Learning from purpose-driven travel can enrich later life
Hopes and dreams are the stuff of life. Occasionally, we share our dreams — sometimes with family members and sometimes with close friends. It was during these sharing times that many I have known over the years would say, “I am really looking forward to retirement as a time to travel — to see new…
Showstoppers use gifts of music and dance to engage, entertain
I had an amazing experience last week when I showed up at the South County Senior Activity Center in Edgewater for the weekly rehearsal of Showstoppers, a senior performing arts group with ages ranging from 60 to 94. I was there because Sharon Poet, who retired as director of the center in 2010 and now…
In real life, finishing well comes in many flavors
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Like the Ravens’ Ray Lewis, one of the NFL’s all-time great linebackers, we all want to go out as a champion, to finish well. However, in real life finishing well comes in many flavors and not just a Super Bowl ring.…
New learning and giving commitments make a noble new year
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Last week I was sitting at a table in “my section” of the Double T Diner on West Street, one of my favorite hangouts. It’s a sort of “not-too-hot/not-too-cold” Goldilocks setting – not too fancy and yet many steps up from Burger…
Consumables trump stuff when buying gifts for luminaries
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Gifts for friends and relatives in their bonus years – not “seniors” or “elders” or “oldsters” but what we call “luminaries” – can be a special challenge during a gift-giving holiday season like Christmas. Most luminaries are downsizing from a larger home…
You’re lucky if you still need a plan after you’ve lost your marbles
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Everyone who talks and writes about later life – from financial advisors to aging gurus – emphasizes the need for a later life plan. Even Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List created a last-minute plan of things to see…
Downsizing sounds like a good idea – until you have to do it
We did it! Practice what you preach, they say. So we did. We downsized – and haven’t looked back. It happened real fast. A “For Sale” sign appeared on an attractive but much smaller, single-story home down the street. The owners kept lowering the price, so we bought it; closed the next week and moved…
Whatever your age, it’s never too late to make a new ending
‘It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” That’s the answer I give to people who are trying to figure out what they are going to be – or do – in the 20-30 bonus years they are likely to experience before they go to the “happy hunting ground.” Actually, the quote…
Story-tellers and the tales they weave only get better with age
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Back in 1994, while standing in line to pay for Christmas decorations at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, a book called Christmas in My Heart: A Treasury of Old-Fashioned Christmas Stories caught my eye. The anthology was compiled and edited by Dr. Joe…
From cotton fields to the top of federal law enforcement
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland My first introduction to classical music was Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.” It wasn’t because Rossini was a favorite on our living room “Victrola,” or because my parents had tickets to the Lafayette (Indiana) Symphony Orchestra. I came to appreciate Rossini and his…