A little over a month ago, my daddy seemed to be on death’s door. “I don’t hurt, Angel,” he said to me. “I just don’t have any strength.” Of course I worry. And Mama worries. She was even warning me that Daddy might not make it more than a few months. Broke my heart! But […]

With a few welcome exceptions, TV shows and films about aging most often feature dire and dour stereotypes of the later years of life. It can be downright depressing. But challenge yourself to keep a straight face while watching the iconic scene from the 1952 “I Love Lucy” episode in which Lucy and Ethel have first delicious, then […]

I’ve always been fascinated by the stories my family members have told me. I’m fortunate to have always had a curious mind, even as a child. I asked my granny about her wedding day in 1916 and heard the story from her own mouth. Sitting on her bed next to her old treadle sewing machine, […]

At the end of September here in the Sacramento Valley, the weather was hot with temperatures in the 90s, but now that it is October the temperature dropped and I can finally put on a pot of broccoli cheese soup. What’s your favorite homemade soup? Soup is the perfect food for all of us and […]

How many of you have that one special family member that made your life so much better? We’d love to hear your stories! My mother grew up in a very large family. She had eight brothers and six sisters, most of them older than her. I always found her stories of her growing up years […]

If you’re like me, your gutters are full of leaves! That means your older loved one’s gutters are also getting full. Make sure you talk to them about not getting on a ladder and trying to clean them out themselves. Older people are very independent and often will take on tasks that are now beyond […]

“Sick, Dying and Raped in America’s Nursing Homes” was the attention-grabbing headline on a CNN investigative report released in February of 2017. It shined light on the fact that more than 1,000 nursing homes had been cited for mishandling suspected cases of rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse — along with the likelihood that tens of […]

Seniors are often saluted for the wisdom they impart through their seasoned bon mots and, more recently, have been tapped by several authors for their secrets to living well. The unforeseen danger is that the adulation can foster a kind of complacency, a certain smugness, a haughty feeling that only helps fuel the divide between the […]

Updated April 2025 People lucky enough to have employers providing them with dental coverage most often lose it when they retire. As of 2023, a third of adults who are 60 or over lacked dental insurance, according to a survey by the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, a nonprofit that advocates for policies providing access to […]

In 2018, the Sacramento Bee published an article about two assisted living centers that abandoned residents during a raging fire in the wine country. At risk were 120 residents, many of whom were unable to walk without aid and were left behind locked doors. Thankfully, the residents’ relatives and first responders got everyone out alive. […]