Robin Marantz Henig's Blog, page 2
July 23, 2015
Being Sixty-Something
In her lovely essay, "At Sixty-Five," the writer Emily Fox Gordon captures a lot of what I've been feeling about being in my sixties. But I haven't yet reached the point she has of feeling like this is a good time in life, a time when a person works free of youth's "agitation and misery" and finally has "learned better how to live."
May 15, 2015
Death With Dementia
Sandy Bem needed to choose a day to die, and it had to be just right. Too soon, and it might be a day when she still felt basically fine, still essentially herself even as her Alzheimer's disease implacably ate away at her intellect. Too late, and she might no longer have the resolve, or the understanding, or even the physical dexterity to end her life on her own.
April 30, 2015
An Ode to a Grandma
The decision to operate on a 93-year-old, against her wishes, has a happy ending: she recovers, and has 9 more years that turn out to be the best years of her life. It's debatable, though, whether it would have been wrong to let her die when she wanted to.
February 12, 2015
Living in the Past
"In the fall of 1968, without at first realizing what was happening to me, I began living in the past," wrote Joseph Mitchell, who was 60 years old In 1968 -- almost exactly my age. Had he stumbled onto some truth about what it means to be in your 60s?
January 17, 2015
Being Old in New York City
An article in this month's Politico magazine, "Seniors Take Manhattan," is all about the ways that it's easier to "age in place" in a big city than almost anywhere else in the U.S. The author, Debra Bruno, marshalls tons of evidence in defense of that position.
Being Old in New York City
An article in this month's Politico magazine, "Seniors Take Manhattan," is all about the ways that it's easier to "age in place" in a big city than almost anywhere else in the U.S. The author, Debra Bruno, marshalls tons of evidence in defense of that position.
December 6, 2014
Are Old People Really Happier?
Just yesterday morning New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a column about the U-shaped curve of happiness called "Why Elders Smile." It is currently #1 on the most-emailed list at the Times. He says old people "are spared some of the burden of thinking about the future." Um, why is this a good thing, exactly?
Are Old People Really Happier?
Just yesterday morning New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote a column about the U-shaped curve of happiness called "Why Elders Smile." It is currently #1 on the most-emailed list at the Times. He says old people "are spared some of the burden of thinking about the future." Um, why is this a good thing, exactly?
November 10, 2014
What Matters to Women Looking for Egg Donors?
As the use of egg donors becomes more widespread, a recent study finds, women are no longer trying to hide the fact that their babies come from donor eggs by working hard to find donors who are physically or genetically similar to them. Instead, the researchers say, recipients tend to look for other qualities, such as intelligence and athletic ability,
What Matters to Women Looking for Egg Donors?
As the use of egg donors becomes more widespread, a recent study finds, women are no longer trying to hide the fact that their babies come from donor eggs by working hard to find donors who are physically or genetically similar to them. Instead, the researchers say, recipients tend to look for other qualities, such as intelligence and athletic ability,
