“These phone lines are very helpful. I really do appreciate them,” one man told me recently as I was volunteering at the Institute on Aging’s Friendship Line — a national warmline and hotline for people 60 and older. “But what I really want, what I really need, is someone to come to my house to […]

My parents have always been so independent and able to make their own decisions until the past few years. Slowly, they began to depend on me and now want me to take care of very big decisions. Scary! I’ve had a lot on my agenda these days. When I’m not trying to take care of […]

After 35 years, you might assume that retirement would bring an end to the professional life of sex therapist/sex columnist/board-certified sexologist Isadora Alman. You would be wrong. It turns out she’s still happy to share on her website the insights gained through her working years and decades of counseling (as well as over 25 years authoring […]

Long-term insurance — a form of coverage generally intended to help pay for care services that may be needed later in life — has already been both embraced and disgraced in its relatively short history. First introduced in some forms and formats in the late 1970s, it didn’t really take hold with consumers until a […]

The story of my husband’s grandfather is nothing short of remarkable. He was definitely made of the right stuff and what he overcame to thrive in America would crumble people in any other generation. He is now gone but I will always remember the story of how he came to our great country to make […]

Copious studies document that loneliness rates are highest among those who are college-age and seniors. That problem plagued Madeline Dangerfield-Cha and Joy Zhang, who connected as friends just before starting business school at Stanford a few years ago. Their early interests and experiences differed but meshed: Zhang had previously worked as a hospice volunteer, and Dangerfield-Cha in […]

Years ago, I used to carry around grudges for far too long. Those “chips” on my shoulders became “boulders” after time. In the end, carrying those grudges did nothing more than hurt me and poison relationships that would have been such a blessing to me. It’s easy to become so bitter that it taints everything […]

Caregivers have so much on their plates they really need a platter — and an extra waiter! If you’re like me and taking care of an aging parent or even perhaps two, your plate (or platter) is running over. Then you wonder why you are tired and stressed! The statistics say that most caregivers are […]

Updated April 2025 Don’t doubt for a moment that caregiving can take a lot out of you. If you don’t take care of yourself, your body might force you to give it up! It started a few months ago. Daddy got sick and then he got sicker. Mama was doing everything she could think of […]

My family has been dealing with my daddy’s illnesses for some time now. He’s been prone to kidney infections and the winter blahs for the past five winters. This year he’s really been down both mentally and physically. While he’s still sharp as a tack, he’s just downright blue and depressed over not being able […]