Aging: Are You Still Middle-Aged?

As I grow older I find it harder to find a group where I belong. Am I still middle-aged or am I something else that does not belong anywhere? The problem is, while I am 72, I don't think or feel old enough to be relegated just to AARP blog posting or even that Granparent.com gathering. In fact, I just don't understand what AARP is doing right now and limiting myself to a grandparents role seems foolish.

Midlife Boulevard

The main group that I connect with is called Midlife Boulevard with the emphasis on Midlife. The fact of the matter is, the thing we have in common is our sex and not our age! It is a wonderful connection for me. Incidentally, you will find an article of mine on the front page of that web site today. The article is called Getting Cussed Out.

I am also a member of a group that follows Satisfying Retirement written by Bob Lowry. Bob is a friend and we have spent some time together within the past year. He writes about his retirement, financial matter and has published a couple of books. Bob is several years younger than I am. As a result of being on his blogger list I also have a few men that comment on my blog. I like that connection too.

Several years ago I joined a group called Studio30+. That group is for writers in their 30s. I was just curious what people in that age group were talking about. I got this lovely email asking me why I was joining them...they thought I was way too old. They were very understanding and let me stay. It was because of that connection I found Lonesome Jackalope, a fellow blogger that wrote a hilarious guest article for me about his very first letter from AARP. We still connect on twitter and email.

I honestly cannot tell you how old I am most of the time. I have to subtract and divide to get the right number. I am not 30, 50 or anything close to it. I act somewhere in between the cracks. So am I still middle-aged or should I respectfully dismiss myself and join whatever? No, I don't think I am going to do that. It seems to me that way too much is made of "age groups" and that we don't fit into any drawer unless we make that choice. So am I still middle-aged? Probably but who can tell.

b+

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AARP: Healthy Living Trivia Sweepstakes, Prizes and Learning

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AARP

Yesterday I received a letter from a Melissa Summers, a Community Manager and Content Creator for B2B and Consumer Facing Brands.  She is promoting an AARP sponsored website called Healthy Living Sweepstakes.  The website is all about healthy lifestyle awareness and learning while playing a game of trivia.  The hook is a $20 credit toward a pedometer/radio or a 3-day vacation at a resort. 

Hi Barbara, 

I'm writing on behalf of AARP to let you know about their ongoing Healthy Living Sweepstakes. You can read more about it here: http://aarp.promo.eprize.com/health/#.UE9YL1Ew-7t.  

As a non-profit organization with more than 37 million members, the AARP advocates a healthy lifestyle as part of its overall mission to support independence, choice and control in the lives of Americans 50 years old and older. Because your (extensive) content focuses on many aspects of living well after retirement and you recently shared some thoughts about the AARP remaining relevant (Is AARP Losing It's Grip on Seniors?) we thought you and your readers might be interested in hearing from AARP.... 

Screen Shot of Web Page

I need you to know that I have been inspired to begin walking 30+ minutes a day and am losing weight at about 2 lbs. a week. This letter came at just the right time. I was interested!

I went to the website and gave the trivia game a try. Darn, I did not know all the answers and I did not win. But it was fun! I like this sort of thing because I can play and learn at the same time. You get more chances to win if you answer a lot of questions. Three questions will get you in so it just depends on how much time you want to spend.  Each question will give you a hint for the answer with a link to information about the question. That was interesting for me. Honestly, I need to pay attention to obesity and BMI (body mass index) and arthritis, etc. Even if I don't want to.

So, if you just want to play around with the chance that you might win something cool, this trivia game may be for you.

Have fun.

b

Related Links: 
Book Review: The 17 Day Plan to Stop Aging by Dr. Mike Moreno (Barbara Torris, Blog Critics)
Did the Invitation Get Lost in the Mail?  (Retire in Style Blog)
AARP And Me (Retire in Style Blog)
AARP: The 48 yr. Old Guy is Passing...For Now! (guest post on Retire In Style Blog)

Is AARP lossing It's Grip on Seniors? What is next?

What does the logo symbolize?

