Vol XVII. No. 11
Author Ralph Milton wants readers to know that old age is not a disease circling the world ready to pounce on anyone over eighty. Many, maybe even most old people say they are happier and more contented than they have ever been. And that’s good news because Canadians are living much, much longer than they used to. In fact, octogenarians are the country’s fastest growing demographic. To quote the author, “Society has never had to deal with such a huge bunch of old people.”
To address this societal shift, Well Aged offers a candid, useful and entertaining insider’s take on life among the old-old. Not the recently retired who are enjoying Arizona winters and unlimited golf, but those in their last years, usually in the eighty-to-one-hundred-year-old bracket. While there is good material about old age written by health-care professionals for other professionals, and popular non-fiction to inspire the recently retired, there is virtually nothing written at the non-professional level for the oldest of the old. Or for their families and caregivers. This book is a freewheeling, down-to-earth inside look at what it’s really like to be old, written by someone living the experience and sprinkled liberally with humour.
Topics include:
- Identity and independence
- Choosing a retirement location among the options of independent living, retirement residences and nursing homes
- Personal health needs and priorities
- Community support, friendships and recreation
- Spirituality and religion
- Intimacy, companionship and sexuality
- Loneliness, depression and frailty
- Leaving a legacy and making end-of-life arrangements
When the situation of elderly Canadians does get public attention, as it has during the COVID-19 pandemic, the focus is on what can go wrong. Well Aged expands the conversation around aging, and it is a must-read for anyone who needs to put out their birthday cake with a fire extinguisher—as well as those who love and care for them.
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Author's Bio:
My Thoughts:
I have enjoyed relating with Ralph Milton for many years. Recently - not as much - as
he has not been as busy in the literary world.
It came as no small surprise to discover he has written "Well Aged" and made it available to a large audience in this country and beyond.
Ralph distinguishes between the "new/old" and the "old/old" to show that different concerns and opportunities are associated with different senior stages.
Ralph writes for people associated with faith communities - but more than that.
Please inform your friends of this book and share the video with them.
- Randy Woodley
- Rev. William J. Barber II
- Mother Teresa
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At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed him. Songbirds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear him.…Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God?…When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else when you get into the light.
- Oswald Chambers
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So much of our energy, time, and money goes into maintaining distance from one another. Many if not most of the resources of the world are used to defend ourselves against one another, to maintain or increase our power, and to safeguard our own privileged position. Imagine all that effort being put in the service of peace and reconciliation! Would there be any poverty? Would there be crimes and wars? Just imagine that there was no longer fear among people, no longer rivalry, hostility, bitterness, or revenge.… We say, “I can’t imagine.” But God says, “That’s what I imagine, a whole world not only created but also living in my image.”
- Henri J.M. Nouwen
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CLOSING THOUGHT - Mary Oliver
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