Older women

My legacy

I have begun to think about my legacy. Brooke Astor just died at 105, and if I live as long as she did (a dubious goal) I’ll have 40 more years, but not all of those years would be productive ones. My children are a big part of my legacy, and I also would beContinue reading “My legacy”

Love and The Plague

On Friday, I got a phone call from someone who said he was my son, though the voice was sepulchral, and barely audible. He was sick. “I’ll be up this afternoon,” I instantly said. He and his wife are house parents at a sorority at Cornell. Forty-six of the 49 sorority sisters were sick, fiveContinue reading “Love and The Plague”

Doing Nothing

I spent New Year’s Eve sitting cozily in bed reading a book, Saving Fish From Drowning, by Amy Tan. It was lovely. New Year’s Day I went to a Danish friend’s house to join her family for a Danish smorgasbord. That was lovely too. A year ago I would have been lonely, depressed. I feelContinue reading “Doing Nothing”

Every woman's dream man.

Women dream of men like Bill. He is tall, thin, good looking, competent and capable (and thoroughly solvent). He can dance. Strength, courage, decisiveness, discretion, insight, generosity, tolerance, loyalty, optimism, appreciation and understanding of others, discipline, manliness, love of sex. He has a slight New York accent, a degree from the Wharton School, was aContinue reading “Every woman's dream man.”

Bob Dylan

I’m breathless from the Bob Dylan concert. He is a superb musician, with a keen eye for good side men. The words were mostly incomprehensible but it didn’t matter. The kids, teenagers and college kids, who were there mostly sat in their seats like stones. Their parents were grooving. Even when music of an assaultContinue reading “Bob Dylan”

Eulogy for Louis

I have finished two bottles of Tsingtao beer, turned on a CD of Stephan Grapelli and George Shearing, and danced around the living room with the lights out so people passing on the street couldn’t see me. I am dancing, mourning, over my beloved friend Louis, who died of a massive heart attack in August,Continue reading “Eulogy for Louis”

Sex tomorrow morning

My profile has been on yahoo.com for I don’t know how long. It’s free so what the hell. Every year or so I update it. Three weeks ago I talked on the phone with someone who had found me on yahoo. He is a real estate developer and has a farm where he raises racehorsesContinue reading “Sex tomorrow morning”

Love as Luxury

Is love a luxury? Last summer a man I liked “poof” disappeared, leaving me grumpy and sad, so I responded to a married man who wanted company at the theatre. He said he and his wife had drifted way, way apart, and they had renegotiated their marriage contract, meaning she had said she wouldn’t askContinue reading “Love as Luxury”

Dating Married Men: What Are the Rules?

Maybe the institution of marriage is failing. Fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and many of the rest of them aren’t in good shape. The institution as a whole deserves re-thinking, and the rules surrounding it deserve re-thinking. Should I observe the conventional rules and avoid dating married men, or should I view eachContinue reading “Dating Married Men: What Are the Rules?”