not, they will give my seat …
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Growing Older: The Move (2) – Anecdote on Books and Purses
“When I heard you were moving here, I asked why you would leave your wonderful place in Chicago with that marvelous view.” Oh my. I’ve heard similar exclamations from my Chicago friends, but this was the first time in my soon-to-be new hometown of Sioux Falls. From another grandma, no less. We were there last …
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Growing Older: The Move (1)
Just six months ago I Kon Mari’d our home, following the advice of bestselling declutter author, Marie Kondo, and picked up each item from ceiling to floor and closet to drawer, asking it if it gave me joy and pitching it if the answer was no. My items talked back to me; my friends who …
Growing Older: Moving to Grandchildren
Yes, you read that right. After eleven years of high-rise living in Chicago’s Loop, my husband and I are moving to a ground-level ranch in Sioux Falls, SD, in an area with lots of grass and evergreens near our little grandchildren. We’ve just told our family and friends. Responses have at first been shock, then …
An Arizona Winter Get-a-way
Even though our Chicago winter has been mild, I love to go somewhere guaranteed to be warm. After taking an eleven-day Palm Desert vacation with a sister, my husband and I spent six grand days in AZ. We stayed with friends from my husband's high school days, met several folks from his MN hometown, lunched …
Turtle Sundae at Richie’s Diner – Palm Desert, CA
Before returning on Thursday to Chicago's single digit temperatures, I'm enjoying every minute of Palm Desert's mid-80s with its clear blue sky, gently waving palm fronds, and sweet aromas of new-to-me flowers, including those of startling red bougainvillea. A turtle sundae at Richie's Diner in Westfield Mall--shared with my sister: Happy day! Stay warm wherever you …
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A Rare Sister Meet-up in CA!
A wondrous place midwinter to reconnect! Ribs healing beautifully in the sun
Growing Older: Not Too Late for Harry Potter
Long before the dreary days of winter and my life on the couch with fractured ribs, say last December 7, my husband and I flew to Orlando to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. It was on the last day of this trip that I tripped (!) down a step and …
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Growing Older: On Turning 74
For weeks I've been thinking about how I want to spend the rest of my life. I retired 15 years ago and have done everything I wanted to do from attending concerts and plays, volunteering at church, writing a book, and taking a few dozen writing and humanities courses. My thinking about the future started …
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