When I published the guest post from the 48-year-old guy that had received his first invitation to AARP, I wondered if AARP had lost its appeal.  While the organization has a huge political clout, the fact that they still look the same after all these years has me wondering...is AARP  moving too slow while the boomer generation drives by thumbing their collective noses at them?  Is the generation that rules the world declining their invitation to grow old?

It is not so much what AARP does as how it looks and what it symbolizes.  Like the 48-year-old guy, anyone that gets the dreaded envelop holding the invitation to join, the appearance of the AARP logo has them thinking "I can't be old yet! I am only_____ years old."  Nature will not tolerate a vacuum and the one left by people turning away from a the "symbol" of AARP is going to be filled by a group that appeals to those people beginning the second part of their adulthood...they want a new symbol for the next stage in their lives.  That big generation coming down the track is not going to settle for anything less than a symbol that screams Active and Meaningful and Full of Life.

Now I see that PBS has a new website called called *Next Avenue.  The website description says simply When Grown-ups Keep Growing.  The focus for the group is not growing old.  It instead talks about learning, working and staying involved.  I received an email from Encore Careers, another wonderful organization, talking about Next Avenue.  It said:

Dear Friend, 

Just because you’re grown up, doesn’t mean you’re done growing. That’s the idea behind the new PBS website Next Avenue:  

• http://www.nextavenue.org Aimed at the 50-plus set, Next Avenue focuses on topics people may experience differently in this stage in life, including health, finances, work, leisure and caregiving.  

We’re most excited about the Work & Purpose section. Encore.org is contributing stories about pursuing an encore career for the greater good – how to assess your skills, questions to ask when looking for a nonprofit job, building your professional network and more. Check out our contributions here:

• http://www.nextavenue.org/partners/encoreorg   There is also a rich video section that draws from PBS’s immense library – and ours. You’ll see: “Money Tips to Make it Through a Layoff,” “Job Searching at 59” and “Launching a Consulting Business.” Sprinkled throughout are video profiles of Purpose Prize winners, a great source of inspiration. 

Spend some time on Next Avenue and tell us what you think at info@encore.org.
Where will your next avenue lead? 

Sincerely,
Michele
Michele Melendez
Editor, Encore.org

Don't you love that? "Just because you've grown up doesn't mean you're done growing"?  Really, just because we have passed any benchmark in our life doesn't mean we are done...retirement or turning 70 or graduating college is not the end of anything, they are a new beginning. We are not done growing until we are done. Are you paying attention? Maybe we will be seeing more of these younger feeling organizations for this generation.

I think that if AARP is losing it's appeal, is it because people have the idea that AARP equals just growing old. The image of someone filling our needs does not make any generation feel useful and needed.  I didn't get the feeling that the 48-year-old guy was interested in making it better or easier to grow old.  Not even one bit.  He is probably more interested in growing and learning and being better and doing it for a very long time. That is what I feel Next Avenue and Encore is offering...an avenue to the next beginning on the way to becoming a better human being.

b

 I invite you to watch this video from Encore Careers...advertisers could learn a thing or too from this beautiful, simple, creative short video about big opportunities for our second adulthood:

Free Stuff for your NON-Profit from Tech Soup

Tech Soup Partners

AARP recommends that we volunteer whenever possible.  I know that many retirees give time to their churches, schools and communities across the country.  If you are one of those people, here is something you may not have heard about.  There is an organization called Tech Soup that finds partners willing to donate technology nonprofits and libraries.

At TechSoup, nonprofits and libraries can request and receive technology products donated by TechSoup partners, and they can find tech-focused content and community tuned to their needs. We're a nonprofit with a clear focus: to make it as easy as possible for other nonprofits and libraries to obtain and use the technologies they need to achieve their goals. As part of that mission, we provide access to over 400 products donated by more than 40 companies — including donor partners like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco, Intuit, and Symantec.  

Twitter:  

https://twitter.com/#!/TechSoup

I have been a follower of this group for quite a while.  I am always very interested in the service they give to organization.  You really should take the time to look their webpage over and see if there is anything they can do for you.  At the very least, pass the word along.  This is a very good thing.

b

Technorati Tag:  technology, non-profit, AARP

Did the AARP Invitation Get Lost in the Mail?

