Just My Opinion

I always considered myself a nurturing person. Though I don’t have children, I am a classic hoverer and worrier — a regular Johnny-on-the-spot whenever friends or family require emotional or medical support.

Modesty took a backseat to a bargain at the original Filene’s Basement in downtown Boston. As women stripped down to their bras and girdles in the middle of aisles to try on skirts, dresses or slacks, men stood on the stairs unabashedly ogling the scene below.

There was a time when a sound argument could be made that Massachusetts was on the right track when it came to aging residents in need of long-term care services and their caregivers.

A new Gallup-Healthways index confirms there is such a thing as a mid-life crisis, but don’t worry because once we turn 65, it’s all laughter and contentment. older people are less likely to be sad or depressed than any other age group. In fact, although the difference is small, they’re actually somewhat happier.

As I pack up our home of more than 17 years, I gaze out my front window at the weeping cherry that my husband, David, bought me for the first wedding anniversary that we spent in our home. It was so tiny then, fragile, yet elegant.

If there’s one thing I learned from the deficit reduction talks in Washington, it’s that I can’t take for granted that the entitlements my parents and grandparents have enjoyed will remain the same for my generation of baby boomers.

Medicare and Social Security should not be on the table during the deficit reduction conversation. Rather, Congress should reduce wasteful spending and close tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. That was the takeaway from today’s AARP Massachusetts telephone town hall meeting.

It’s a lazy, rainy Sunday, and I’m trying to catch up with back issues of my decorating magazines. Too bad I need a magnifying glass and every light turned on in the room to make out the tiny, fancy white type describing where to purchase the items listed in the articles.

Here lies the opportunity for my generation to make sure that whatever Congress does to curb the deficit, Medicare and Social Security will not only survive, but will remain in forms we can count on as safety nets.

To quote American Humorist Will Rogers, “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.”