The Aging Perspective

Vanity most often is looked upon as something negative; it is referred to in the bible as all pride that is inconsequential.  ---Loving Vanity blossoms but bares no fruit. - Napalse Enjoying, one owns appearance, and accomplishments may provoke others to think of you as, conceited and insincere. But, if we think a little deeper and consider the value of self-appreciation, an expression of pride, we can then say, "We could all use a shot of arrogance!!" Take, for example, my childhood friend DL who I speak with every day during this time of isolation. She tells me every day...

It’s almost impossible to sugar coat what is happening in the world today while this pandemic is affecting all of us, however, my perspective is trending towards optimism.  All you have to do is look at our financial markets dropping, our healthcare system over saturated and becoming less accessible to us, if we get sick, restricted social interaction, loss of jobs, government headed towards a financial disaster, and so forth and so on. So where is the evidence for hopefulness? Simply, disaster should teach us humility, and humility should guide the path towards our recovery. Our need for humility now, should...

  Do you realize you can have a lifelong effect on a stranger, by one single act of kindness?  Imagine, years later, they're still talking about it. Imagine, at our age, sitting in a classroom through four periods of eighth-graders substituting and dealing with today’s challenges: cell phones, a disregard for authority, and a heightened uneasiness among students. With only one week into  retirement, I decided to trade in my hat, working with seniors, and take on the daunting task of toiling with today’s youth. I had to ask myself, am I crazy? As I contemplate finding a logical reason for...

 Contemplating retirement is a long and arduous process for some. There are the usual topics one must consider like health, security, sustainability, and personal pleasures. When I decided to assess each, I felt there must be a measurable formula that predicts when you know it is right. When is the right time?    Will I be ready?     And what will I do? I first searched to find the most inspirational quote, on retirement for which I discovered was nonexistent. I even made a list of synonyms taken from a thesaurus on the word, retire, which only confused and depressed me.----I present these to...

 Joe Spalletta prefers to remain quiet in the back of our adult day center's living room. Each day he removes his colored pencils from his bag along with his ruler and draws from photographs and puzzle boxes, the images that seem to catch his eye. It is not that he’s just a good artist but that he has only been drawing like this since his life-changing event. Joe is a man of many talents, past and present. Drawing has become his passion now, and while communicating is challenging, he now lets his art speak for himself. If he sees something that...