Several years ago, an ensemble of retired musicians/college music educators decided to revive their association with dinner gatherings called Not Dead Yet.

Photo by Ludovica Dri for Unsplash.

A deep dive, personal inventory, exploration and opportunity to live fully. Photo by Jan Huber for Unsplash.

I see ch-ch-ch-changes in the texture of my skin and hair, punctuated by the appearance of unusual earmarks of aging.

Photo by Omid Armin for Unsplash.

It’s wise to be open to the possibilities of AI. Graphic by Deep Mind for Unsplash.

Jennifer Senior’s provocative article in the February issue of The Atlantic deals with how old we feel versus how old we are. Unsplash photo by Peter Steiner.

Now I understand why journalist/author Nora Ephron wrote about how she felt bad about her neck.

This has been a summer of surprises, but none bigger than an unexpected arrival just in time for my seventh decade.

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About 10 years ago, Willy became a widow.  She wasn’t used to being “in charge,” but learned and adapted very quickly.  A simple idea gave her the courage to go forward.  A friend who had lost his spouse at about the same time told her that whenever she gets an invitation, always say yes—even if you don’t want to go.

Dressed in baggy white pants and t-shirt with a thick belt securely cinched around my middle (not a look I have ever embraced), I stood at attention at my first Taekwondo class. The self-talk jumped briskly from amusing to frightening to irritating.

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What would you write on your sandwich board?

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My sister-in-law Bette is freefalling into the unreachable abyss of mixed dementia.

Bette (left) and me in Tucson’s Barrio Historico on a house tour.

Barbara had been a caregiver for 11 years until her mother, Irene, died in late 2021 at age 93. What makes this particularly poignant is Barbara’s back story and how she found art as a diversion from the burdens of caregiving for someone she resented and resisted throughout her life.

As a writer, my weekly French homework assignments—mes devoirs—have also forced me to reassess and drill down into the essence of effective writing: What do I need to say?

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For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with words.

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“The New Map of Life calls on us to shift from a deficit mindset that laments the losses associated with aging—and to identify the gains that now go unmeasured and overlooked.”

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Still, what always resonates with me is how moving a moving experience can be.

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After an extended dry period of production and interest, I am enjoying a writing renaissance.

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Novels, tales, poetry, memoirs, cookbooks. They have become even closer companions, our intimacy enriched by the selection process itself, now a valued memory.

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Having overcome the awkward emergence from a long, forced hibernation, I find myself subtracting extraneous distractions and feeling content with less.

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I am relearning the art of interacting and being with others.

Photo by Mitchell Luo for Unsplash.