Age no bar to same-sex marriage
When Imani Woody met Andrea Macko 13 years ago, it was love at first sight.“She was sexy and cute. She had all the qualities I wanted in a person. She was a sweetheart. She just kind of balanced me,” Woody said.In 2005, they had a “holy union” at their church, the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington, D.C., because marriage between same-sex... READ MORE
When Fido needs a wheelchair
Ernie, a fluffy white Samoyed, bounds across the field, a buff-colored German shepherd named Annie at his heels. Megan, a tan and white hound, leaps in the air at the sound of visitors.Neither Ernie nor Annie have the use of their hind legs. But special adapted “wheelchairs” that attach to the dogs’ hips allow them to run through the large yard of their home in Prince... READ MORE
Volunteers driven to help others
Several years ago, Barbara Greenfeld’s aging mother needed someone to drive her to doctor appointments while Greenfeld worked full time in enrollment services at Howard Community College.Greenfeld discovered Neighbor Ride, a Columbia-based nonprofit that matches volunteer drivers with Howard County residents 60 and older who need transportation.At first, her mother was a bit reluctant ... READ MORE
Born to be a lifelong showgirl
Calvin Coolidge was president of the United States when Dorothy Dale Kloss discovered her passion for dance in 1926 at the age of 3. Now 89 and still enjoying a career as a dancer, singer and all-round stage performer, Kloss is nowhere near ready to hang up her tap shoes. “If you have a love of show business, it gets in the blood, and you just can’t let it go,” said... READ MORE
The secrets of healthy aging
Luigi Ferrucci set out to study aging as a young man.As an idealistic 20-year-old medical student and volunteer for the Red Cross in Italy, Ferrucci found himself intrigued by a professor who told him the coming wave of aging adults would transform not just medicine, but politics and society as well.“He was absolutely right. If you think about it today, what everybody’s talking... READ MORE
When a stranger falls, what’s your duty?
On a nice spring afternoon, as I walked in a busy suburb, I was thinking about the important things in life (baseball and blues music).Suddenly, I was face to face with what could have been a disaster. Twenty feet away, a man tripped on a jagged piece of sidewalk. He went down onto his right hip, hard.I scurried over to him and offered him some help. I noticed that the... READ MORE
Recalling the real-life Argo
November 4, 1979, started like any other work day for Robert Anders, a senior consular officer at the American Embassy in Iran. He passed hundreds of demonstrators crowding the gates in the rain chanting “Allahu akbar! Marg bar Amrika!” — “God is great! Death to America!” But that was nothing new. A few weeks before, the Shah had fled Iran to come to the United States for... READ MORE
Michael Feinstein’s lucky break
On a summer day in 1977, 20-year-old Michael Feinstein had a life-changing encounter: he was introduced to Ira Gershwin, the 80-year-old lyricist brother of George Gershwin, the famous American composer who had died years earlier at the age of 38.The present-day Feinstein, now 56, says he always felt like “an old soul,” even as a child growing up in the 1960s. From the time he... READ MORE
Big and Little teach each other
Exemplifying the enriching intergenerational relationships that can form as part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Desert program is the one that has been forged between Big Brother Larry Galuppo, 76 and his Little Brother Landon, 17. The two were matched 10 years ago and have developed a family-like bond in the course of learning life lessons from each other.Photo by Joanne... READ MORE
Mad for the game of basketball
While legions of basketball fans will be glued to their TVs this month for the annual rite of NCAA college basketball known as March Madness, many older hoops fanatics will be on local courts themselves playing in senior leagues and pickup games.“It’s never too late for basketball. If it’s something in your heart, if you love to play, there’s a place for you. Often... READ MORE
