Centenarians club growing fast
Lois Leyda turns 108 next month, and yet she is only the second-oldest person living in the District of Columbia.Born in Saskatchewan two years before it became a Canadian province, Leyda’s roots in Washington go back almost 70 years, to her job as social director of Washington’s Wardman Park Hotel in the 1940s. There, she met political figures like Winston Churchill and Mamie... READ MORE
Area athletes shoot for the gold
Baltimoreans were justifiably proud of Michael Phelps’s historic medal count in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. But there are other Olympic-level athletes in town who prove that added years don’t necessarily mean their medal-winning days are behind them.At the upcoming Summer National Senior Games, to be held June 16 to 30 in Houston, 230 older athletes from all over Maryland... READ MORE
Finding freedom on two wheels
When Linda Crill was widowed six years ago, she tried to follow the advice of friends on how to move beyond her grief. They encouraged her to focus on eating well and getting lots of exercise and sleep.Crill started bicycling up to 120 miles a week, sleeping nine hours a night, and “eating more holistically than Whole Foods.” None of it helped.“I was still miserable 18... READ MORE
Ben Vereen dances into town
Entertainer Ben Vereen has a schedule that other performers would envy — and probably have trouble keeping up with (other than maybe Betty White!).To name just a few of his current gigs, Vereen crisscrosses the globe touring his one-man show, “Ben Vereen Sings Broadway and More,” is filming a documentary of his life, working up a play about Muhammad Ali, creating a CD,... READ MORE
The ins and outs of innkeeping
In 1975, Jackie and Charlie Reed bought a large Victorian rowhouse in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington. By the time they finally finished renovating it eight years later, their oldest child was a senior in high school.Charlie advocated selling the seven bedroom house, which was built in 1877. But Jackie hated to part with the stained glass windows and the original wood... READ MORE
Medical marijuana for Maryland?
After battling chronic leukemia for a decade, Lutherville resident Deborah Miran had exhausted all her options, from approved drugs to clinical trials. Her remaining hope to keep the condition in check was a bone marrow transplant.Fortunately, Miran’s sister was an ideal match, and in 2006, Miran, now 56, underwent the arduous process to receive the life-giving bone marrow.Following... READ MORE
Supporting families of the fallen
Joyce Johnson remembers the drums beating slowly as she walked with her girls from the Old Post Chapel, behind the horse-drawn caisson carrying the flag-draped casket of her husband.She remembers struggling to maintain her composure as she stared at his freshly dug grave, trying not to dwell on the terrible sight in the distance — the gaping hole in the Pentagon where he had so... READ MORE
When grown kids move back in
Unlike many "empty nesters," Sharon and Craig Gendler were happy to send their two daughters out into the world and have their house — and their life — back to themselves."We liked it," said Sharon, 54, a former retailer who is now a legal assistant for her husband’s law practice. "We didn’t feel empty in the least."But today —... READ MORE
Old friends are best (at least once a year)
Forty-eight years ago, I grasped my diploma, shook the principal’s hand and graduated from high school.It was a sun-splashed day in June. It felt as if sun would always splash.I said goodbye to my classmates and said I’d see them again soon. With a handful, I kept my promise. With most, I floated away — to another city for college, then another for most of my adult life.I... READ MORE
Sex, drugs and HIV after 50
Ron Swanda turns 65 in April, a milestone birthday he never thought he’d celebrate.Diagnosed with HIV 25 years ago, the gay District of Columbia resident expected to die of AIDS long ago. But the advent of antiretroviral medications has kept the disease at bay.Ann Jones, 53, found out she was HIV positive just last February. Jones (not her real name), a resident of Landover, Md.,... READ MORE
