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Creative Aging Expert
November 2007
In This Issue
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Crone: A New Magazine
The first issue of CRONE: Women Coming of
Age will be published in spring 2008. It
evolved from The Crone Chronicles, a
journal that was published from1989-2001.
Ann Kreilkamp, founder of Crone
Chronicles wrote, "For the first time in
history, enormous numbers of women are
traveling through the gate of menopause and
looking forward to a life span of some 30
more years. And we women have a certain
hard-won wisdom, gleaned through consciously
processing the experiences of our long and
fruitful lives. What are we going to do with
this wisdom? Play golf? Get our hair done?
We begin to glimpse the opportunity, and the
responsibility."
Whereas the Chronicles served to
activate the archetype of the Crone,
encouraging us to uncover our voice and heart
with a soul rooted in wisdom wrestled from
long experience, CRONE will assume
that this archetype is alive and well within
us and let the world know who we are, both in
terms of Crone awareness and how this
awareness projects and manifests in the
world.
Each issue of CRONE will feature two
major interviews, one with a Crone working
primarily in the outer world, the other with
a Crone focused primarily on her inner world.
There will be eight departments, staffed by
a circle of editors and numerous columnists,
including special columnist Jean Shinoda
Bolen, author of Crones Don't
Whine.
Thanks to
elderwoman.org/Jun07news.html
for
this description. For more information or to
subscribe, contact editor@cronechronicles.com.
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Novels about Older Women
I have recently discovered the wonderful
novels of Joan Medlicott. Beginning with
The Ladies of Covington Send Their
Love, she introduces us to Grace, Hannah,
and Amelia, older women living together in a
boarding house for seniors. Each, in her own
way, tentative about life - carrying scars
from unfulfilled marriages, lost children,
and deaths of spouses. The novels follow them
as they move on and develop into full
fledged, independent persons.
What I like about these seven novels is that
they handle so many of the issues we face as
we grow older - health, distant children,
loneliness, finances, sex, meaningful work.
These three women with totally different
personalities end up living together in a
farmhouse in North Carolina. It isn't easy
solving their differences, but they somehow
always do. They manage to form a tight
community providing solid support for each
other as they grow older and face new dilemmas.
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Senior Roommate Finder?
If you were a senior looking to share a
dwelling with others or a homeowner with
space to share is there an agency in your
town that would help you connect?
I heard from a 65-year-old woman in my
community whose companion is in a nursing
home. She wants to share her two story house
with another senior, but can locate no agency
to assist her in finding someone suitable.
Both the Area Agency on Aging and the Social
Services Department are not able to help.
If you're thinking of starting a business
this might be a niche you should investigate.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates
500,000 or a little more than 1 percent of
women 50 or over currently live with
nonromantic roommates. And by all
indications this is a growing market. Connie
Skillingstad of Minneapolis launched Golden
Girl Housing several years ago. The
nonprofit service helps women look at
nontraditional options for housing that meet
their financial, social, and emotional needs.
She says, "It's tough for some women to
think seriously about shared housing and many
don't know where to start."
"In our culture living communally with people
who aren't related to us certainly isn't
considered the norm," says Jacqueline
Grossmann, copresident of the National Shared
House Resource Center. "So when women decide
to do this, there's usually a pretty
compelling financial need - a divorce, a job
loss, an illness, or even the realization
that they don't have enough of a nest
egg."
When I first launched my speaking business,
Make It Happen!, I took a room with bath and
small study in someone else's house. This
enabled me to save on living expenses and put
that money into my business. Four years
later I moved out and rented my own
apartment. Other reasons people want to
share are companionship, peace of mind, and
just having some time to think before the
next big decision. "This is the wave of the
future," Skillingstad predicts.
Home Share Long Island brings together people
in their 20s and 30s with those in their 70s
and 80s to share the cost of housing and
learn from each other. Similarly in Atlanta,
Georgia, HouseMate Match, a 20-year-old
program brings modest-income
70-plus-year-olds together with 25-40 year
old working people. Although a few of their
matches are older adults sharing a home with
another older adult. In the Atlanta program,
both the home owner and home seeker are
screened and interviewed.
So there are things happening to help people
find roommates. If there is such an agency
in your town, I'd be interested in hearing
about it. Information for this article comes
from the July/August AARP magazine article,
"The New Housemates," and from Generations
United Together newsletter, Vol. 12, No 2,
2007.
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A Great Tagline
The tag line for Marian Van Eyk McCain's
October Elderwoman newsletter caught my eye.
"An e-zine for 21st century elderwomen
committed to radical aliveness." Read
more at elderwoman.org.
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National Positive Aging Conference
Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida,
will host the 2007 National Positive Aging
Conference "Beyond the Cutting Edge," on
December 6-8. I am particularly interested
in the pre-conference intensive session
titled, "Third Age Life Planning: A Holistic
Approach." There is an amazing array of
notable presenters from all over America,
including Helen Dennis (Andrus Center), Donna
Butts (Generations Unlimited), Robert C.
Atchley (Miami University), Gene Cohen
(George Washington University), Betsy Cole
(President, 3rd Age Life Planning), Harry
Moody (AARP), and many, many more.
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Commitment Ceremony?
I recently heard of a commitment ceremony
which was preformed in a Lutheran church
between two seniors (a widow and a widower).
They had decided to live together, but did
not want to marry due to an array of issues
like children and finances. They did,
however, want to commit to being together for
the rest of their lives. Their church
preformed a commitment ceremony for them.
This was a new and interesting idea to me.
Has anyone else heard of such a ceremony
being performed for a senior couple?
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Good to Be Back
Seven weeks is a long time to be away, and I
must admit it is good to be home and back to
familiar routines. I spent one week
participating in an Oregon Sustainable Energy
Bike Tour. It provided a real window into the
organic farming and land preservation
movements. We met and worked with many
courageous individuals devoting their lives
to improving the environment. Then I
traveled with a friend on a car camping trip
during which we viewed the rugged coastline
of Northern California, observing the fierce
surf pounding on beaches backed by towering
cliffs. We also visited Lake Tahoe and Point
Reyes National Seashore, both of which were
treasures... and yes Lake Tahoe is cold, but I
can tell you from experience - it is
swimable!
Soon I'll be heading to the Florida Keys for
a week-long bike tour, then to Miami and on
to St. Pete for the Positive Aging Conference.
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Emily Kimball
3220A West Grace Street
Richmond, VA 23221-1306
(804) 358-5536
Fax (804) 358-2415
web: TheAgingAdventurer.com
email:
etkimball@aol.com
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