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It’s never too late to begin again. Or is it?

Jun 7, 2021

Ten years ago I started a blog in anticipation to my 70^th birthday. Feeling energetic and active, I decided to call it Not Your Grandmother’s 70. Subtitle: living your best life at any age. It seemed fitting because I considered myself the poster child for it’s never too late. I have had many careers and went to law school at age 50. I was planning a big adventure – taking a trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in a wooden dory.

I said I would write a blog post weekly. And I did, for a while. Keeping with the theme of it’s never too late to begin again I would begin it again, and again. This last year seemed like a good time to write as I was isolated during the pandemic. Only I didn’t. Then the new year came around. A good time to start again. Only. I didn’t. First day of spring is a good time to start again. Only didn’t. It was important for me to start again as I was approaching the end of my seventies. Only I didn’t. The clock was ticking. Now half the year has passed. Yes, I must begin again. And here I am.

Recently I found another reason to begin again. I had cataract surgery and for the first time in my life I have 20/20 vision. “I can see clearly now” seemed like a good theme. And here I am, doing the countdown for the last few months of my seventies. Octogenarian? Who me? Well not quite as energetic and feeling the aches and pains catching up but still active. Active in my community and my career. Due to the pandemic, I made the difficult decision of severely cutting down on my office space and working remotely. I sit at a desk facing a glass door with a view of the water. Call this working? This week marks the 25^th anniversary of my law school graduation. I feel blessed that I have been able to build a business that can sustain me in my “golden years”.

Now about this blog? What is my intention? I want to show that being an octogenarian is not all that scary. I recently read that a good portion of folks born today will live to be 120. Hmm? Not sure what I think about that. Ask me as I revive this blog at 90. I want to inspire people and make them laugh. I want to make myself stay relevant. I want to make people think. I want to entertain. In my work as a divorce attorney, I often encounter women who tell me it’s too late for them at 40, 50, 60. Occasionally even 35! I hope this blog gives them hope. It is not too late for them to begin their best lives. I hope the under seventy folks find something inspiring here.

When I entered my seventies I had role models, women who were still dynamic in their seventies. I am thrilled that most are still with us and are still role models in their eighties. They are still my inspiration.

Gloria Steinem: 87
Nancy Pelosi: 81
Tina Turner: 81
Jane Fonda: 83
Julie Andrews: 86
Lily Tomlin: 81
Shirley MacLaine: 87
And of course, Betty White: 99

So here is to beginning again. And again. And again.

Now let’s face the next serious question. Should we rename this blog? Not your grandmother’s 80? I guess I am not quite ready for that decision, but I am open to suggestions. I have a few more months to make that decision.

I hope you will join me on this journey. With your encouragement I won’t have to begin again. Just keep going!

So It is New Year’s Eve. Must say something meaningful

Dec 31, 2018

How many New Year’s Eves has it been? I remember the year I said that I had no expectations of anything happening in the coming year. Funny, before the year was over I was married. The one and only marriage I have ever had. While that may be a subject of future posts, it is not tonight’s. I felt an obligation to do at least one post tonight, one more New Year’s Eve. How many more will there be?

All around me folks are retiring. I am always asked when I will retire. My answer is always: retire to what? I learned of another colleagues retirement tonight. Again, I ask: Retire to what?

Travel? I have traveled more in the the last three years than I have my entire life. Grandchildren? Of course. But that is not a full time occupation. What else? Needlepoint? OK. Not that there is anything wrong with that but is that it? Who says you cannot do needlepoint, or photography or travel or, or, or? I intend to do it all.

This holiday weekend I moved into a new office. Does that sound like retirement? My new office is a launchpad for whatever it is I choose to be in the next year, the next few years. A home office just does not cut it. A home office, for me, is a variant on the retirement theme. I want to get dressed, interact with colleagues, get out there. Retirement? I don’t think so. Gardening? Are you kidding me? I live in the dark, gloomy, sunless, always look like it is going to rain during the winter part of the country? Gardening? I think not.

Writing? Of course! But what does one write about once one is retired? Gardening? Grandchildren? Needlepoint? See above. Writing means having something interesting to say. Call me judgmental, but I do think that if you are going to write, you need to live.

So here I am. One more New Year’s Eve. I slacked off for months. But, no, I did not retire. Actually, I have been dealing with work stuff, not retirement stuff. Probably not anything to write about. Much of work stuff is not something to write about — but it is better than retirement! No, I will not write about mundane work stuff. And I do mean mundane. But at least it is not about retirement.

So farewell another year. Welcome a new year. A new year of writing, I make the usual promises of providing content, entertaining you, inspiring you. Now I ask you to hold me to the promise.

Stay tuned. And happy new year.

The Time Machine Question

Oct 22, 2018

”What would you tell your younger self? Ah, the time machine question.

I was recently challenged to write about what I would tell my younger self. Obviously: “Keep writing!”

I wrote as a young girl. When did that stop? Probably when my mother read my biographical journal and made fun of it. So younger self:

DO NOT STOP WRITING BECAUSE SOMEONE DID NOT APPRECIATE WHAT YOU WROTE

I was so excited to take journalism in high school. I learned Who, What, Why for the first paragraph. I learned a little about typesetting. (How quaint) but I did not stay with it. Why? The teacher did no like some mannerism and suggested journalism was not for me. So younger self:

DON’T LET SOMEONE ELSE’S OPINION STOP YOU FOR DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

Marriage, teaching, motherhood, divorce, mid life. When did I stop writing? Why? Then at last — law school. Law school is all about writing. Difficult, challenging, REAL writing. I even wrote a law review article. Great practice even if it was not published. Actually it was quite prescient and I took a stand. As I recall, it was something about what defines “close relationship” and could that include an unmarried partner. Not bad for 1995, is it? So, younger self:

TAKE A STAND AND WRITE ABOUT IT

Passed the bar, opened a law practice. Passed another bar, opened another law practice in a different state. Even though bar exams involved a lot of writing, it is not the creative writing I craved. That budding writer was still dormant.

One day as I was building my new business, I received a sales call from a local newspaper. You know — the one you would get at the bank or the car wash? They offered me the opportunity to write a column – an advertorial I learned. I jumped at the chance. That column jump started my writing. I wrote a monthly column. I got a lot of business. People came into my office with the column in hand. But also, I was getting great feedback about my writing.

After a few years that newspaper folded —literally. By then everyone had websites and my columns easily transferred to a blog on my website. That lead to joining a reticent bloggers group which was the start of many writing classes, retreats and ongoing groups. I officially considered myself a writer. I even published a book. Younger self: Why did you have to be 60 before you started writing?

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO BEGIN AGAIN

I continued the blogs relevant to my business and at 70 I started this blog — Not Your Grandmother’s 70. Actually I started it a few months before as I wrote about my grand adventure through the Grand Canyon. Here it is seven years later. I am still writing and I have committed to writing another book. I invite you to take the journey with me. And the note to younger self is the tag line of this blog, later book:

YOU CAN REINVENT YOUR LIFE AT ANY AGE

I am told blogs must have pictures. So I will add some photos of said younger self.