HEARING LOSS IS INVISIBLE. It’s easy for me to avoid the wrinkles, bumps and bulges of middle age by not looking in the mirror; it’s harder to avoid hearing loss, which is invisible. I’ve known for a long time that hearing loss was in my future, and not just because I danced to Rock and […]
The Middle Ages
Affirmations, Not Resolutions
Affirmations, Not Resolutions I used to celebrate New Year’s Eve in the accepted and conventional manner: I’d stay up till midnight, fortify my resolve with champagne, and vow to live cleaner, work harder, and sustain a calm, orderly, life. I’d make these resolutions at midnight, and in the morning – just hours into the New […]
Writing My Advance Directive
Even though I think about death almost every time I climb into a car – unquestionably the most dangerous activity in which I regularly engage – I’ve managed to put off writing my Advance Directive for Health Care for more than a decade. It’s easy to procrastinate, especially when you’re healthy and active and think […]
Summer Time
As a child, summers seemed endless. I played hopscotch, tag, and running bases with the kids on my street, and I spent two timeless weeks at the beach with my family, where I was toasted by sun and tumbled by waves. The season’s good weather and expansive leisure was interrupted by occasional bouts of boredom […]
Now Too Old
I’m now too old to be young and beautiful, although now I suspect I was, back in the day. I’m now too old to be “successful” in the realm of public achievement, fame, and fortune, although I now question that definition of success. I’m too old to have more children, to see without corrective lenses […]