Tag Archives: death

Thinking About Cancer: Metaphors

Posted on February 21, 2017 by Bob Ritzema

I’ve been blogging recently about cancer. This topic has been on my mind since I am about to have my cancerous prostate removed. One thing I have been reflecting on is culture’s dominant metaphor for dealing with life-threatening illness. I’m … Continue reading →

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Thinking About Cancer

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Bob Ritzema

As we age, our bodies tend to buck and sputter on occasions when they used to run smoothly. Joints ache, as do muscles after modest exertion. We can’t run as fast as we used to, or can’t run at all. … Continue reading →

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Death Then and Now: Providential, Suicidal, or Just Regrettable?

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Bob Ritzema

A few months ago I read Thomas R. Cole’s book The Journey of Life. I was especially interested to learn about attitudes toward older people throughout U.S. history; here are a few thoughts about the topic. In reading Cole, I noticed that attitudes toward the … Continue reading →

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Learning About Life From The Obituaries

Posted on May 30, 2016 by Bob Ritzema

Do you read the obituaries? Though I’m getting to the age where I probably should, I seldom do. Just as pedestrians tend to depend on others to look for traffic when crossing the road, I depend on my mom and … Continue reading →

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Dealing With Bereavement: Irrational Thoughts and Hope

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Bob Ritzema

In Joan Didion’s memoir of grief, The Year of Magical Thinking, she reports that her thoughts were often irrational. Her husband John Gregory Dunne died on December 30, but, according to her, “It was deep into the summer… before I … Continue reading →

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Healthy Aging

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

Some time ago I wrote a post about George Vaillant and the Harvard Study of Adult Development. I’ve since read Aging Well, Vaillant’s 2002 book in which he drew conclusions from the Harvard Htudy up to that point. In what … Continue reading →

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If We All Live To 100

Posted on September 27, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

The cover story for the October issue of the Atlantic is titled “What Happens When We All Live to 100?” The author, Gregg Easterbrook, notes that the “life expectancy escalator”—the increase in life expectancy among younger cohorts—has gone up about … Continue reading →

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When Older Adults Think of the Dead

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

In a recent post about the unprocessed emotions that many older adults accumulate, I quoted a line by 93-year-old essayist Roger Angell to the effect that advanced age provides plenty of opportunities for bad news. Angell also describes his experiences with loss; in this post … Continue reading →

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The Death of a Parent, Part 2

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

In a recent post I described an article by novelist Mark Slouka on the effect that his father’s death had on him. I provided a few quotes from the article, each followed by my reflections. Here are some more quotes, … Continue reading →

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The Death of a Parent

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Bob Ritzema

In January, the New Yorker website had an excellent (though rather long) article by novelist Mark Slouka on the effect that his father’s death had on him. He describes himself now as “orphaned at fifty-five, nobody’s son, trying to plot … Continue reading →

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