TWOsday ~ later in life

Over What Hill? (notes from the pasture) ~ by Effie Leland Wilder, 1996, fiction (South Carolina), 9/10

Hattie McNair chronicles the adventures of the residents of the FairAcres retirement community while her own writing career gains momentum.  Except for being 20+ years ago, this sounds a lot like my retirement community.  Well, except their population of men seems to be bigger than ours.  On my floor, we now have eight women and two men.  I still thought it was funny in a sweet sort of way.  We also are much more active than the people in this little novel, with lots of activities and trips, gardening and a cafe for the whole community.  Still, I do recommend this book.

The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50 ~ by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, 2009, sociology

Demographers are recognizing the significance of a distinct developmental phase:  those years following early adulthood and middle age when we are "neither young nor old."  Whether by choice or not, many in their "third chapters" are finding ways to adapt, explore, and channel their energies, skills, and passions in new ways and into new areas.  This process of creative reinvention redefines our views about the casualties and opportunities of aging.  She challenges the still-prevailing and anachronistic images of aging by documenting and revealing how the years between fifty and seventy-five may, in fact, be the most transformative and generative time in our lives, tracing the ways in which wisdom, experience, and new learning inspire individual growth and cultural transformation.  The author captures a new moment in history and offers us insight and hope about our endless capacity for change and growth.

This book's title mentions "adventure."  At 78 years old, I am apparently now in the "fourth chapter" of my life.  When I was still (barely) in that "third chapter," I moved from Chattanooga to St. Louis.  It's the first time I've ever lived west of the Mississippi, and I'm almost 500 miles from my birthplace and my whole family and where I lived most of my life (with a few years in Atlanta, Knoxville, and Morristown, Tennessee).  Yet all during the four years in this town, I've been telling people it's my great adventure.  Yes, there's that word.  At 74, it felt like I needed to go ahead and do it, since I wasn't getting any younger.  And I'm loving it here at the Crown Center for Senior Living!  Was it a risk?  Yes, I guess so, but it just feels right to be here.