Bonus Years Biographies
As we grow older, some things wear out – and that’s just fine
“It’s better to wear out than rust out” is the underlying theme of most of our bonus years stories. It’s also how I think about my own bonus years. I’ve learned that continuing engagement in paid work, volunteer work and other kinds of productive activities is the surest path to a longer, healthier and more…
Read MoreBonus Years Interview in the Talbot Spy
The following article is used with permission from “Better to Wear Out Than Rust Out While Aging with Phil Burgess” by Dave Wheelan, published on May 28th in the Talbot Spy. For the last four years, the Senior Summit, an annual gathering for seniors, children of seniors, and caregivers on the Mid-Shore, has gone out…
Read MoreSome people are evergreens, never dormant, always renewing
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, May 23, 2019 We’ve all heard of early bloomers, youngsters who perform at adult levels – and late bloomers, who are slow to get off the mark. These realities only show that different folks blossom in different seasons of their life. But occasionally, we…
Read MoreTelecom retirees answer call of history, preserve important artifacts
Unabridged from my weekly Bonus Years column the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, May 12, 2019 For nearly four years, beginning in 2005, I had the privilege of working as senior executive in the largest telecommunications company in a nation not my own. That company was Telstra, Australia’s telecommunications giant, which also owned…
Read MoreWork after a life of work appeals to many in their bonus years
For those of us in our bonus years, conversations with children and grandchildren are usually satisfying, often sweet. However, sometimes we’re faced with offspring who will skeptically roll their eyes whenever we speak with awareness and enthusiasm about issues they think they invented. Example: If you talk about recycling, some Millennials will dismiss your views…
Read MoreYou’re never too old to serve those in need — and there are many
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, May 3, 2019 During March and April, I visited a close friend who spent nearly two months in the rehab unit at Heritage Harbor. Nearly every visit included meeting other interesting people who were also visiting my popular friend. During one visit, I met…
Read MoreA life of service to the ‘seats of power’ does not end when your career ends
New Year’s Eve was a dreary day in Annapolis. It was cold and rainy. Little did I know that my day would soon be filled with the light of Frank Jones whose uplifting manner and inspiring story could raise the spirits of even a Scrooge or Grinch. It goes like this. Jones was born in…
Read MoreThe value of a story is in the telling, even the greatest story ever told
Among life’s many blessings are opportunities we have to help another realize a dream. We do it all the time, especially with our life partners and our children – everything from enduring faithfulness to a bicycle at Christmas for a hopeful 10-year-old. Less frequently, but sometimes even with a good friend or protégé, we learn…
Read MoreAnnapolis man turns his setbacks into a comeback
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, December 14, 2018 Last week, Mary Sue and I were ringing bells for the Salvation Army’s red donation kettle located at City Dock by Zachery’s jewelry store in downtown Annapolis. That’s when I first met Steve Rice. Like many others that brisk Monday morning,…
Read MoreYou can’t separate a boy from his toys, no matter his age
I’ve known Bill Lesko for more than two decades. But not really, I discovered. Last week, I found out why: Lesko and his partner, Martha Fox, a retired elementary school math teacher, are always on the go. Lesko is always interesting – beginning with his six-years of volunteer work to restore and crew the SS…
Read MoreThanksgiving, fall’s finale, is just around the corner
Thursday next is Thanksgiving – first proclaimed by George Washington in 1789 and formally established as a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. None of us should need a special day to count our blessings or express gratitude. Still, Thanksgiving is a special American celebration – dating back to the Pilgrims’ landing in Massachusetts…
Read MoreDisposing of cherished historic cars is a new kind of downsizing
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, October 26, 2019 Our bonus years spark thoughts of “the good ‘ole days.” I’m not talking about board games like Monopoly, card games like canasta or fads like hula hoops. I’m thinking about important things – like your first car. My first car was…
Read MoreThe need for transition assistance happens at all ages
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, October 12, 2019 (The 50-seat Light House Bistro is more than a restaurant. It is also what some people call a “social enterprise” — a business enterprise that has social goals embedded in its business objectives. [Joshua McKerrow / Capital Gazette file]) Several months…
Read MoreLooking after aging mother transforms lives of caregiving sisters
