An Exploration of Pride, Identity, and A Writer’s 40-Year Journey to Be Who She Is — This piece is in response to Crow’s Feet Writing Prompt #8: Pride at any age. Pride ’94, the Silver Jubilee A few months after my 50th birthday, I spent a weekend with my good friends Reggie and Carla. I called them “my wives,” because they always took such good care of me. They talked my…

She opened my eyes to a simple technique that YOU can use to make your own relationship better, too. It works! — This piece was inspired by the passing on December 30, 2021 of Lois Bass, a therapist in Amherst, Massachusetts. Lois was a remarkable woman, not merely a good clinician. I didn’t know her as a friend or colleague, although I knew people she knew. And for a brief time in…

Sorting stories is as tedious as dishwashing. It lacks the allure of warm laundry. It requires picking and choosing some of my little darlings and not others. It’s showoffy (see below). But, like eating leafy greens, I thought it might be good for me. — First, a public thank-you to the founder of Illumination publications, Mehmet Yildiz. He continually supports and encourages me on this platform.

Strategies for enlisting courageous, productive and involved elders who exemplify how it’s done. “Do you think of YOURSELF as ‘an old lady’?” “Yes, Jane, I do,” I say to my good friend of 60 years. I suspect that’s not the answer she’s hoping for. Who wants to see herself as old? I started picking up “good” much-older women — my old ladies — before I turned 50. …

Modern dilemma: Refuse to reimburse the rental car company for their defective flat tire — or just pay the damn $146.72? — I walk to the garage from my apartment, a five-minute trek. I’m hungry, in a hurry to pick up Asian take-out. I back up my rented Nissan Altima and within seconds realize that a tire must be flat. Keith of the roadside assistance company comes to my rescue two hours…

No eye contact or presence, but you can connect, expand your horizons, and enter doors you otherwise might not have noticed. — A Surprising Invitation I’m a seasoned journalist, currently one of 180,000+ writers contributing to Medium — a writer in a haystack. I was a bit surprised to receive an invitation to host a half-hour talk on Medium Day, August 12. CEO Tony Stubblebine describes the event as…

If you’re planning to join the fun and meet me, I have a time slot. Tell me if what I’m thinking is what you’d like to hear… — Medium Day Will Be a First I’m honored and excited. Participating in the event could be an online relationship-propeller. A chance to meet, to listen, to learn. First, of course, you have to register. Medium Day Medium Day 2023hopin.com Second, weigh in…What do you want to hear from this old broad, a New Yorker who at the tender age of 79…

From an “old lady” whose first hot flash taught her how to live. — My first hot flash is seared into my memory, although little else of menopause remains. The fire came out of nowhere, a burst of heat radiating from and throughout my body. My immediate reaction was “Wow!” …

Working with her 25 years ago changed my understanding of race and trauma, and psychiatry is catching on, too, but is it too late? — Twenty-five years ago, I was hired to write Myrlie Evers-Williams autobiography. I think of her often, especially when I hear yet another hateful and horrific incident. For example, last April’s shooting — fortunately not fatal — of 11-year-old, Aderriem Murry, brought me to tears. He was gunned down in Myrlie’s…