De-accessing has been my mantra of late.  Why do I have so many THINGS?  Do I really need a yellowed copy of every newspaper article I’ve ever published?  Do I seriously think my grandchildren will want to read them?  Does it feel good when I de-access some “thing” or piece of clothing that has gone untouched or unappreciated for years?  Absolutely. But things happen.  On a recent visit to Williamstown in western Massachusetts, my friend wanted to show me her favorite new shop—a wonderful collection of things all made in Africa.  There was nothing in there t ..read more

Let’s face it.  One of the biggest concerns about our aging bodies is how hard it is to keep them upright.  The statistics about falling are frightening, and I am reminded once again of the emergency room doctor who told me I probably wouldn’t be alive in a year after a fall I had more than 15 years ago. Obviously, he didn’t know me well. However, I have slowed my pace when walking, and I try to always look a few yards out in front of me to be sure there aren’t unexpected bumps in the road (so-to-speak).  Also, of late, I walk more slowly.  There is a walking stick awaiting ..read more

Fourteen years ago, I learned that I had “Stage Zero” chronic lymphocytic leukemia, commonly called CLL.  It stayed at Stage Zero for years—no treatment required.  Until now.  A routine blood test showed that my white blood cell count had grown dangerously high, and my oncologist ordered tests to confirm that it was time to begin treatment. The tests confirmed her concern, and on Wednesday, I started my pill regimen.  This cancer is treatable.  That’s the good news.  Other good news is that treatment no longer requires chemotherapy thanks to wonderful medical adva ..read more

It’s only nine months since ChatGPT was launched, and it has changed our world.  This is only the beginning of the enormous changes this technology will bring. For a while, I was saving articles about artificial intelligence’s potential impact so that I could think about how those of us who weren’t born with cell phones in our hands and TikTok in our heads could adapt to this new reality.  But I couldn’t keep up with the deluge of information. One important concern about this new technology is how easy it would be for students to do assignments with the help of artificial intelligenc ..read more

Unless we are extraordinarily lucky, we spend more time in the healthcare world as we grow older.  And I don’t think it’s just me who finds that negotiating with the medical world has become a lot more complicated. Let me say up front that I am astounded by and grateful for the many medical breakthroughs that have occurred in my lifetime. I and my loved ones have benefitted from them. But now it takes a near-miracle to see your primary care doctor rather than a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner.  There are many reasons for this.  For one thing, there aren’t enough gene ..read more

How often do you laugh?  I bet not enough.  Neither do I (laugh enough that is).  I rarely laugh from deep in my belly. I realized that the other day when I was practically doubled over laughing over an AI- (artificial intelligence) generated review of a piece of writing of my journalist son that his brother requested.  It was stupidly hilarious.  No real person could have written such nonsense.  But funny?  You bet. It is a fact that laughter is good for our health. Natalie Datillo, a psychology instructor at Harvard Medical School tells us that laughter hel ..read more

When I got an email inviting me to be interviewed for a YouTube channel, the first thing I did was Google the person who wrote to­­ me. He seemed to be a real person, so I answered his email, and now I am about to be a “star”. Larry Barsh, the host, is an 87-year-old retired dentist with a new career.  He started his YouTube channel “Specifically for Seniors” in 2022. He interviews guests ranging from household names to me.  His website is very professional as is his demeanor.  In the kingdom of YouTube, his audience of followers is small, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Not sur ..read more

Remember scrap books?  Maybe they were a “girl thing,” but for this girl and her friends, they were a big deal. Pressed corsages from proms, special birthday cards, photos, theater programs and more documented our teen-aged lives in our scrapbooks.  Phones and computers, the “scrapbooks” of the present are very efficient and convenient ways to recall the stories in our lives.  But there was something special about paging through actual books of memories. Lately, I have been trying to de-access memory “stuff” in order to make life a little easier for my children at the inevitable ..read more

The stately sycamore trees along the Charles River on Memorial Drive in Cambridge were planted more than 120 years ago.  In 1964, a plan to widen Memorial Drive and remove the trees in order to ease traffic flow gave rise to the Citizens’ Emergency Committee to Save Memorial Drive and the campaign to Save the Sycamores. It worked. On Sundays (from April - November), a portion of Memorial Drive is closed to traffic, and it is filled with rollerbladers, bikers, walkers of all ages, and often me. Last week, it seemed to me that the sycamores were shedding excessive bark.  Of course, it ..read more

One reason I enjoy blogging is that I can write whatever I want.  I don’t have an editor, so I only have to please me, and hopefully you. But I have been thinking about words sending the wrong message.  The Reframing Aging Initiative, for example, suggests that one way to help combat ageism is to change our vocabulary.  Here are some examples: Don’t Refer to:                                       ..read more