I laughed when Blue Orchid wrote the guest blog about receiving his AARP invitation when he was 48 years old.  His decision to pass on the kind offer seemed right considering his age, how long we will live, and the cheesy gift AARP was offering.  But I laughed even harder when my husband got his invitation in the newspaper this last Sunday....he is 74!  Did the invitation get lost in the mail?  You know, a person could get their feelings hurt.

The dreaded symbol of getting old!

The benefits are the same as those offered Blue Orchid...an insulated travel bag in red (AARP color) that is suppose to tip the scales toward the option to send $14 for membership.  Even though that included the $4.03 subscription to AARP The Magazine and a free insulated bag we have made our decision that we are not ready to join yet...maybe when we get old but just not yet.

Blue Orchid of Texas, I think we will just hang out with you and your Studio30 friends for a while longer if that is alright.  

Be well.

Barbara

AARP: The 48 yr. Old Guy is Passing...For Now!

JDH doesn't tell much about himself...he just writes a great blog called Blue Orchid of Texas. I found him via a website for people over the age of 30.  Google describes his blog as "wildly popular".  He is funny and irreverent but I suspect that under that blogs exterior hides a writer with a big heart and a worthy calling.  Best of all he makes me laugh.  I like that a lot. Here is a blog he wrote for me telling about the day he received his AARP card.  We can all relate to this one! 

AARP card + a FREE insulated bag...wow!

“All Hands On Deck” by Blue Orchid of Texas

I could tell right away when the sunlight hit the envelope that it was not your typical junk mail piece. I could see that as I turned it over in my hand and closed the mailbox door with my other, that this was a quality piece of messaging. I confess that at first glance I thought it was a piece from the American Automobile Association (AAA) as I get one or two offers to join per month from them. In fact, as much as I travel throughout the state of Texas I really should take them up on their kind offer of roadside assistance plans. But no, I continue to live life on the edge as I travel, awaiting for the potential automobile malfunction and then my having to stand by the side of the highway as a steady stream of attractive and sultry women pull over to offer me a lift to the next town. When I made it into the house and lightly tossed the small stack of mailbox goodies on the bar in the kitchen the piece caught my eye again. Examining it more closely as I tore it open – which I’m sure is pretty much what they wanted me to do – I noticed the AARP logo on the return area and not AAA. AARP? Why did that have a slightly familiar ring to it? Didn’t I see an AARP newsletter piece or a magazine from them in my Grandparent’s house some years ago?

The snappy looking letter inside with the attached high-quality membership card obviously captured my attention but I still didn’t know what this was all about. Right off though I did see that by joining whatever-this-was I would receive “your Insulated Travel Bag – FREE. By the way, I love it when copy writers make the word “free” boldfaced and all capital letters. Because if they didn’t I would know that there’s some kind of catch to this whole thing, some hidden agenda perhaps. But seeing the boldfaced lettering gave me an instant assurance and peace about the whole matter. As I read down a bit further to see what all I would get for ONLY $16, I saw that I would be supporting the nation’s largest non-profit organization that fights for the rights of all people over 50. As they stated, that of course is whether you are retired or just retired and working at Walmart as a greeter. Either way, I also enjoyed seeing their pledge that they preserver to be the outfit that “fights for the rights” of older Americans which immediately stirred my blood and reminded me of a rock and roll song I saw on MTV that said, “you’ve got to fight for your right to party”. But I suspect this is not so much about partying as it is about getting stuff you need to keep on keeping on. Of course for some it may be all about keeping the party going and having a seriously good time at it too.

