When I closed my law practice at the end of 2016, I became preoccupied with how I would define myself. I willingly shed my professional status, but the word “retirement” didn’t seem to apply to my life. It only made me feel uncomfortable about the upcoming experience. Laurie Geary, a life coach and community educator in Gloucester who succumbed to breast cancer before she herself…
When I was in grade school, I studied hard. Memorized vocabulary and facts. Turned in assignments on time. Raised my hand in class. Pleased my teachers and my parents. Never missed a day. Colored between the lines. This is what they seemed to want. In their comments in the margins of my report cards, my teachers often wrote, “It is a pleasure to have Barrie…
QUORA is an internet website used by two hundred million people around the world to ask and answer questions in a wide range of categories. I discovered the world of Quora.com through my friend Jill who has been awarded Top Writer status for five years in a row. Participants come from diverse backgrounds, ages, countries, interests, and beliefs. Some of my chosen topics are Aging,…
After a full week starting in New York City and ending at home this Friday afternoon, I have just enough energy to sit at the dining room table with a cup of hot tea. The day is dreary, the upcoming April weekend promising no more than low forties temperatures, and now, snow flurrying energetically like interference on an old television screen. Three trees lie in…
I’m looking out the window at the flat two acres of fresh snow in my neighbor’s yard. A regal stand of mature pine trees lines the far end of her property, the backdrop for winter’s seasonal performance. Intermittent gusts of wind pick up the sparkling material and carry it in amorphous shapes over the pristine surface, ghosts rising and frolicking briefly in morning sun. 🌲 …
I’m packing for my trip to New York City to take care of my little grandson for the week. The mid-July weather will be blazing hot with no rain in sight, no need to pack a “just in case” raincoat or umbrella. My suitcase is carry-on size, constructed of space age material and shaped like a mini-Airstream aluminum trailer. I’m on the ready to…
You are familiar with the saying that goes around and comes around when the subject of age comes up: “50 is the new 30, 60 is the new 40, 70 is the new 50” in various iterations. Now that I’ve reached the “70 is the new 50” plateau, I’m ready to claim my age for my own. When I reached age 72 last year, there was…