STAYING FIT OVER SIXTY Finding a routine that can be sustained indefinitely, or changed every week, was a creative challenge, but we’re old enough to do what we like and not give a damn, right?
IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH: 64 YEARS OF MARRIAGE friends Kit and Julian were married for 64 years. When Kit died after years of decline from Alzheimer’s, their friends wondered how Julian would manage. At her memorial service I couldn’t stop the tears when I embraced him, a prince of a man. Julian took care of Kit at home until it became too muchContinue reading “IN SICKNESS AND IN HEALTH: 64 YEARS OF MARRIAGE”
No More Grumbling!! I put my hand on Brad’s shoulder and said, “Just in case you thought that white people don’t notice this sort of thing, aren’t bothered by it, I want you to know I noticed.”
After 70, be like an athlete The question is not “Do I have arthritis,” because everybody has arthritis. The question is “Does your arthritis hurt?”
Going public Yesterday I read the opening pages of my book to about 200 students and faculty at my university. I was heartened by the number of times the audience laughed out loud. When talking about sex, humor takes the edge off. But I had to step back before I chose to take this reading opportunity toContinue reading “Going public”
Commission a portrait? Shall I commission a portrait? Who am I? The Queen of England? Meeting Mia, what she said. I loved seeing her process, and it was fun. Meet my great great grandfather, Charles Gayler, a successful and famous playwright of the mid-18th century. He looks down on me at my desk, reminding me of aContinue reading “Commission a portrait?”
Precious love Love is precious, though many people don’t act as if it were. For all my adult life, I have sought love, and now I have found it. My definition of “love” might be different from yours – what I have sought is the completeness and serenity which comes when you feel you are not alone,Continue reading “Precious love”
Love and The Plague On Friday, I got a phone call from someone who said he was my son, though the voice was sepulchral, and barely audible. He was sick. “I’ll be up this afternoon,” I instantly said. He and his wife are house parents at a sorority at Cornell. Forty-six of the 49 sorority sisters were sick, fiveContinue reading “Love and The Plague”
Doing Nothing I spent New Year’s Eve sitting cozily in bed reading a book, Saving Fish From Drowning, by Amy Tan. It was lovely. New Year’s Day I went to a Danish friend’s house to join her family for a Danish smorgasbord. That was lovely too. A year ago I would have been lonely, depressed. I feelContinue reading “Doing Nothing”