Those of us lucky enough to have aging parents who live long and remain nominally healthy are often struck by the wisdom we hear as they ruminate about relationships and love in the past. To really understand what they are getting at we must toss away any notions that our parents are merely clinging to the “good old … Continue reading
Filed under Legacies …
Elders Share Wisdom on Love: A Valentine’s Day Treat!
Adult children learn a lot from elder parents. Take a few minutes to read Love Lessons From the Wisest Americans, published over at the NextAvenue.org site and a great Valentine’s Day treat. The article, published on February 12, 2015, will help to clear up quite a few misconceptions about our aging parents. Written by Suzanne Gerber, this piece describes … Continue reading
Steven Colbert’s Amazing Remembrance of Mom
Stephen Colbert took a few minutes, at the beginning of his June 19, 2013 program, share and remember his mother, Lorna, who died last week in her nineties. Well worth watching. The video is courtesy of Hulu via Upworthy.
Staten Island Storm Relief 56 Years Before Sandy: iPad for Dad, #22
Today my father sent me a blog post (written on his iPad) with 1956 memories describing how past Staten Island floods made people flee their homes and the relief efforts at his church. Looking at a map I believe he is referring to Midland Beach. My Staten Island Years and the Vulnerable Coastline Along the Lower … Continue reading
Uncle Sherman on Memorial Day 2012
It’s Memorial Day Weekend 2012, when we remember men and women who fought and gave their lives, largely to maintain democracy and religious freedom. Each year, I think about my Uncle Sherman, although I think about him lots of other times too, because while he did not die fighting, he made an ultimate sacrifice — … Continue reading
A Tribute to the Legacies in My Parents’ Generation
I’m an adult child with aging parents, and all my life I’ve looked around with awe, observing what people my parents’ age and older have left for their families and their world. Bridges, highways, businesses, savings accounts, good schools, paid off mortgages, parks, protective regulations, Medicare, social security, you name it. Even foreign aid to build … Continue reading
More on Kids, Tech, Social Media, and Grandparents!
Great article in the Wall Street Journal about kids and grandparents and the ways they are communicating with one another. In her May 9, 2001 article, OMG! My Grandparents R My BFF!, reporter Molly Baker takes readers on a “magical mystery tour” highlighting the ways generations are interacting (and sometimes leaving out the generation in the middle). You … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #16: Maps
Last weekend I visited my dad, and we had only a bit of time to enjoy the iPad together. However, quite by accident we started playing with the map application. I turned on the location part of the map program and then showed my father how look over maps of his neighborhood and town. Next … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #15: Amazing Shared Memories
If a goal of the iPad is to connect people and media, that is what now happens between my dad and me. His iPad has added unexpected and pleasurable reading to my day as he sends, via e-mail, memories, reminiscences, and musings. This virtual interaction, so different from the other ways we connect with each … Continue reading
Aging Parents, the Greatest Generation, Religious Freedom and Mosques
Periodically a national issue becomes so significant that our elders can address it best — and I mean the elder-elders — the people, now in their 80s and 90s — who fought to stop Hitler and the Holocaust. Elder-elders know what can happen when you demonize a religion, the way some people are demonizing Islam … Continue reading
Good-bye Daniel Schorr
Daniel Schorr died yesterday at age 93. In addition to being an amazing newsperson for more than 65 years, he also set an example for all of us — aging parents and adult children — who want to stay engaged and keep working long past traditional retirement age. Schorr experienced occasional health issues, and Scott … Continue reading
Introducing… My Mom and Me: Two Perspectives
Tomorrow I will upload the first in a series of posts featuring a dialogue between my mother and me on a variety of topics that relate to aging, senior parents, and adult children. Mom and I often talk about aging issues, occasionally heatedly. Sometimes our initial perspectives diverge, but the longer we talk, the more … Continue reading
Healthy Aging – Our Health Histories: Deja-vu?
Yesterday I ruminated on healthy aging in my post, Thoughts on Aging: Boomers and Aging Parents, and today one of my Google alerts — one way I discover interesting information to post on this blog — pulled up a fascinating article from the New York Times. On first glance I thought it was recently published. … Continue reading
iPad for Dad, #1 – Getting the iPad Ready for Dad
If you like this post, read some of the other descriptions of our Father/Daughter iPad for Dad adventures — iPad for Dad, #1, iPad for Dad, #2, iPad for Dad, #3, iPad for Dad, #4, iPad for Dad, #5, iPad for Dad, #6, iPad for Dad, #7, iPad for Dad, #8, iPad for Dad, #9, iPad for Dad, #10, iPad for Dad, #11, iPad … Continue reading
Aging Parent Technology: American Memory Project
@ the Library of Congress Take parents who like to use the Internet, are interested in history, and have lots of memories from earlier times in their lives, on a visit the American Memory Project. This amazing site at the Library of Congress has digitized exhibits — pictures, postcards, letters and music, and much more. … Continue reading
Aging Parents-Untold Stories: Grandma, Why Didn’t You Tell Me?
Sometimes an aging parent unexpectedly shares a story from years ago — in this case nearly 75 years. Long before Mother’s stroke my husband went to Cincinnati on business, staying downtown at the Netherland Hotel, a National Historic Landmark recently restored to its 1930’s grandeur. A few months later we traveled to South Carolina to … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Bodies Slower but Same World View
Aging parents, we should all understand, have frustratingly aging bodies, yet many are seeing and perceiving the world just as they always have. In fact, I’ve heard them say how curious it is to look in the mirror and see themselves staring back. Some wonder, “Who is that old person looking back at me?” About 25 … Continue reading
Aging Parents: Recognizing Social Wisdom
Assisting parents with their health and other issues often keeps us focused on difficulties, so it is easy to forget just how much experience older parents have with the game of life. Now research from the University of Michigan’s Culture and Cognition Program published in the April 6, 2010 Proceedings of the National Academy of Science … Continue reading
Writing a Parent’s Remembrance, Part II
Other Posts Relating to Remembrances: After a Parent’s Death: Writing a Remembrance, Part II, After an Aging Parent’s Death: Obituaries and Remembrances, Mother’s Memorial Service We write remembrances after a loved one dies. Written memorials or tributes, usually penned by family members, are used in committal or memorial services or simply shared in conversation. … Continue reading
Communication: We are Always Children in Our Parents’ Eyes
“We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.” Henry Ward Beecher Last night on the phone my mom directed me to take care of myself and rest up. She knows the past three years have been well-filled, and often tiring, as my husband and I assisted his mother with post-stroke … Continue reading
As Our Parents Age So Do We 