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, October 07, 2019 I’ve just seen life from the inside out, a view that can only be conveyed by storytelling. That was my first thought as I finished reading Melanie Merriman’s Holding the Net: Caring for My Mother on the Tightrope of Aging, winner…
Read MoreDespite 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…
Read MoreRenaissance 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…
Read MoreRetirement, 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…
Read MoreDownsizing to a condo does not require downsizing memories
This past week I crossed paths with one of the most interesting women I’ve met in a long time. Her name is Anne-Marie Baikauskas (pronounced by-KAWS-kiss). She lives in Heritage Harbour, an active 55+ community in Annapolis which includes a community center with many community amenities and social events. Baikauskas lives in a mid-rise condo.…
Read MoreOnly a genealogist thinks a step backward is progress
The Maryland State Archives, located on Rowe Blvd. just west of College Creek, is the central repository for what the law calls “state government records of permanent value….” including birth and death, marriage and divorce records, last wills and testaments and records of the history of Maryland – from the earliest times of Lord Baltimore…
Read MoreRetirement can be an experience with many chapters
(Photo Credit: In 2017, Craig Sewell, longtime chef and owner of A Cook’s Cafe in Annapolis, announced his retirement after 15 years. [Joshua McKerrow / Capital Gazette file]) Annapolitan Craig Sewell is, to my way of thinking, a poster boy for the way many of us will spend our bonus years: in serial retirements that…
Read MoreGood literature tells truest truths about death and dying
Last December, just before Christmas, I read a retirement story in the Capital about Michael Parker, a US Naval Academy English professor, due to step aside after 38 years on the Yard. A notice that someone is about to retire always catches my attention. However, buried in the Parker story was an added attraction: It…
Read MoreTo live is to engage in the action and passion of your time
Someone once said that “Stories are only stories at the end. In the middle, it’s just chaos.” I thought of that last week as I was talking to Marvin Smith, who has a way to go before he’s at the end of his story. Though Smith is now 61, he still looks every bit the…
Read MoreSenior leadership, know-how can be a big asset for non-profits
(Image: Peter Cooper, left, and Dale Moeller, members of the 2015 class of the Watershed Stewards Academy, completed this rain garden to handle runoff from the parking lot of their church, Woods Memorial Presbyterian in Severna Park. [Pat Furguson / Baltimore Sun Media Group]) It was 7:30 on a Thursday morning a few weeks ago…
Read MoreAnnapolis woodworkers prove hobbies for the young are satisfying at every age
(Image: Members of the Annapolis Woodworkers’ Guild in their workshop in 2015, from left, Barry Frankel of Crofton, Jim Jordan of Cape St. Claire, Bill Carbin, Andy Borland, both of Severna Park, Paul Dodson of Glen Burnie, Will Hottle of Edgewater. [Kenneth K. Lam / Baltimore Sun file]) Personal agency. It’s not a common phrase,…
Read MoreAnnapolitans turn a lifelong calling into a later-life mission
(Image: Annapolis residents Jim and Karen Wilder, pictured in 2014, aim to launch a new enterprise that reflects not only their culinary calling but also their commitment to creating opportunities for people with disabilities, translating a lifelong calling into a bonus years mission. [Joshua McKerrow / Capital Gazette file]) Last week, while attending the annual…
Read MoreLife is a series of transitions and retirement is just another
(Photo: “I can’t see myself retiring. I love the work I do. I’ve worked my whole life and throughout my life I’ve always invested in my education so I can do more,” Jonathon Church said. [Courtesy photo from the Capital Gazette]) “I’m a retired police officer,” he said as the men around the table introduced…
Read MoreVietnam-era immigrant continues to serve at Anne Arundel Community College
(Image: Dung Dinh Do is a police officer at Anne Anne Arundel Community College. He graduated from the police academy at age 64, the oldest person to ever go through the academy. [Paul W. Gillespie / Capital Gazette]) It shouldn’t be surprising that immigration is all over the news. After all, global migration is one…
Read MoreMove over, Mitch Miller, we’ve got some singin’ to do
I have more than a few friends at Ginger Cove, an Annapolis-area continuing care retirement community. Several are in a men’s group I attend on Saturday mornings. Others I see when I’m out and about. But I’ve been traveling a lot this year — to Israel, Australia and elsewhere — so there are some I’ve…
Read MoreHelping the young to a legacy of trains, planes and automobiles
(Image: Ted Levitt, who ran Chick and Ruth’s Delly in Annapolis after his parents died, talks about retiring and selling the business to new owner Keith Jones late last year. (Joshua McKerrow / Capital Gazette)) Way back in 1993, Mary Sue and I decided to move to Annapolis from Denver. It was a move shaped…
Read MoreCivic 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…
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