BODY
Getting in Shape in 750 Words or So

Getting in shape takes an exercise program that includes workouts in five areas: overall strength, core muscles, flexibility, balance, and overall endurance. All these areas need attention, but where should you begin if you are starting anew? Or, if perhaps you just want to up the ante a little?

TRAVEL
Empty Nesters and Purposeful Travel

At home, each day can seem like the next, and away, each hotel and big city can blur into one. You can overcome this ennui by going back to school, traveling, changing jobs, or buying a new or second home. During these shaky economic times, however, the latter two options aren’t always the most feasible. We often look toward traditional travel to add excitement to our days, but such trips may not give us the sense of connectedness and meaning we crave. We see places and people, but rarely are we touched in the essence of our “being”—awakened to something new. Since the age of our country’s “Camelot,” young people have flocked to the Peace Corps, Teach for America, college semesters abroad, and other similar programs, seeking this connectedness.

GENERATIONS
When Mom Has Surgery

The phone rang. It was Mom. “I’m fine! My friend Winnie is coming up from North Carolina. She’s staying the week to visit a sick friend. Then I have bridge, and the cataract surgery on Wednesday. And I’ll be going to Karen’s the following weekend.” Excuse me? Did she say cataract surgery? “Mom, did you say cataract surgery? When is that?” I asked. “Wednesday. It’s great—Wills Eye Hospital. They send a van to pick you up and take you to their facility in Warminster. Then they bring you back home again. Mrs. Felkner is taking me for the follow-up exam the next day.” Right. And she would be home alone the night of the surgery. Why didn’t we know about this sooner?

STYLE
Old Ladies Wear Clothes, Too

Here’s an email from a reader who’s been shopping for her 80-something mother and mother-in-law. She’s “appalled ... specifically when buying pants.” Everything is “polyester, lacking in style and imagination.” Everything has an elastic waist. And nothing fits because “these women have mostly lost a tush but gained a tummy”—but the people who make their pants don’t seem to have noticed. Whose fault is this?


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Empty Nest: A Magazine for Mature Families

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