Peace and Quiet, Well-Earned Luxuries of Old Age
When I was younger, I was okay with most loud noises, at least for short periods of time. I didn’t love or crave noise, but I accepted it for what came with it. I happily endured the roar of a packed stadium at a major sporting event – and I [...]
Read MoreShould You Say “You, Too” to an AI?
I vividly remember the first time a colleague asked for my email address – I didn’t have one yet, and I wasn’t alone. Email was new, and with it came a host of new issues. Was an email note an okay substitute for a handwritten letter? Or a phone call? [...]
Read MoreLost in Translation: When Abbreviations Leave Seniors Searching for Meaning
TYFRT (Thank You For Reading This) My 80-ish-year-old friend Marv recently received a text from his granddaughter that ended with four little letters: “TY, LU.” Marv, puzzled, stared at his phone for a while, wondering if he had missed something obvious. He recognized “LU” as “Love You” from previous texts [...]
Read MoreJust Another Marker of Aging
As I was taking my low dose, heart-protective (hopefully), aspirin dose last night, I had a flashback and remembered when today’s “low dose aspirin regimen” was called something else – “baby aspirin!!”. There are many markers for how old a person is. One of them is remembering when we used [...]
Read MoreTHE WORLD SERIES IS OVER – WHAT SHOULD IT TEACH OUR KIDS?
It’s always a letdown when the World Series ends, because it means we have to wait many long, cold months before the “boys of spring” return to the diamond. For those like me who were glued to the screen for this year’s amazingly exciting Series, I wonder how many appreciated [...]
Read MoreHeated Up About My Thermostat
It’s just another sign of aging, I guess, but among all the other mysteries of modernity I can’t solve, now I can’t figure out how to work my thermostat. I never had a problem with our old thermostat – flip a toggle to “heat,” push the up arrow or the [...]
Read MoreWhat Should Kids Learn from Pete Rose?
Pete Rose died last week. Pete was one of my heroes and I mourn baseball’s loss, and my personal loss. As you probably have gathered from my other posts and writings, I’m a baseball fanatic and somewhat knowledgeable about the game I love. And as such, I feel comfortable asserting [...]
Read MoreAquariums of Aging
We’ve recently traveled a bit by cruise ship, another concession to waning vim and vigor, and to sore knees and hips. Cruise ships are like aquariums of aging, complete with a clear blue water setting. Every variety of aging human fauna is on full display floating in these generously windowed [...]
Read MoreThe Lies We Tell Each Other as We Age
Last week I ran into a former colleague with whom I worked for more than 30 years. I hadn’t seen him in more than 10 years. He looked awful. Gray straggly beard, unkempt hair, too thin. His gait was unsteady and his handshake weak. I was worried for him. “Hi [...]
Read MoreHAPPY JULY 4th! THESE ARE YOUR KIDS’ 4 INDEPENDENCE DAYS
HAPPY JULY 4! THESE ARE YOUR KIDS’ INDEPENDENCE DAYS As we celebrate July 4, our nation’s Independence Day, this is a good time to reflect on a different kind of “independence day.” Each day of a child’s life brings new growth and development, sometimes subtle, other times momentous. Among the [...]
Read MoreI Turned 71 This Week. Bill Walton, NBA Legend, Died This Week. At 71.
Bill Walton and I have little in common. He was an athlete’s athlete, People have kindly called me a doctor’s doctor. He had a second career as a beloved broadcaster, heard by millions of basketball fans around the world. I have a second career as an author, beloved perhaps by [...]
Read MoreMy Most Interesting Lyft Ride
It started out like any other ride-share to the airport. Steve (not his real name) picked me up on time, we exchanged confirmatory identities, and off we went. That’s where it got weird,,, and wonderful. Steve is an immigrant to the U.S. from Italy, arriving in 1983 – “Do you [...]
