Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does … Continue reading Dream Deferred
Category: AGING
Nurse at the Switchboard
Ten of us from a class of 44 traveled to Cape May, New Jersey to attend our 55th nursing reunion. We first met as young Catholic teens in the late ’50s enrolled in the diploma program at Saint Peter’s School of Nursing in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Hard to believe we are now in our … Continue reading Nurse at the Switchboard
Out of the Blue (aka Mr. Foley)
My story was published in Pulse: Stories from the Heart of Medicine on August 18, 2017 Out of the Blue Friday, 18 August 2017 Marianna Crane ~ As I sit in the exam room waiting for my first patient of the afternoon, the phone rings. It rings four more times before I realize that Amanda … Continue reading Out of the Blue (aka Mr. Foley)
The Danish Secret to Happiness
I wrote about a new initiative from Pfizer (getold.com) back in July 2014 that posts issues on positive aging. I checked the site recently to see if it was still active. It is and looking good. Here is one of their latest articles. GET OLD: FIVE LESSONS FROM HYGEE: THE DANISH SECRET TO HAPPINESS by Shelley … Continue reading The Danish Secret to Happiness
Netflix Show Gets Aging Right
I am thrilled that the third season of Netflix’s Grace and Frankie is finally here. As one of the first gerontological nurse practitioners to be certified by the ANA back in the 60s and now a 70-something woman, I am depressed that the very same stereotyping and dismissal of the aged I first encountered is … Continue reading Netflix Show Gets Aging Right
80 year-old male model
As a retired gerontological nurse practitioner and a woman dealing with my own aging, I am always happy to read about successful aging. This one comes all the way from China. I hope you enjoy 80 year-old Wang Deshun’s story as much as I did. An 80-Year-Old Model Reshapes China’s Views on Aging … Continue reading 80 year-old male model
WHAT DOES AGE HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
I thought it was time to revisit the positive aspects of aging. I wrote this post in October, 2013.
I made an ageist comment. It didn’t seem ageist at the time. I was sitting in the second row of a packed room at Flyleaf Bookstore in Chapel Hill as Pat Schneider finished reading from her new book, How The Light Gets I
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I came to hear Pat for two reasons. One, I wanted to see the woman who developed the Amherst Writers and Artist (AWA) writing method. And, second, I wanted to see a fellow writer that was still prolific going into her ninth decade and had the stamina to go on a book-tour at six sites across North Carolina in seven days.
Maybe it was the interview I had heard a few years ago, which had taken residence in my memory that influenced my comment. A local author discussed her new book on a radio talk show. When asked her age, she said she never tells…
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A Hospice Nurse is Featured in The New Yorker
Larissa MacFarquhar is a staff writer for the New Yorker. She has written profiles on “do-gooders,” people whose altruistic acts “spring from genuine empathy.” Her subjects are varied: Quentin Tarantino, Diane von Furstenberg and Paul Krugman. Most recently she spotlighted Heather Meyerend, not a famous person, but a nurse. Her story starts on page 62 … Continue reading A Hospice Nurse is Featured in The New Yorker
THE TIME IS RIGHT
Taking a Blog break. This post appeared on March 10, 2013.
A friend deliberated whether she should visit her father for his 95th birthday. She was swamped with commitments. Since he was unaware of his birthday as well of his surroundings and didn’t even recognize his three daughters, there was no urgency to travel to another state.
However, she cleared her schedule and made the trip, as did another sister and a niece. Both lived out-of-state also.
As it turned out, on his birthday, he had a choking episode with difficulty breathing. He stopped eating and died three days later, surrounded by those he loved who otherwise would not have been there had they not come to commemorate the day he was born.
This story reminded me of a patient I cared for back in the early ‘90’s when I worked as a nurse practitioner in a home care program. I had made a first visit to an elderly man…
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Rewriting the Book
I’m doing what I said I would never do. Rewrite my book. I completed my manuscript late last year, sent it out to 20 small presses and one agent. While I have been waiting for the results to trickle in—those returned so far have been rejections—I’ve been troubled by a lingering discomfort that I have … Continue reading Rewriting the Book
