I know that’s probably not the most exciting name for a blog, but it has one advantage: It gives me the freedom to write about a wide range of topics.
No book is ever the last word on its subject matter. The minute they finish writing, authors become aware of so many other important topics they may have missed or not covered in enough depth. There is still so much more to write about. Hence the purpose of Bobbi’s Blog—to expand on the book’s content, to investigate trends, to pass along news, to explore ideas, and anything else I come across that looks interesting.
If you have not yet read How to Age with Grace: Living Your Best Life in Your 70s, 80s and Beyond, I hope you will. Just in case we don’t know each other yet, I would like to begin this collection of posts by introducing myself, my book, and this blog.
About me: I have been lucky enough to spend my career doing exactly what I wanted to do—writing and all being a writer entailed. For the first twenty years, I built my skills working for magazines, corporations, and nonprofits. For the next thirty years, I owned my own business, which early on meant I was a full-time freelance writer. The business world kept changing, and I had to change with it. What began as writing for businesses of all sizes turned into writing training programs and books. Full-time freelancing evolved into becoming a writing teacher, a book coach, an editor, an author, and a ghostwriter. I tackled each new role by jumping in headfirst and learning on the job. For fifty years, I did things I never imagined I could do, and then I “retired.” To be honest, writers never retire; we just change what we’re writing about and who we’re writing for.
About my book: I wrote How to Age with Grace because, after my last milestone birthday, I realized it was time to face reality. When you hit eighty, you’re old. That doesn’t mean that you are mentally or physically infirm and should retire to a rocking chair. It simply means you have already lived the major part of your life and have fewer years ahead of you.
You can pout and rail at fate about the unfairness of it all (I confess I did for a while), or you can accept it as part of life. That’s a fact. Since fighting facts is futile, I finally relaxed and began to ask myself some tough questions. How long should I work? (I had been on Social Security and Medicare for fifteen years) Should I stop driving? (the consensus among my daughters was YES) Should I continue to live alone? (There wasn’t universal accord on this one. Ultimately, the answer was no)
Those questions were just the start of what I needed to know. The best thing about being a writer is that you know how to find the answers to any question you might have. So, I started researching. I found reams of information and a slew of books but not the exact book I needed. The obvious thing to do was write the book I wanted to read.
About this blog: I explained in the introductory paragraph what I hope to do in this blog—first and foremost, to expand on the book’s content. Aging is a hot topic these days because the Baby Boomers, who make up the fastest growing age group in the country, are turning sixty-five in droves, and whatever they do becomes big news. Even if you wanted to keep up with all the news on the subject of aging, you’d probably have to hire a news-clipping service to help you. Scientists, gerontologists, and geriatricians are learning a lot about the aging process and how to help older people navigate the terrain. Organizations devoted to older Americans publish informative magazines and websites. I hope to glean the best of what they have to offer and share it here.
A blog should not be a monologue; it should be a conversation. So, please let me know your thoughts, and send me any information you would like me to pass along.