Then it hit me. Why the hell would I be getting this invitation to join them when I’m only forty-eight and not fifty? And to top it off, people tell me I look like forty anyway. Can’t they see that? I even got asked for my ID card at a grocery store a few months ago precisely because I look so vibrant and youthful that I could easily be mistaken for a seventeen-year old boy trying to buy a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Maybe it’s like that scary accurate demographics research that they are using today, you know where you buy certain products and this secretive bunch of folks in top secret corporate bunkers feeds all your purchasing patterns into a supercomputer and then they know everything about you based on the kind of toothpaste you are buying. Oh hell, am I already buying old folks toothpaste? My deodorant, or socks or Scotch – what could it be? Well, anyway obviously this was just a glitch in the system somewhere because I’m of course nowhere near fifty years of age and I certainly don’t need a membership in the AARP organization for a long time yet. Right? No really, I mean it.

Ernest Hemingway once said that death crosses paths with a man at some point in his life, takes measure of him and then moves on. But the meeting is sealed and of course will eventually come around again. Trust me, I’m not trying to be dark or morbid in some way here but honestly it could be that my getting that horribly mistaken mailing was in some way a road sign for me. Maybe it was one just letting me know that old age is not only coming for me but is now speaking in a calm but clear voice to me and telling me that I’ll need to come up on deck soon. One of my friends, my editor in fact, mentioned in a conversation about her ailing parents that “our time is just about here and it’s time for us to be on the deck”. That stuck with me and I found that it was stirred again by the AARP invitation letter. It was an apt description and in the days since it was spoken I’ve thought more about it. If our lives are like sailing on a big sailboat then when we are born and young we are on the lower decks. Life is good but we only get glimpses of the majesty, mystery and power of the sea when we glance out of the port windows. Later we may find ourselves at the helm and our hands are wrapped around the wooden handle grips of the steering wheel. Maybe we are married or single, CEO’s or dishwashers or maybe just content to wander the galley but whatever we are doing, we are still not on deck. But that summons will come one day if we live long enough to hear it and I think that’s when we need to loosen our grip on the main wheel and let others take our place. It’s as it should be. We all will get the call to come up  and when the call comes I think we should go. If we don’t – if we try to ignore the voice then our lives will only be an ever increasing struggle in the wheelhouse of life for control of a vessel that is better left to youth. I think that maybe not today but soon, my call to come up on deck is going to be spoken. While I could ignore it I don’t think that I will. It seems to me that the view is probably great from the top deck and the air will be fresh and clean. Sure you still have storms and the wind and rain may occasionally sting your skin but there has to be a freedom, a sweetness even in no longer gripping the wheel below.

I remember something my Dad said after the passing of the last of my Grandparents a few years ago. He said to my Mom, “now we are the old folks.” And although my own parents are still hopefully a few decades away from clearing the deck of life, I know that I will inevitably one day be one of the old folks too and yet I’m pretty sure that I’ll enjoy my own time on the deck as well. For those of you that are already there, I hope the journey may be a smooth one for you and not complicated too much by the mucking about by the younger crewmen below decks. I’ll be waiting for your call and for you to hand off the ropes to me one day as you prepare for your time to disembark. Even more I hope for peace for you and long days and nights to enjoy the view. And if you are ever at the AARP headquarters, please tell them the forty-something guy down in Texas says hello and I’ll see you soon enough.

www.theblueorchidoftexas.blogspot.com

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Good News...life on Venus is wonderful! 50 is the new 40!

Is 50 the new 40?
I have some good news!!! I just read a blog today with the title Fifty is the New Forty.  See what I mean.  This good right?  If 50 is the new 40 then 80 must be the new 65.  Statistics and numbers can mean anything so why not?  What do you think?

For a woman like me that can remember when being over 30 made you the enemy and old,  benchmarks like 50+ have taken on a new meaning.  Perhaps in my world 50 is the new 30.  We are, in fact remaining healthy vital active people for a very long, long time.  I will be 70 in November.  I just finished cataract surgery and can see better than I ever have.  I have resolved that, since it looks like I am going to live a long time, I am going to take Aubrey de Grey's advice and keep my body as strong as my mental age.

I believe that most of outcomes in our life are a result of self-prophecy.  For example, when you go to work and your pencil breaks, you can do two things.  You can sharpen the pencil.  Or you can say "Oh this is going to be one of those days." put the pencil in the garbage and spend the rest of the day blundering around with no pencil.  It is all a matter of what you visualize coming down the pike.  I believe that when people talk and visualize their retirement they should be realistic and upbeat.  The retirement self-prophecy will be what you make of it.

