Striving and aging
By Marianne Delorey
A Scottish writer, Alexander Chalmers, is attributed as saying that the three components of happiness are “Something to do, someone to love,...
In Loco Parentis
By Marianne Delorey
I’ve been working in elder care for 30 plus years. I write every month about how to prepare for the inevitable. I...
Avoiding the mark
By Marianne Delorey, Ph.D.
"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have...
When I turn 80 I’m going to get a cat
By Marianne Delorey
Heather spent her life as a caregiver. First, she took care of her children. Then, she made her career in nursing. Later,...
Subsidized versus market leases
By Marianne Delorey
Photo Marianne Delorey, Photo submitted
Low income housing and market rate housing have more in common than not. The leases for these apartments,...
It is better to give than receive
By Marianne Delorey (Photo Marianne Delorey, Photo submitted)
“If you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one.” Mother Teresa
This is the story of Benny....
With or without you
By Marianne Delorey
Dearest Relative,
I recently mentioned my worries about you living in that big, old house with the stairs. You made it clear you...
Back in my day
By Marianne Delorey
“Age is foolish and forgetful when it underestimates youth.” – J.K. Rowling
Tension between the generations is natural. Even young toddlers need to...
Movies and the elderly
In 1985, a comic first appeared that proposed one way to judge a film. The Bechdel Test is a simple measure about a movie’s inclusion of female characters. The test asks: 1) Does the movie have at least two women in it? 2) Do they talk to each other? and 3) Does their conversation touch on anything other than a man?
Because the Oscars are coming up, this article focuses on creating a similar way to rate how elder-friendly a movie is. Because of the length and breadth of her career, I am calling this the Betty White Movie scale.
I am grief
By Marianne Delorey
I am grief. I am ugliness borne out of love and loss. I am powerful. I can bring the strongest among you...