Bonus Years Innovation
Autumn is a time to share in the lessons of letting go
Heart-warming are the changing seasons of life. When I was a youngster, life was about winter, spring, summer and fall – and each season had its highlights, beginning with Santa Claus in the winter. As I grew older, I came to see winter, spring, summer and fall more properly – i.e., as the seasons of…
Read MoreShared stories make lasting memories among the generations
Are you familiar with the Paw Patrol? Perhaps not, especially if you’re in your bonus years. In that case, I’ll bet you remember Disney’s Popeye the Sailor Man or Steamboat Willy. And who could forget Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner from Looney Toons? All these guys, plus Minnie Mouse and Olive Oyl, “performed”…
Read MoreGrudging compromises are part and parcel of our bonus years
Nearly 100 years ago, Russian-born American sociologist Pitirim Sorokin coined the term “social mobility” to describe how an individual’s social status might change (improve or decline) over his or her own life – or from one generation to the next. It was Sorokin’s work that gave rise to the term “upward mobility” – the idea…
Read MorePlant a tree, water a flower, trim a perennial and change the world
Adm. William McRaven, a retired four-star and Navy SEAL – and retired Chancellor of the University of Texas System – used his commencement speech to the UT-Austin Class of 2014, to advise, “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” McRaven, who directed the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin…
Read MoreThere’s no stopping the Showstoppers, not even the coronavirus
Three years ago, I dropped in on the South County Senior Center in Edgewater just to see what was going on. Though I was familiar with the Wiley Bates senior center in Annapolis – an impressive place with many benefits, from history and art classes to hot lunches, for area seniors – the south county…
Read MoreThe American Thanksgiving is likely to be different this year
Michael Lindell is a friend of mine. I’m not talking about Minnesota’s Michael Lindell who is seen daily on TV promoting “My Pillow” – the one with the Giza cotton. I’m talking about Michael Lindell, the Australian cartoonist, the one who signs his work “Mikko”. During the nearly four years I lived in Australia (2005-08),…
Read MoreBerkman’s “lifequake” sent him on a mission to end prison slavery
Just when everything seems to be going smoothly, life sometimes hits you in the head with a brick: cancer, a heart attack or other life-threatening illness; the loss of a loved one; a business failure or financial crisis; a physical disability, depression or other mental health challenge. Most of us have had our share of…
Read MoreNana time is the latest response to coronavirus disruptions
For those in their bonus years, the shift to retirement is one of the most important transitions they will make. Especially today because ours is the first generation to reach its bonus years with the likelihood of living an additional 20-30 years – many to age 90-plus. Increasing longevity is why a life plan to…
Read MoreAnnapolis Rotary adapts crab feast to coronavirus pandemic
Adaptation. That’s a specialty of human beings. Most do it really well. The idea of adaptation is at the center of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr’s often-quoted “Serenity Prayer” – which says, “Accept the things you cannot change; change the things you can; and have the wisdom to know the difference”. Using that wisdom certainly applies to…
Read MoreWith increasing longevity, boomers are the first ‘older generation’
Oliver Brown, age 62, lives in Newcomb, Maryland, located on the Miles River between Easton and St. Michaels. Because of increasing longevity among Americans – adding more than 30 years during the last century – Brown, an aging boomer by most standards, considers himself a “proud member of the first, new, older generation”. There’s a…
Read MoreNew assisted living and memory care choices come to Annapolis
Over the years, we’ve been treated to many expert forecasts that have turned out to be wrong. Among the most flagrant were forecasts after the 1970 Census about the coming “grey tsunami” and how the rapid growth of aging Americans would overwhelm everything – from housing to hospitals. Well, the “grey tsunami” part happened. The…
Read MoreWhen in doubt, consult wisdom based on decades of experience
The coronavirus is hitting older Americans harder than any other age cohort. Older Americans are vulnerable because many have pre-existing conditions that make them susceptible to the disease. Some infection data show, for example, that a 76-year-old is 20 times more likely than a 36-year-old to die from COVID-19. Many others cannot isolate themselves because,…
Read MoreStuff matters less in retirement. Give experiences.
With only three shipping days till Christmas, last-minute gift-buying can be a source of tension. Some gift-buying decisions are easy. For example, for young ones, there’s the rule of four: something they want; something they need; something they wear; and something they read. However, gift-buying for friends or relatives in their bonus years can be…
Read MoreCyber Monday and aging in place are made for each other
by Phil Burgess, Unabridged from Bonus Years in the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, December 1, 2019 We bought a new TV last week – a so-called “smart” TV. In the old days, with dumb TVs, you bought the TV, put it in the trunk, unpacked it when you got home and plugged…
Read MoreThere’s no place like home, so make sure it is safe, comfortable
by Phil Burgess, Unabridged from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, September 22, 2019 There’s no place like home – and that goes for those in their bonus years as much as for any age group. You would be excused if you thought differently. After all, most news is about those longer in…
Read MoreJailtime, cruise ships provide alternative lifestyles for seniors
Readers of a certain age will remember Art Linkletter, the radio and television talk-show pioneer who, for 25 years, hosted the Emmy-winning “House Party” and “People are Funny” broadcasts. Of his many achievements, Linkletter is perhaps best known for eliciting hilarious and sometimes indiscreet remarks from the mouths of toddlers, preschoolers and even youngsters in…
Read MoreAt age 99, the autobiography is used to share inspiring stories of a life well-lived
Celebrities, they say, are known for being known. Heroes, by contrast, are known for their deeds – for results and accomplishments and their contributions to the commonweal. While many heroes are well known – such as aviator Charles Lindbergh or astronaut John Glenn – others are less well-known. Those are the unsung heroes. Last week…
Read More‘Golden Girls’ sitcom gets real-life reboot
In a recent article on aging, Kori Miller asks “How do you feel about growing old? For some, it’s a scary time filled with change and loneliness. But it doesn’t need to be that way. In fact, it shouldn’t. We’re social creatures and growing old isn’t a solo sport.” With increasing longevity, however, we have…
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 MoreGifts of ‘engagement’ and ‘experience’ are hard to beat
Unabridged article from the Life section of the Annapolis Capital, Sunday, December 7, 2018 Buying a Christmas gift for friends or relatives in their bonus years can be a challenge. For example, what kind of gift do you buy for the bonus years empty-nester who is already downsizing? What do you get people who have…
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 MoreNavigating the map of elder care providers often requires assistance
Want to make your head explode? Try to figure out all the different kinds of senior housing and elder care services that are available and which one has the best fit with your needs and your pocketbook – or, in the case of adult children, those you are caring for. Enter Cindy Jahr Evans and…
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 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…
Read MoreYour own backyard is a good place to begin repairing the world
Having just returned from my second visit to Israel, I came home to a stack of books and articles I had accumulated over the past two months in preparation for the trip. The stack included a lot of history — such as Bernard Lewis’ “The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2000 Years”…
Read MoreHelping the elderly with in-home care is a family affair
Unabridged from my Bonus Years column in the Lifestyle section of The Sunday Capital, Annapolis, Maryland Last week I was driving west over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge – returning home after an afternoon’s conversation with three members of the Christensen family, the owners of the Visiting Angels in-home, elder-care franchise in Easton, Maryland. Along the way, I was…
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