Women in the baby boomer generation are very influential and they will be the ones that change everyone perception about what aging will look.  They are shaping the "self prophecy" for women approaching old age.  That too is very good news.  More of these women are educated and working at pursuits that satisfy them than woman of my generation.  As a result, we are seeing more and more positive, encouraging blogs, websites and magazines designed for the 50+ crowd. The successful positive women are more visible than ever.  At my age I benefit from all those things.  I love More magazine,  Fab Over Fifty website. Advanced Style Blog and even all the things that AARP has to offer now. The world of the aging female is expanding in size and importance.

In our 70's and still loving bling!

I read somewhere that women do indeed live on Venus...even in retirement.  The 50+ woman is taking care of business but they are talking about living. Male bloggers are more focused on work related subjects and financial concerns.  Like women have done for so many generation, they keep the books and manage the daily life for themselves and their families. When they write, women talk about love, working, having fun, learning and maintaining their health.  It could be that the attitude of woman is entirely different.  Many of us approach the aging process with an eye to aesthetics.  Many women have always done day to day things so retirement is not a wonderland of doing nothing.  They know better...retirement is just living.  Hopefully, all women view that stage in their life as an opportunity to grow intellectually. On Venus the doors are always open and it is so beautiful here!   And the numbers associated with the length of our existence are meaningless.

I invite you to visit the websites I mentioned above:

• More Magazine
• Advanced Style by Seth Cohen
• Fab over Fifty
• AARP
• Fifty is the New Forty Blog
• Fifty is the New Forty website
• TED Why We Grow Old and How to We Can Avoid It 
• Men are from Mars Women are from Venus 

Have a wonderful Sunday and week to come.

b

Note: And now I see that GenX is following in the Boomers footsteps.  More's editor and chief, Lesley Jane Seymour was one of those interviewed for  a wonderful article in the Los Angeles Time.

Gen X women, young for their age.

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Learn to be old...be true to yourself!

ME:  Wife, mother, teacher, retiree, blog writer....no more no less!

I submitted an article to the AARP blog editor the other day.  It was very hard to write because I was attempting to be more professional and newspaper like.  It was a terrible article even though I struggled for days to make it perfect.  I was trying to be someone I was not.

First of all, I am 69.  Who I am is pretty much set in stone.  The molding part of my personality happened about 68 years ago.  Oh I try to make a minor improvement here and there and always have.  But, let me tell you, changing a major pattern in my personality is very near impossible.

I had all the information.  I love the research part writing.  I was trying to writing an article that described the unique qualities of an organization called TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) and the online TED Talks program.  I talked about the positive impact of people sharing their knowledge.  I talked about the prestige and intellect of those who attended or presented.  People like Jane Goodall, Aubrey de Gray and Bill Gates were mentioned.  All the key ingredients were there but the thing that was missing was ME...the real me.  My voice could not be heard.

I do believe there is a lesson to be learned here.  In Hamlet William Shakespeare wrote "This above all: to thine own self be true".  I have always thought he had it so right...the rest  "must follow, as the night the day."  That piece of wisdom is as true today as it was when Hamlet was first performed.  As we grow old we need to remember we were gifted with  unique qualities at birth.  There is no subtracting or adding.  We are what we are.  We can learn new skills but any piece of art or writing will reflect what is true.  As Shakespeare would say "Thou canst not then be false to any man." I have decided to rejoice in that!

Just a thought.

b

Note:  I urge you to head on over to the AARP website and read the article about TED (that I did NOT write).  It is wonderful.  AARP, TED and William Shakespeare can teach us a thing or two.

TV Ads with a Social Conscience? Chrysler and Tom's Shoes Show the Way

Note: Article first published as TV Ads with a Social Conscience? Chrysler and Tom's Shoes Show the Way on Blogcritics.

From Blake Mycoskies bio on Tom's website. 

