Tag Archives: older adults

Reinvention or Renewal

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I read quite a few blog posts having to do with older adulthood.  Several months ago, I started noticing that, among posts giving advice about how to age successfully, one frequent theme was self-reinvention.  Such advice is often given to … Continue reading →

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Retirement Is Changing: Is That Good Or Bad?

Posted on October 30, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Most of us who have reached midlife but have not yet retired can’t count on an employer-provided pension plan to provide for us in retirement.  Social Security benefits by themselves provide only a bare-bones financial skeleton to support us, so … Continue reading →

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The Blessings of Old Age

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Sister Joan Chittister has  written recently about the blessings of aging.  There are losses that occur with aging, but there are also gains.  Our youth-oriented society focuses mostly on the losses; thankfully, writers like Sister Chittister and Bill Thomas remind … Continue reading →

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How Well Do You Grant Your Parents Independence?

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

I found an interesting observation by Harvard professor James Wood in his recent  New Yorker article on memoirs written by the children of several mid-twentieth century writers.  Wood notes, “To bestow on one’s parents their independence is also to announce … Continue reading →

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Are Boomers Charitable?

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

We boomers are self-indulgent, egocentric, conceited, and . . . generous? A blog post on the AARP site reports a recent study found that, among four adult age groups, Boomers gave the largest total amount to charity.  Out of an … Continue reading →

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On Not Starting School

Posted on September 7, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

The school year has started, but not for me; I’m entering my second year of retirement from Methodist University.  Last fall, the transition from full-time employment was eased for me since I taught an online class.  This fall I’m not … Continue reading →

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Gray Divorce

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Relationships are as important in the second half of life as in the first half.  Unfortunately, relationships in mid- and late-life are not immune to struggle and even failure.  One recent phenomenon is an increase in divorces among middle aged … Continue reading →

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Social Media Might Reduce Discomfort with Death

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

NPR host Scott Simon recently attracted considerable attention when he turned what many consider a private event into a public one.  As he sat with his mother while she was dying, Simon tweeted about her last days to his 1.3 … Continue reading →

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Who Is Art For?

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

This Friday, August 23, Square Inch Community Church, which I attend, will sponsor Inchfest, a music and art festival.  Judging from photos of the crowd at last year’s festival, no more than 10% of those in attendance were middle age or … Continue reading →

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Deep Time

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Bob Ritzema

Do we experience time differently when we are elderly?  We all sense time passing more quickly as we age, but in what other ways is time different?  Richard Rohr, in his book Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of … Continue reading →

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