“Though it sounds absurd, it is true to say I felt younger at sixty than I felt at twenty.”
Ellen Glasgow, Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist(1873-1945)
WHAT IS THIS WEBSITE ABOUT?
This blog is about me–actually for me— and any other like minded baby boomers who might be in a funk and/or actual excitement about “retirement. It’s been cathartic to write about this recent period of life. I am by no means unique in the challenges life has thrown my way AND I am sure we may have a lot in common. What I hope I can offer is captured in my tagline: I CAN do this! I WILL live life fully. Just WATCH ME thrive!
Here’s what keeps me up at night sipping Tennessee whiskey and the occasional hit of my favorite strain of marijuana: 
- managing an exit from a successful business career;
- transitioning to the next stage of life, what’s my purpose, my role?;
- dealing with opportunities as well as implications of living another 20+ years;
- caring for aging parents;
- fearing the real possibility of inheriting a disabling disease;
- resisting stereotypes about aging in a youth-obsessed culture, and finally…
- worrying about the direction of our country as a whole!
This blog did not materialize easily. It is the result of countless fits & starts including a trail of topics that led me down several blind alleys. Drafts were filed under ” I’ll get to it next year when I have more time!” I’m sure many of you can appreciate how life’s aspirations get derailed….. but in the end, the sun always rises and life continues to happen.
These past eight years served up serious challenges that tested my usual optimistic approach to life in The Third Act (which I will elaborate on later). The timeline below details the challenges that help shape this blog and the topics I choose to feature.
- At age 57, my NYC employer informed me two weeks before Christmas 2010 they were letting me go due to changes in organizational direction- a major punch to the gut (and the checkbook!) Severance and my share in the company finalized, I continued tying up the dangling ends till June 2011.
- As a direct result, my husband (already retired) and I moved three times during 2011-2014. I was exhausted job hunting, breaking down households and desperate to feel settled.
- In 2012, I received GREAT NEWS and a sizable cash payout from a company exit just in the nick of time!
- During this period, I found myself (as an only child), caring for elderly parents who were heading into one of many life’s crises:
- My 83-year-old father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, had no short-term memory and was already physically disabled by COPD. He passed away in July 2013.
- My mother is sharp cognitively but plagued by osteoporosis and unstable walking after a hip replacement. During this time she suffered a concussion, a cracked patella, November 2012. Since then she has suffered several broken ribs, and suffers from persistent vertigo. As of January 2019, a youthful 85 yo has fallen 6 times.
- Further upheaval for these two lovebirds ( married over 63 years) was the sale of their farm where I was born in Tennessee. In 2013, we took my parents back to their Tennessee home. where my father passed away in July surrounded by family and friends. We stayed through the summer and helped my mom ready for her permanent move to their winter home in South Texas.
- On December 17, 2014, our 21 yo grandson, died of a Heroin overdose. Only these words for now: HATE THE DISEASE. LOVE THE PERSON. STOP THE STIGMA!
When we are challenged, stressors often accentuate our own physical and emotional ailments. The stressors, prior injuries, my own DNA was catching up to me! Here’s a snapshot:
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- In 2013, I fractured another ankle, had plantar fasciitis in both feet and was diagnosed at higher-risk for future fractures.
- In 2014, I was diagnosed and treated for chronic pain plus fibromyalgia.
- In 2016-18, I was treated with series of spinal steroid injections and bilateral lumbar nerve ablations.
- In April 2018, excruciating pain was the result of a herniated disc and multilevel lumbar spondylosis. As a result, I now had decreased sensation in both lower extremities plus a foot drop. My conservative options were exhausted, surgery was recommended.
- August 6, 2018, underwent a TLIF ( Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion) surgical procedure. (Tiger Woods had this done) , aka lumbar spinal fusion. Hooray, I am currently 8 months post op!
So here’s the bottom line … all those fits and starts of launching this blog & website I described earlier in this post came to fruition during my surgical recovery period. I have always loved doing research and preparing topline summaries on hot trending topics for prior business clients and employers. This is part of who I was and –as I discovered– I still am. I absorb and I throw myself into the deeper dive on material that interests or fascinates me as you will see in my posts. I listen regularly to podcasts and live interviews with subject matter experts; I study key industry influencers and how their take on issues may be trending positively or negatively on our daily lives. I continue to hone my passion for photography, blogging and women defense training, believing education is never over.
I hope you join me fellow travelers. I may take us on some bumpy roads, but stick around to see what else I pack into my personal journey into “the Third Act” of my life! I can. I will. Just watch me!