From Discouraged to Dynamic

From Discouraged to Dynamic

I believe that dynamic aging means challenging myself and my assumptions, changing and growing. The alternative is passively accepting a story of decline and disempowerment. I moved from passively accepting my decline to changing and growing at the age of 53. In late...
Kaleidoscope of Dynamic Aging

Kaleidoscope of Dynamic Aging

Reflecting on aging is like turning the kaleidoscope a notch, where each turn reveals a different pattern. At the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to return to school at the age of 61 for a Master’s Degree in Public Health. In 2020 I was worried that if the...
Epiphany on My Bike Seat

Epiphany on My Bike Seat

It’s a beautiful morning in early September here in New Mexico. I’m on my road bike with members of my cycling group. Well, not with them, more like following them as they speed ahead of me. I try to keep their bright jerseys in sight. Our route is mostly flat, giving...
Writing My Way Home

Writing My Way Home

I was already in my sixties when I first began to write my memoir The Coconut Latitudes. The last of my closest family members had died and I was just beginning to consider (and worry about) my own mind failing me as I aged, and whether our family story would die with...

Library Serendipity

The NY Times Book Review recently featured what it called, The 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. That’s so far, of course. There’s a lot of century left. But as well read as I feel I am, I noted I had read just a fraction of the 100 deemed...
Forgiveness and Gratitude

Forgiveness and Gratitude

After losing my beloved husband of 65 years in 2016, I remained in our beautiful home overlooking Rose City Golf Course in Northeast Portland. Our six children, their spouses and children – and even their children – had loved this home for 31 years, too. Why leave,...