With a Full Heart

I was reading a column this morning by someone who has been writing about aging, She wrote about her life slowing down, her memory sometimes failing her, this next chapter of wrapping up life and heading for the inevitable end. As someone who has spent much of her life working with older adults, I started…

As a child, my mother frequently begged me to “please just sit down,” my constant motion both familiar and, I am sure, more than a little irritating. As an adult, a friend and mentor told me that I had “the attention span of a monarch butterfly.” Those comments join a lifetime of similar ones, in…

In my world of work with older adults, we often talk about purpose and how vital it is to for everyone to have a sense of purpose. Regardless of abilities or challenges, we can all find meaning in our lives. What we must remember is that it may look different for each of us. Purpose…

It sometimes seems to me that courtesy has ceased to exist. The words that we had drummed into us, and that were drummed into our children, “please and thank you” are often hard to come by. And, “excuse me” has completely vanished. I don’t think that this is an indication of me being “old fashioned,”…

There are so many ways to approach relationships, both personally and professionally. Some of us hold ourselves apart and watch, engaging only when we choose to engage. Some of us seek control of situations and interactions, certain that the way we want things to play out is the best way, maybe the only way. There…

Perhaps you remember that fragment of a phrase from Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” The phrase that has always stuck with me is “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” and the poem, of course, goes on to describe the decision that has to be made, a decision that is to take the…

I am not sure if this is a character flaw or an asset. I’m not sure if it is a “female” thing or a side effect of my childhood. What I do know is that it is part and parcel of who I am, who I have always been and who I suspect I will…