Retirement, Reinventing, Redesigning by Donna L. Scrafano As a young professional and a single parent, the answer I gave when asked about retirement was, “I’ll be dropping dead at a desk somewhere because I’ll never be able to retire.” A bleak answer, for sure. As the fates would have it, I took an early, unplanned Read more
Love Out Loud By Donna L. Scrafano While we all attempt to survive this pandemic, we can’t deny that life as we once knew it has changed greatly. In addition to picking up groceries or walking into a store with our masks and armor on, we are social distancing from family and friends or not Read more
All Joking Aside, Laughter Is Healthy for You by J’Nel Wright Why did the chicken cross the road? It doesn’t matter as long as it’s funny. Not only does a good gag make us giggle, experts say laughter is actually good for our health. If you are debating between downloading the latest chick flick versus Read more
The Aftermath: A Community Scattered by Michael Orr On November 8, 2018, the Camp Fire engulfed the town of Paradise, California and several nearby smaller-communities. The wind-driven fire left more than 11,000 homes in ashes and took the lives of at least 85 people. Ninety-five percent of Paradise was wiped off the map in a Read more
Going Green: 5 Health Benefits of Planting an Herb Garden by J’Nel Wright I can’t help it, I am obsessed with pineapple sage. One sniff of that or a whiff of lemon thyme and you wouldn’t blame me. There is something organically satisfying about growing herbs. And gardening is good for your health. The National Read more
Helicopter Daughter by Christina Fain After some initial testing, my dad found out that the suspicious spot on his neck was indeed cancerous and that the cancer had spread to his lungs. He was alone when he received this news. As upset as he was, he took the time to type out a family group Read more
Lucky to Live with a Toddler by Lynn Campbell You might assume that a semi-retired couple of a certain age would have a quiet and pristine home. No Lego or toy trucks to trip over. No stack of coats and shoes in all different sizes by the front door. No potato chip crumbs on the Read more
When the Cavalry Doesn’t Arrive By Donna Scrafano A former supervisor once told me that if we don’t have expectations of an individual, we won’t be disappointed in them. Simple, right? Not really, especially when one is providing care to a loved one and there are others who could—and should—assist. I’ve written approximately nine articles Read more
Grief – A Personal Journey By Donna L Scrafano My first exposure to grief came on December 3, 1963. That was the day I had lost my maternal grandmother, twenty-three days before my tenth birthday. I was in fifth grade. Eleven days previously on November 22, the nun who taught us at St. Anthony’s parochial Read more
Oral Sex: Is it Better to Give or Receive? Tracy E. Hill, Ph.D. With funding from the National Institute on Aging, researchers from Michigan State and Texas A & M Universities took a deep dive into oral sex. Published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences (2019), Drs. Hui Liu, Shannon Shen, and Ning Hsieh investigated how giving Read more
