Retirement: It’s all in how you look at it
Once upon a time, retirement was about gold watches, golf and trundling off into the sunset. You served your time. Now you can kick back and do everything your way, on your schedule. No more awful bosses. No more commuting. Just endless smiles and jelly doughnuts, all day, every day. Of course, the reality of retirement is a lot more complicated, and always has been. If health... READ MORE
What’s the (cashless) world coming to?
Some signs of aging are very obvious and very expected. Knees that ache. Hair that disappears. Names that you can’t quite recall. Pounds that you can’t wish or walk away. But what in the world are we oldies going to do about the latest in retailing? Cash not accepted. I smacked face first into this utterly 21st-century trend the other day when I popped into a local coffee place ... READ MORE
It’s never too late to own a muscle car
My friend Russ is a solid, predictable citizen: College professor, husband, father, non-profit volunteer. But he has a sideline that is not only unpredictable but wonderful: He sells vintage cars to senior citizens. Russ does this all by himself, and he does it for only a small profit. But the real reason he does it is, in his words, “to bring some nostalgia and some pleasure to... READ MORE
Being judged on age, rather than merit
My boyhood friend Roger has a resume that’s as gold-plated as gold-plated gets. Honor student in high school (please don’t ask if I was, too). Ditto in college (I told you not to ask). First in his class in law school. Practiced law at a big firm for about 20 years. Then Roger was appointed a judge in New York State. He has been hearing cases — and tolerating overwrought... READ MORE
Making plans for a grandchild on the way
You’ll forgive my puffed-out chest and my 24-hour smile. My wife and I are about to become grandparents for the first time. Put it this way: Yipppeeeeeeeeeeeee! This little boy (yes, it’ll be a boy) will not lack for attention — or for engaged “grands.” My wife will immediately teach him how to make her signature salad dressing, and how to endure his grandfather’s... READ MORE
A little emergency room etiquette lesson
My friend Tom is an emergency room physician. As he so often says, he has seen everything and has fixed everything. Tom never worries about the quirks of his patients. That’s not his job. He’s there to mend, stitch, rescue and console. He leaves social trend analysis to politicians (or, Heaven help us, to columnists). But when I broke bread with Tom the other day, he was as... READ MORE
Sad when a long-time marriage dissolves
It had been years since I’d seen my former co-worker Jim, so I didn’t want to start with “How’s your wife?” Maybe she was ill. Maybe she had died. So I trotted out the old standard: “What’s new?” “Oh, not much,” said Jim. His smile was wide. But his eyes gave him away. They flitted — was it with guilt? With discomfort? And then he said: “What’s new is that ... READ MORE
On the question of disciplining grandkids
Family reunions in crowded restaurants are usually happy affairs. Cousins catch up with each other. New spouses get to know one another. Memories and jokes fly. Smiles abound. Except when a 5-year-old boy decides that he’s not having fun. The issue: Who should discipline that child if he misbehaves? The parents only? Or can grandparents leap in? The boy was sitting near... READ MORE
When your kids think they’re your parents
It was a highly ordinary phone call with my 30-something daughter — her plans for the weekend, her struggles with her dog, her need for a new dishwasher. Then she asked what was new with me. The call suddenly got very bumpy. I told my daughter that I had just returned the night before from a business meeting in Pennsylvania. It ended at about 10:30 p.m. Since I’m not made of... READ MORE
Too old to cause trouble, or so they think
If you’re a cheapskate like me, you’ve figured out that the only way to save money on airfares these days is to fly early in the day. Very early. Like before roosters limber up their vocal cords. So there was Your Hero one recent morning — the sun wasn’t up yet — grinding his way through the security checkpoint at a local airport. The clock on the wall said 5:20 a.m. It... READ MORE
