_ Divorce Getting Past Betrayal By Jane Farrell article By Judy Kirkwood “The most important thing about me was that for quite a chunk of my life I was divorced. It was a fact that stayed with me even after I remarried. I have now been married to my third husband for more than 20 years. But when you've had children with someone from whom you're now divorced, that split defines everything; it's the lurking fact, a slice of anger in the pie of your brain.” Nora Ephron
Why I Hate Exercising in the "Great Outdoors" By Sondra Forsyth blog I recently ran across yet another article extolling the virtues of working out in "nature." The author made gushing references to the wonders of sunshine, fresh air, gentle breezes, and a change of scenery. She did not, however, mention dangerous UV rays or ragweed or pollution or disease-bearing bugs or sudden thunderstorms or blistering heat. As far as I'm concerned, the list she ignored is a very good argument for sticking with indoor exercise – mall walking, dance classes, Pilates, the gym, or simply exercise videos right in your own home.
Back Pain A SurgeonΓÇÖs Tips for Back Pain Treatment By Jane Farrell article By Judy Kirkwood Debilitating back pain is the second most common reason Americans visit the doctor. But who should you see when you have back pain and what do you ask? Having treated thousands of patients, Dr. Burak Ozgur, a combined ortho-neuro spine fellowship-trained double board certified neurosurgeon based in Newport Beach, California, shares his thoughts.
_ Mental & Emotional Health Emotional Recovery After Public Trauma By Jane Farrell article By Judy Kirkwood Horrific events like the shootings in a Colorado movie theater and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin affect not only those directly or peripherally involved, but also many people who only hear about them on the news. “Such events leave most of us feeling vulnerable, helpless, sad and anxious,” says Linda Ligenza, a consultant to the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. These killings, unlike those in war, happened in ordinary and familiar settings. This could have been me, we think.
_ Alternative Health My Acupuncture Treatment By Jane Farrell article Earlier this year I completed a six-week trial of acupuncture to see if it would banish the pain in my butt from Piriformis syndrome, an inflammation of the sciatic nerve. It didn’t fix that, but it did do something else that I hadn’t experienced with massage or chiropractic treatment (and certainly not with ibuprofen). And I did feel better.
_ World No Tobacco Day By Sondra Forsyth article May 31st is World No Tobacco Day 2012. If you're still puffing away, in spite of all the dire health warnings about smoking, consider making this the moment you commit to kicking the habit. Do it for yourself, and for those you love. Obviously, they want you to stay well and live long, but remember that you are also putting all those around you at risk by exposing them to secondhand smoke.
_ Aging Well Are You Still Mad About "Mad Men?" By Jane Farrell article How satisfying is “Mad Men” eight episodes into Season 5 after a 17-month absence? There are rumblings and petulance – threats of not watching it if it doesn’t get more intense and brooding. In other words, we liked the old tightly wound Don, juggling wife, girlfriends and his secret history; not this new lovesick non-Don. Certainly there have been some high points.
_ Wills & Estates The Best Estate-Planning Tips By Jane Farrell article If you don’t have a will, you are not alone. Half of Americans don’t have a will, a living will, or financial and medical powers of attorney. Yet we know a will and other estate documents would ease our family’s burdens if something happened to us.
_ Mental & Emotional Health "The Hunger Games": What's All The Fuss? By Jane Farrell article I ignored “The Hunger Games” as long as I could. Even after my 13-year-old granddaughter told me she was reading the books. But when I realized she would be seeing the PG-13 movie with Jennifer Lawrence, I wanted to find out about this Katniss Everdean character.
Mental & Emotional Health What We've Learned On ThirdAge Forums By Jane Farrell article Join the discussions of thirdage.com articles and other topics on our Forum. Click on the orange FORUMS link on the subjects banner at the top of our home page or click the “Join the Conversation!” link at the bottom of most articles. Take a look at the funny, wise and wonderful conversations you’ve been missing:
_ Parenting The Unspeakable Pain of Losing a Child By Sondra Forsyth article The wrenching news of the three teenage boys whose lives were cut short during the recent school shootings in a little Ohio town touched us deeply here at ThirdAge. Like parents and grandparents across the nation, we were riveted by sorrow and horror as the coverage unfolded. The poignant statement by 16-year-old Demetrius Hewlin's mother and father seemed to us especially moving: "We are very saddened by the loss of our son and others in our Chardon community. Demetrius was a happy young man who loved life and his family and friends.
_ Mental & Emotional Health When You Love An Addict By Jane Farrell article How many times have I heard variations of this in the last two weeks? “I can’t understand why Whitney Houston would overdose/abuse drugs/get so drunk, when she had been through treatment and achieved sobriety, a child who needed her, a great career, people who loved her, and such a strong faith.” In fact, I was sitting next to a Miami news anchor at dinner the other night who said the same thing.
Aging Well 10 Little Changes That Take Off Five Years By Sondra Forsyth article If the Fountain-of-Youth Fairy came into your life and offered to wave her magic wand so you would look at least five years younger almost instantly, we're betting you wouldn't turn her down. Well, here we are with the next best solution. Read on for 10 surefire strategies to make yourself appear more youthful than you do right now. Stand up Straight
_ Friendship Do You Still Need a BFF? By Sondra Forsyth article Celebrity best friends Barbra Streisand and Donna Karan have famously continued their close connection with one another for over 20 years. Babs, who will turn 70 in April of 2012, recently took the stage at the Dream Foundation's annual gala to present the evening's award to the 64-year-old creator of DKNY clothing labels for her tireless work in helping grant wishes for the terminally ill.
Once a Mother, Always a Mother By Sondra Forsyth blog Years ago when my firstborn was 14, I wrote an essay for "Ladies' Home Journal" about my maternal angst when he left for a two-week Outward Bound wilderness adventure. I called the piece "Letting Go." What I didn't know then was that mothers never really let go. We are attached for life to our offspring by a phenomenon I have come to think of as the emotional umbilical cord. Unlike the physical cord that is severed after we give birth, the invisible one is never cut. As the years go by, we may feel the tug less often.
_ Have You Become Your Mother? By Sondra Forsyth article When my mother had been widowed about three years, we took her on a tour of a community for active seniors near where we lived in New York. She was visiting from her home in Michigan and our plan was to get her to move. From our point of view, she was rattling around all alone in a three-bedroom house and she rarely got a chance to see the grandchildren. We thought she'd jump at the opportunity to sell her property and not only settle into a place where she could socialize with people her own age but also be a short drive from her family.
An Epiphany That Changed My Life By Sondra Forsyth blog I rang in 1967 in Ierapetra, a village that hugs the shore of the Mediterranean on the island of Crete. I had landed a job as an English teacher after earning a TOEFL certificate in London and my students had told me that although the New Year's Eve festivities were exciting, the real action would happen on January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany. In the Greek Orthodox religion, that day celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Magi. A procession led by the Bishop winds through the town and ends at the seashore for the Blessing of the Waters.