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Author Archives: Bob Ritzema
The Disposable Elderly
Are you prejudiced against the elderly? Am I? We both would probably deny it. Our actual attitudes, though, would probably be revealed better by what we do than by what we say. Views of the elderly in America have always … Continue reading
Posted in caregiving, Culture
Tagged attitudes, covid19, elderly, nursing homes, older adults, seniors
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Life Review: My Hardest Work Experience
I recently talked with a young adult friend about difficulties she’s having at work, and ended up telling her about the most difficult experience I had in five decades in the workplace. I’ve decided to write out the story as … Continue reading
Posted in Psyche, Relationships, Uncategorized
Tagged Christianity, faith, life review, life story, love, reminiscence, virtue
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Lessons in Loss from Brooks and Beethoven
My most recent post on this blog described an article by Arthur C. Brooks in The Atlantic titled “Your Professional Decline Is Coming Sooner Than You Think.” In it he described research demonstrating that fluid intelligence declines after midlife. Due … Continue reading
Getting Past Professional Decline
Sometimes, articles addressed towards those in midlife contain insights that are pertinent as well to older adults. Such is the case with an article by Arthur C. Brooks in the July, 2019 Atlantic titled “Your professional decline is coming (much) … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Psyche
Tagged aging, Arthur C. Brooks, elderly, fluid intelligence, midlife, older adults
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Forgetting and Identity
I recently re-read Falling Upward, Richard Rohr’s book describing the differences between spirituality in the first and second half of life. Some of the things that I hadn’t paid much attention to when I first read the book six years … Continue reading
Traffic Jams And My Reason For Hope
I’ve written on my other blog about Tish Harrison Warren’s book Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life. She’s interested in how we can find the sacred in the mundane events of daily life. I wrote there about … Continue reading
Posted in Spirit
Tagged aging, faith, Liturgy of the Ordinary, older adults, patience, spiritual disciplines, Tish Harrison Warren, traffic, waiting
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“To the Lighthouse” and Grief
I’m fortunate that, early in my 8th decade of life, I’ve had few people close to me die. The most significant loss has been of my father. Besides that, it’s mainly been aunts and uncles, acquaintances, and distant friends. Should … Continue reading
Playing Pool While Old
“Ya got trouble folks,” sang Professor Harold Hill, the con man in The Music Man, “Right here in River City Trouble with a capital ‘T’ And that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for pool!” Professor Hill convinces the town … Continue reading
The Christian Communist
I’ve been writing recently about stuff–our tendency to acquire too many things, our difficulty letting go, our need to simplify as we get older. Recently I ran across a quote on possessions and spirituality by Thomas Merton, the Trappist monk. … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Spirit
Tagged Christianity, communism, faith, possessions, purpose, Simone Weil, Thomas Merton
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When Fraility Arrives
Recently, David Sedaris wrote an article about his family, in particular his elderly father, who fell on the eve of his 95th birthday party. When family arrived he fell again and was disoriented, so he was admitted to a rehab … Continue reading
Posted in caregiving, Relationships
Tagged aging, caregiving, elderly, health, older adults, parents
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