Thanks to Sue Swartz for her kind words about this blog as Curator-of-the-Week for She Writes, a forum for women writers. Quoting my observation that “Age is a frontier and these are our scouts,” Swartz writes, “Now that I’ve reached AARP membership age myself (if you don’t know what that is, you’re probably under 45), I find myself more interested in what happens to our lives at the point that we’re “supposed to” retire. I loved the story of ceramicist Eva Zeisel who refused to pass up anything she experienced, including Soviet prison, because it was all part of “my adventurous life” and I cringed with recognition when former milkman Eddie Lewis worked 4 decades at a job with terrible hours (think 2:30 a.m.) but never thought to ask for anything better. Think the old are all headed downhill? Read this blog and think again.”
We are, of course, all headed downhill, though on wildly varying trajectories. I think I’m beginning to understand that the challenge is to present that diminuendo in all its compelling, rather than pursue a tidier resolution.