Despite bumps, potholes and detours, later life brings many delights
If you stop to think about it, life is filled with all kinds of contradictory proverbs, oxymorons and other confounding words of wisdom. Example: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” v. “Out of sight, out of mind.” Which is it? Or is it both? When is it one and when is it the other? What…
Bonus years travel comes in many sizes, shapes and destinations
Remember the late 1980s film, “Trains, Planes and Automobiles” – the comedy in which Steve Martin and John Candy struggled with each other’s foibles, challenging weather and nearly every mode of transportation to make it home for Thanksgiving? I thought of this several times during the past two weeks as Mary Sue and I joined…
Renaissance woman finds new calling in her bonus years
The American author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, told us that “Vitality exists not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over.” For a living example of “Fitzgerald’s Law,” journey down to Annapolis Maritime Antiques on Severn Ave. in Eastport. There, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday afternoon beginning at 2:00, you…
Retirement, for some, is an opportunity to keep on serving
(Dick Libby, of Annapolis, officiated at the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan at Washington National Cathedral in 2010, 50 years after he had been ordained there as an Episcopal priest. [Capital Gazette]) Poet Robert Browning talked to us about “…the last of life for which the first was made.” For some, the link between the first…
Aging gives us new eyes to see people, issues and events
Our first Bonus Years column appeared on June 3, 2012. That was six years and 200 columns ago. Our aim was to write a column a week. That should add to 312. What happened to the other 112? Answer: We do our storytelling as a labor of love, so it competes with other affections –…
Civic innovations target needs of growing senior population
Though it’s a national sport to complain about our culture, much of what we “know” is fed to us by national media that are fixated on what is nasty, brutish, scandalous or weird – all of which is amplified in the 24×7 national “news” cycle. But if we stand back and look at things, especially…
You are never too old to dream or resolve to improve your life
As we celebrate New Year’s Eve, we should remember that “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book” and our calling to “Write a good one.” Those are the words of modern American philosopher Brad Paisley — also a Grammy-award-winning country music singer-songwriter, the vocation of some of our most insightful contemporary philosophers.…
Both religious and secular traditions define Christmas
Monday is Christmas, the big day most of us have anticipated — and prepared for — since Thanksgiving. Christmas has long played a large role in lives of most Americans. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center, 90 percent of Americans — and 95 percent of Christians — say they celebrate Christmas,…
Decide first where you want to live and then make a life there
Some years ago, when I was in my 40s and trying to decide what to do next, I sought the opinion of a longtime mentor. I lived in Denver and he lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so he invited me down for a dinner conversation. “This is going to be good,” I thought to…
‘Three Guys’ come up with great ideas for successful aging
Most everyone has heard of Five Guys, the American fast-food chain focused on hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries. Many know Two Men and a Truck, a nationwide franchise that provides local and interstate moving and storage services. But few know about Three Guys with Ideas. That’s why we are writing about them today. The…