The Resolute Woman

Category: aging

  • Never ever give up

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    We nominate Diana Nyad for Resolute Woman of the Year. After swimming 110 miles from Cuba to Florida in 52 hours and 54 minutes, Nyad, who’s 64, had three things to say. * Never ever give up. * You’re never too old to chase your dreams. * It looks like a solitary sport, but it’s…

  • Be still and still moving

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Fayteen had her birthday in July, and my birthday was this month. On my birthday, I spent most of the day feeling older and then decided that I had better things to do. I was comforted by T.S. Eliot, and I will forgive him for offering his advice to “old men.” As we grow older,…

  • Younger than Ming

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in

    Age is relative. As Fayteen and I approach our summer birthdays, we are pleased to report that we are much younger than Ming, the longest-lived animal. According to a October 29, 2007, report in National Geographic News, researchers at Bangor University in the United Kingdom counted 405 annual growth rings in the shell of this…

  • Don’t die until your dead

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Actor Dustin Hoffman, who’s 75, just directed a movie for the first time. AARP The Magazine in its February/March 2013 issue reports that Hoffman asked Bill Connolly, one of the stars in Quartet, “What’s the movie about?” “Don’t die until you’re dead,” Connolly replied.

  • Pessimists live longer

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Older people who are pessimists tend to live longer than optimists, according to researchers in Germany and Switzerland. When I heard about the research one morning on National Public Radio, I was curious to find out more. “It is possible that a pessimistic outlook leads elderly people to look after themselves and their health better…

  • Living our lives fully

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    “Aging scares me a little,” Katie Couric, the journalist, admits in an article in the March 2013 issue of Woman’s Day Magazine. However, Katie concludes, “I can handle the wrinkles, because every day I wake up healthy is a gift, and one that is sometimes taken for granted….My friends and I are eating better and…

  • The dash

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    During the days I was visiting a friend who was receiving hospice care, two people told me about the poem “The Dash” by Linda Ellis. The poem makes a good point about living each day with energy and enthusiasm. I read of a man who stood to speak At the funeral of a friend. He…

  • Good-bye, Aunt Ola

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    Recently, when I visited Aunt Ola, age 105, she was sleepy. But, she revived when I told her the story about the time my mother-in-law, my husband and I visited her. It must have been about 30 years ago. So, I am sure Ola was in her 70s. Jerry and I were tired after a…

  • The first lesson of grief

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in ,

    A friend died. She was past 100. She was a friend, but not a close friend. I still felt sad. As I thought about my friend’s death, I remembered my mother’s death. In her book She Matters: A Life in Friendships, Susanna Sonnenberg writes that the first real lesson about grief is “its disorganizing confusions,…

  • Aunt Ola’s doing okay at 105

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    by

    resolutewoman
    in , , ,

    When we heard that my husband’s Aunt Ola had been ill with pneumonia, we were concerned. When we visited her in August, Ola was still happy in her independent-living apartment, still up for two hours of conversation, still ready to walk us all the way to the door of her senior-citizen complex. However, since Ola…