How To Be Old

I’m 78, which is the youngest I will ever be again. I’ve read enough articles about aging to fill the Grand Canyon. In fact, I’ve written many of them: how to plan for retirement, how to eat to keep mind and body healthy, the essential nature of exercise, the benefits of downsizing or of staying put. But what I care most about now is how to just be a human being. I am living in an aging shell, and I sometimes acknowledge that, but not always. Sometimes it matters; sometimes it doesn’t.

That’s what this page is about. How to be. I write from my own life, about how the world looks and feels with trifocals and ten percent off at Starbucks. Others can provide the advice, the research, the solemnity. I’m giving you the honesty with as much clarity and humor as the day deserves. I don’t plan to tell you how to do anything—I’ve spent my life doing that as a writer and teacher. I’m now focused on just being. This is about showing, not telling.

Other than being 78, I am the wife of Joe, who will pop up on these pages more than he might like. We’ve been together since 1970 and have a son and a daughter who perceive themselves as middle-aged but who are still young adults to me. We have two grandsons I used to call The Adorables, but who are in the process of passing me in height, even though I once was 5’9”. I have five siblings and a church full of nieces and nephews (mostly on Joe’s side). I am blessed with friends on multiple continents; some I’ve known since I was a teenager and others I met post-pandemic. They all add energy to my life.

I’m not sure my life has gone as planned, because I didn’t spend as much time planning as some people do. I was busy living. I still am. Come along with me and let’s do it together.