I gave up New Year’s Resolutions designed to improve myself several years ago. Let’s face it — that ship has sailed. Resolutions sound much more like a wish list for FedEx or DoorDash to deliver … ASAP. This New Year, I have only three things I desperately want to drop out of the sky and land on me without ma...

I have seen my fair share of grief with death over my lifetime. I lost a father at age 12 from excessive drinking, and an older brother whom I was close to, from suicide when I was 18. My mother died at 72 from a heart attack when I was 36. My older brother died at age 49 of melanoma when I was 38. The good n...

Eleven smiling faces, including my own, captured in a photo 24 years ago. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were enjoying a late lunch at the legendary Berghoff’s in downtown Chicago. My friends had gathered for a three-day weekend to celebrate my 50th birthday. The echo of laughter from that weekend still r...

In November, I wrote about sarcopenia — muscle loss — and how it can negatively affect aging. This time, it’s about a second disease affecting older adults, osteoporosis — weak and brittle bones. These diseases can often occur together. When that happens, you can lose your independence — a major fear for seni...

The older I get — and I’m already pretty old — the more I think about transitions. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about, and don’t feel bad if you’re thinking about it, too. At our age, it’s important to understand that a transition is a word, phrase, sentence or group of sentences that relate a preceding...

One of the most lasting and wrenching transitions of my life was losing my brother Woody 30 years ago. I was 47 and Woody, my best friend and confidant, my ally, my teacher, was 54 when he died of complications from AIDS. Some of the light went out of my world. I always think of Woody at this time of year — h...