Other Side of 50

A few weeks ago my dad landed in the hospital. Mom drove him to the emergency room because his blood pressure was fluctuating wildly. To be accurate, this blood pressure condition has been going on for some time now. A year ago it was this same condition that took my father from hospital to rehab [...]

Aren’t online customer reviews wonderful? They are those postings by people who invest time and energy to give their feedback on a recent purchase experience on sites like Yelp, Angie’s List or Amazon. Reading those reviews often helps us decide if the item or service is right for us. Customer reviews have helped me determine [...]

I’ve heard it more than once: “I’m retired, but I’m busier now than I ever was.” Many retirees who think back to their work life will remember early morning meetings, working through lunches, getting home late at night (and working some more), all the while miraculously having enough time to raise kids, do household chores, [...]

When I was a kid, my mother taught me a lesson about appetites and hunger. An hour before dinner, when I asked her for a snack, she offered me carrots. “But I’m not hungry for carrots,” I whined, “I’m hungry for a cookie.” She replied, “If you’re not hungry for carrots then you’re not really [...]

Readers of this column know that I often write candidly about family situations and experiences. Just last month I trekked to cold and snowy Boston to care for my sister. She is ill with a chronic disease. There is much I’d like to write about her situation. For example, there’s the financial impact of a [...]

Do you know a lot about the senior population? The social change website for young adults, www.dosomething.org, has an “11 Facts About . . .” series on topics as diverse as cyberbullying, blizzards, recycling and even old age. Now, before you visit the site to see a few of these answers, let’s test your knowledge [...]

Recently my niece Sammie, a freshman at USC, contracted mononucleosis, better known as “mono.” Five days after her diagnosis at the campus infirmary, and after taking all of her meds and beginning to feel better, Sammie relapsed and headed back to the clinic with excruciating pain in her throat and difficulty swallowing. Somehow that form, [...]

Movies about human afflictions make for juicy acting roles and great returns at the box offi ce; but movies about disease can sometimes do an amazing job of changing the national conversation. Tom Hanks’ character in the movie “Philadelphia” gave us a window into the social stigma of living with AIDS. Dustin Hoffman’s portrayal of Raymond in [...]

As a family caregiver, my local pharmacy has been a great resource for me in the care of my aging loved ones. Besides stocking a cornucopia of items I never thought I’d be searching for—liners for adult diapers, oral rinse for dry mouth, compression stockings—my pharmacy offers a valuable service I never knew existed. While [...]

Last week I met my new neighbor’s 4-year-old daughter. I was with my dog, Rolo, and the little girl explained to me that her brother, just 22 months, was “obsessed” with dogs. It was a big word for a 4-year-old. Her ability to recall the word and use it correctly was impressive. At 4, this [...]