An article posted by AARP this week talked about a business that had found a way to connect consumers with a social conscience to a wonderful product. I had been aware of this small company for several years, but up until its commercial-within-a-commercial TV campaign, I had not been aware of the concept. It was pure genius on the part of some advertising agency.

Tom's Shoes
AT&T partnered with a small shoemaker, (Website informationTom's Shoes), which provided free shoes to children around the world. The young Blake Mycoskie saw a need for children's shoes in poverty-stricken communities and he was looking for a product he could sell. So he started a business based on this need and found a way to do it profitably. As I remember the business plan, he hired people in third world countries to make the shoes and marketed them with a tag line telling the consumer that every pair of shoes sold also included a pair of Tom's shoes for a barefoot child in a third-world community—a sort of two for one sale. Enter me, a lover of children, and you have a senior with a social conscience who is wearing a pair of Tom's shoes! That was back in 2009 and I still wear that original pair. Read more at Blog Critics Business....

AARP Listen up! The Perfect Hobby? - Coupons and Retired Men!

A room full of couponeers and their wives!

     "What do you do for a hobby," they asked.
     "I clip coupons.  We can save lots of money that way," he answered.  His wife just rolled her eyes.  She changed her mind when he began finding coupons online for the stuff she liked.  Golf coupons, Overstock Promo Codes and home decorating coupons.  He finally had her attention!

     Retirement is not the end by any means. Even though someone is not bossing you around anymore does not mean that you can sleep for the rest of your life....even if that is what you have been dreaming about. I know. Lack of sleep was a demon that pursued you all through your working years. One day you wake up rested and want to do something.  Boredom is not a child's thing. Boredom lurks around every corner in a life of total leisure.
     Hobbies always seem to be the perfect answer. Young people studying about old people will always come up with the wonderful idea that we old people would be perfectly happy if we would just find a hobby.  In fact, I have heard younger people worry about their mom or dad and what in the name of heaven they are going to do when they retire. "They don't even have a hobby," they will say.
     This where my husband and his friends came in. Working was a passion, an obsession and the sum total of their lives. Then they retired. Dear lord in heaven please help us all. Those of us on the sidelines waiting for the retirement game to play out knew that whatever these men decided to do we were going to be expected to play a supporting role. Sigh!
     We were beginning to think that it was not going to be so bad. They did rearrange a few things and wanted to boss us around but still, it was okay. Then they discovered the wonderful world of coupons. In fact, two of the men actually took a class. On a designated Thursday night they climbed in their cars and traveled to a classroom in a nearby high school. When they arrived they found a room full of housewives waiting to enter the wonderful world of the couponeering. They learned to clip and file and double the coupons. They learned about Thursday specials published on Wednesday nights. The whole week would revolve around plans for shopping on Thursday. They flitted from store to store yet always managing to save a little gas by wandering into the golf store near the local grocery. They were in the neighborhood so why not?  Oh the glory of it all.
     It lasted for a winter season. We wives were recruited to ride along for a whole day of coupons and nickels and dimes.  Then the new wore off.  The chase didn't seem so much fun anymore.  That was when the men reclined to their recliner passing the important job off to their wives. They still went to the golf store but not the grocery. That gas saving thing just didn't work in reverse.  But they clipped and filed. They would checked to see if the wives had done their jobs at the grocery. When the wives rebelled, the grown children fell heir to the files, coupons, inquisition and savings.
     All this happened many years ago. My husband has not changed.  He coupons from his recliner.  He can print coupons to restaurants, events and for groceries without ever getting out the scissors. He is a fan of Groupon, Restaurant.com, LivingSocial and GolfNow.com. I haven't told him yet but AARP even has ads for coupon sites. We will discover it on his own.  I am never sure if we are playing golf or eating out because he wants to go with me or because he got a good deal.
     I guess saving coupons is better than the hobby of "dumpster diving".  Yes I saw it on a list of hobbies recently. I have learned to live with it at least when it comes to golfing or eating out.  I do not take coupons to the grocery store with me!  It is the principle of the thing. After all, I still have my pride!

b

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NO. 1 Gift for Mother...pay attention children!

