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, …
Tag: retirement
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 …
Continue reading Untapped potential? Try the Tennessee Fitness Spa.
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. …
Nursing Reunion Becomes Spiritual Retreat
"If only" runs through my mind as I remember our 50th reunion of a week ago. Twenty-nine of forty classmates (three have died) met at Camp Geneva in Holland, Michigan, from Tuesday afternoon through Thursday morning. Many of us, as proud members of the Blodgett Memorial Hospital School of Nursing Class of 1962, had not …
My sister’s obituary – Kathleen Korthuis, PhD, RN
As I worked on my eulogy last evening, I became more and more impressed with how much Kay, as the oldest of us Hoitenga Sisters, had unassumingly jammed into her life. Enjoy her efforts, efforts she would call modest, with me in her newspaper obituary. Meanwhile, before I attend her services this weekend, I'll be …
Continue reading My sister’s obituary – Kathleen Korthuis, PhD, RN
In Memoriam – Kathleen E. Korthuis, PhD, RN, 1934-2012
My sister Kay passed away during the night from lung cancer. Just a month ago, as I sat at her bedside, she told me in that big sister tone, "I'm going to beat this thing." As a nurse and teacher, she was my lifelong career mentor. I mourn her passing in the most gut-level way. …
Continue reading In Memoriam – Kathleen E. Korthuis, PhD, RN, 1934-2012
Nurses are Lifelong Learners
It’s August 1 today and my body is automatically going into back-to-school mode. For about half of my seventy years, either as a student myself or as a teacher of nursing students, I’d spend August assessing my wardrobe from next-to-skin to outerwear. Then I’d shop. My wardrobe had to be in place before school started …
Write Along with Me 