Kidney disease is more common than breast and prostate cancers, but few people are aware of the growing need for kidney donations that could save thousands of lives. This week on the Crow’s Feet Podcast host Lee J. Bentch talks with a kidney donor and a recipient, Carol Offen and Betsy Crais, who have written a book together to raise awareness of this potentially fatal disease. Listen to the new episode here.
In the U.S., we just celebrated Independence Day on July 4 and writers are encouraged to respond to our latest writing prompt, which asks how you celebrate the day. Read the full prompt here.
Our Stories
Crow’s Feet writers continue to explore the ups and downs of aging, with retirement from a long career forcing many of us to re-evaluate our lives and, hopefully, chart a new direction for our remaining years.
Kathleen Murphy writes that the optimism of her youth faded with time, only to be recharged in retirement. Read I Never Expected This in Retirement. After realizing my childhood dreams had faded, I found a way to bring them back to life.
Mark Tulin is retired as well and he has arrived at a happy place. Read I Don’t Want to be Young Again. Because I prefer sitting by the pool to the rat race.
Despite the optimism, getting older is not all smooth sailing. Randall H. Duckett writes about the incongruity of still feeling like your younger self when others see you as old in Confronting Age Dysmorphia. Growing old disrupts our inner sense of self.
Micah Ward knows he’s getting older and his body parts are not as well-oiled as they used to be, but that doesn’t stop him from exercising, as he explains in Aging as a Runner. And why I keep at it.
We all know –- or are — pet lovers who get a lot out of their canine and cat companions and are willing to take on the work of caring for them. Lori Stratton likes dogs, but she had to take a few deep breaths when caring for those of her children. Read The Perils of Pet Grandparenting. Somehow, we always get left with the anxious pups.
Don Denoncourt has a different breed of animals to care for at his residence. Read When I Die, I Want to Come Back as One Of My Wife’s Chickens. Those fowl have it pretty good.
One of the benefits of getting older is the ability to take ourselves less seriously. Jan M Flynn and her husband forgot something pretty important recently but looking back, you have to laugh. Read That Time We Stole Our Car From Ourselves. It has nothing to do with our age. But the optics are not good.
The writer known as The Writing Wombat ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ had a memory lapse that may sound familiar to many. Read I Spent 20 Minutes Looking for My Coffee Cup This Morning. It was in an odd place, and I swear it got there by itself.
I hope you enjoy these stories and all the tales of aging published on Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age. You can read them right here.
Until next week,
Nancy Peckenham, Editor
Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 charitable organization that produces this publication and a bi-weely podcast.
If you find the essays and interviews on Crow’s Feet: Life As We Age that change your views on aging or help you navigate the aging process, please consider making a donation to our work here. We’re all volunteers and your support helps us reach even more people with our meaningful discussions about aging.
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