      This is the best news I have had in an age.  The little Kindle e-reader that I traded for is going to be allowed to tap into the local library!  The is wonderful news for senior citizens with compromised vision on a limited income!  Listen up AARP!
       Mother's Day is coming and this affordable gift could be something that your mom should have in her hands.  Reading keeps our mind active and might ward off the effects of dementia.  Give it a thought!
     I've given you the idea...now you go do something about it!

b
  

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What's Hot on the Web...in retirement land!

Image via Wikipedia

WWI Meatless Menu

This is the day I go out exploring on the web to see what is going on in the world.  Take the trip with me and make these stops during your day. Here is the potpourri of website for your Monday viewing:

• Satisfying Retirement: How am I Supposed to Pay For This? Bob Lowery has some very thoughtful insights into how insurance costs will change the way we retire
•  Retirement Grief (Retirement - Only the Beginning Feb 21, 2011) + 7 Stages of Retirement Grief (from this blog January 2010)
• February 21...Internationale Mother Language Day
• 10 Things I Forget I love Until I Remember
• Park Models I Love from Tiny House Blog
• How to Start a Book Club (Moving Forward From Here Blog)
• Meatless Monday...a new movement to reduce meat in our diet + 3 recipes (AARP)
• Fab Over Fifty...vote on this look!

Have a wonderful week.

b

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Elder Cohousing; Senior Housing, Retirement Option - AARP Bulletin

Image via Wikipedia Seattle WA cohousing project. Elder Cohousing; Senior Housing, Retirement Option - AARP Bulletin


This wonderful article appeared recently on the AARP website. The author was also quoted on Aging in Place as a part of a post about where we live in the context of living not the disability that demands it. Sally Abrahms, is a writer from Boston, wrote this article as part of her MetLife Foundation Journalists on Aging Fellowship in partnership withNew America Media and the Gerontological Society of America. Information from AARP Bulletin 

AARP and Me...I was afraid to admit my age!

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AARP Home Page

I am almost embarrassed to say that I have avoided AARP like the plague...that was not smart folks, not at all. Psychologically I don't think that I wanted to admit that I was old enough to belong to the group.  Those 4 capital letter have brought people to their knees.  Even though I am 69, I really don't think about my age until I look in the mirror.  So, when we begin receiving letters from the AARP organization in our late 40's, we are all reminded that we are not going to be young forever.  An AARP letter can feel like another nail in a our coffin!

Image from AARP

I write a blog about retirement and how we can live a full, rich, beautiful life and simply not think about our age.  I want people to realize that, as AARP says, their old age is not their parents old age.  I have come to the conclusion that AARP, with the help of the boomer generation, can help us come to that place. 


My apologies to all the wonderful people over at AARP...they do wonderful things for the generation of people that are living the second half of their lives.  It is as simple as that.  For example:

Games...I played golf with a woman that is fighting for her mind.  She told me that online games keep her thinking.  They help her feel better about herself.  AARP has several games that you can play and keep score online.  It would be fun for anyone that enjoys a game of chess or solitaire.  (See Learning is Not Just for the Young!)

Jobs....If you are interested in working after retirement or travel with a retired spouse and still want/need to work yourself, they have several job suggestions.  I don't believe I have ever seen this kind of information and assistance anywhere else.  Tell me if I am wrong!

This is only two of the items in a list of several dozen. Everything from help with insurance costs to the words of the Dali Lama can be found on their pages.  I am of the opinion NOW that everyone should pay attention to what they have to say...even our children.  After all they are the people that speak for us in the halls of our government and the public's eye! 

• 
  
• AARP LIST OF PAGES
• HEALTH
• MONEY
• WORK
• PERSONAL GROWTH
• POLITICS & SOCIETY
• RELATIONSHIPS
• HOME & GARDEN
• FOOD
• TRAVEL
• ENTERTAINMENT
• TECHNOLOGY
• GIVING BACK

Just a thought!


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Related articles

• Is AARP An Insurance Company? (theinsurancebarn.wordpress.com)
• People@Work: Boomers Are Turning 65 -- but Staying on the Job (dailyfinance.com)