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Read MoreRUMINATING ON (IL)LUMINATING
Ruminating on (il)luminating I’ve been away from light bulb shopping for a while. The little storage cabinet in our house had a nice supply of normal light bulbs which, like everything we buy at Costco, came in generous quantities. Unlike the Costco bags of lemons or garlic cloves which trick [...]
Read MoreConfessions of Regret from a “No Regrets” Writer
I’ve written a book called “No Regrets Living – Seven Keys to a Life of Wonder and Contentment” which outlines the critical steps toward living a life with fewer regrets. But here’s a confession: I haven’t succeeded in totally preventing regrets or purging the regrets I already have. As I [...]
Read MoreThe Magical Sounds of Baseball
They’re back! The magical sounds heralding Spring. This past warm weekend brought out those sounds in Denver, and the kids who make those sounds. At the park down the block, on the little baseball diamond with the short backstop, the sound of baseballs hitting gloves. It’s a pop like no [...]
Read MoreThe Organ Recital
When friends of a certain age, my age, for example, get together, a novel discourse takes place. Before talking about the kids, grandkids, work or retirement, and even before talking about sports, we typically have The Organ Recital. What hurts, what’s failing, when’s surgery, who’s your doctor, why were you [...]
Read MoreWho (or What) is Aging Faster, Me or My iPhone?
When shown family pictures on my iPhone 5 a few years ago, and watching me text message my wife, or take pictures, or listen to music, or watch videos…my then 90-year old mother asked, but can you still call people on it? Yes, mom, you can. It just isn’t as [...]
Read MoreSPRING TRAINING, BUT THE KIDS ARE TOO BUSY
We’re a baseball family and Major League Baseball’s Spring Training was one of our rituals. Every March, whenever we could get away, we packed everyone up and headed to Arizona where there was no snow, no ice, no sleet. There was green. Green everywhere, defying the desert, on baseball fields [...]
Read MoreAge as Seen Through the Eyes of Baseball
With the coming of Spring Training, I’m reflecting on the changes in the game of professional baseball over the years. I’m a big baseball fan, and our family is a big baseball family. Our kids played, I coached, and we all critique the game, the teams, and the players. I’ve [...]
Read MoreStrollers, Car Seats, and Other Exasperating Baby Gear
I’m a parent of three adult kids. I was there for all the big, and most of the small, moments of their childhoods. I think about parenting a lot, and I write about parenting. I am now blessed to often be asked to “help out” with our grandkids. Young kids [...]
Read MoreLife in a Tank
I collect old books and learn a lot from them. At a recent visit to my favorite used bookstore, a 1918 book by Richard Haigh caught my eye, both because of the subject matter (World War I) and the title: “Life in a Tank.” I have often thought of our [...]
Read MoreMy First (and Last?) ChatGPT Parenting Blog Post
I enjoy writing. After more than 3 decades writing the results of my medical and scientific research, with more than 200 publications in those fields, I made the transition to writing for a general readership. For you. And I’m proud of the books, blogs, magazine and newspaper columns I’ve written [...]
Read MoreSTUFF
Our neighbor of many years passed away recently, a few months before her 101st birthday. She had lived a full and productive life as an artist, wife, and mother. A Covid widow, she lost her husband just weeks before vaccines became available. Because of her unique art and gracious community [...]
Read MoreThe King of Consumption – Our Dog’s Purpose
If you haven’t read “A Dog’s Purpose” by W. Bruce Cameron, or seen the movie based on the book, or read the sequel books, or seen the sequel movies…well, you should do all of those things. Bailey the dog has touched the hearts of millions of readers and moviegoers since [...]
Read MoreA NEW MOTHER’S DAY (AND FATHER’S DAY) IDEA
Writing about Mother’s Day is a little like writing about “America” or “money” or “religion” or “the environment.” So much has been written about some topics, every angle covered and covered again, there’s little left to add. What more can anyone say about Mother’s Day that hasn’t been said? Rather than repeat, [...]
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