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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

First Came Love, Then Came the Manual

by Elicia Brown

As often happens, Shirley Friedenthal recently met a beautiful older woman who lives alone. And as also often happens, Friedenthal soon learned the details of the woman’s love life. The woman confided that she’s 77, still working and still very interested in men. Alas, she didn’t know how to find one.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Eight Decades of Jewish Life in L.A.

By Tom Tugend

There are some scenes in Martin A. Brower’s book, “Los Angeles Jew: A Memoir,” that bring tears to the eyes of a grown senior citizen.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Mom’s Daughters Add Color to Retirees’ Lives

by Lisa Armony, Contributing Writer

Residents of Heritage Pointe retirement community are enjoying a splash of color, and some Orange County teens have forged remarkable new friendships, thanks to a unique mitzvah project that recently brought the two groups together.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Facebook, Make Room for GenKvetch

by Alex Weisler, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Self-described snowbird Marilyn Carroll earned a new nickname this winter as she walked the streets of Florida: Kvetch Lady.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

So This Bubbe Walks Into a Bar…

by Alex Weisler, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Like the summer action flick, “Snakes on a Plane,” director Sam Hoffman’s Jewish humor Web site is up front about what it offers: old Jews telling jokes.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Seniors Opting to Go West, Build New Jewish Life

By Amy Klein

Jean and Arnold Palestine are glad to be back home — an attached condo unit overlooking the craggy red mountains of the Arizona desert.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It Requires Some Work to Ensure a Happy Retirement

By Amy Klein

Although most working stiffs imagine retired life to be heaven, “A life of incessant recreation and indolence is enough to drive any business entity like you or me mad after 3.5 years. And after you go mad you get old.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Oldest Jewish Immigrant From Iran Arrives in L.A.

By Karmel Melamed

After living in Iran for more than a century, witnessing the rise and fall of three kings and the upheaval of an Islamic revolution 30 years ago, 102-year-old Heshmat Elyasian arrived in Los Angeles two months ago with her immediate family to become the oldest Jewish immigrant from Iran to resettle in Los Angeles.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Grandma Who?

By Eileen Douglas

Growing up, I called my grandmother Grandma.

We were Jewish, but also American. There was never any question but that my grandma would be Grandma. Even if she was born in the Old Country and, like all my friends and all their grandparents, spoke with a Yiddish accent. I used to think, in fact, that in order to be a grandparent you had to have been born in the Old Country and speak with a Yiddish accent.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Never Too Old to Write a Letter ... of Torah

By Lee Barnathan, Contributing Writer

The Jewish Home for the Aging has never had a Torah it could call its own. Since the home first opened in 1912, synagogues or individuals have donated Siferei Torah to the senior-living community, but the scrolls were often old and tarnished, with faded letters or finger smudges on the parchment. These Torahs are considered pasul, or unfit for public reading, but they were the only ones available to the home for religious services.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sun Blessing After 28 Years

By Jane Ulman

April 8 marks the Blessing of the Sun.

“The Blessing of the son?” asks my fourth-born, Danny, who coincidentally turns 18 on the same day.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Reunion Misgivings Give Way to Pride, Inspiration

By Roberto Loiederman

The e-mail was short and to the point: Several members of my 1952-1954 class at Garrison Junior High in northwest Baltimore — Class 215 — were holding a reunion.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

‘Original Grandparents’ Blog From Boyle Heights

By Dikla Kadosh

Barbara Cooper recalls being a snob when she was 14 years old. She and her family moved from New York to Los Angeles in the 1920s, and the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Is It Smart to Teach Old Brains New Tricks?

by Beth Baker

Throw all the money you like at computer brainteasers. Just don’t bet the popular games will protect your gray matter any better than a host of other activities, many of them free.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Active living is the key to successful aging

By Judy Gruen

" . . . Older people can not only continue to have meaning, purpose and activity in their post-retirement years, they may even find a new purpose, unencumbered by work and parenting obligations . . . "

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Autism groups focus on needs of grandparents

By Debbie L. Sklar

" . . . As grandparents, we go through a range of feelings. Some of these are triggered by the child's behavior and how the parents react to it. Grandparents are frightened and upset that their grandchild is experiencing these problems . . . "

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Searching for the soul

By Gary Wexler

In my new capacity as the son of an Alzheimer's victim, I have many questions. Some of them are Jewish questions. One kept me up for hours the other night, leading me to my bookshelf at 3 a.m., combing through volumes to see what insights I might glean. What happens to the soul during Alzheimer's?

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Financial mistakes can haunt estate executors

By Julian Block

Many executors have learned the hard way that they are not off the hook for mistakes just because they rely on the counsel of attorneys, accountants or other professional advisers.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Over 65 group could decide who wins this year’s presidential election

By Stanley Mieses

Neither candidate on the campaign trail has spoken often on issues that matter to seniors, and when they have, it's been underreported by much of the media. So at the end of the day, how different are the candidates -- and their respective political parties -- from each other when it comes to issues of great importance to seniors, such as long-term care, Social Security, medical insurance and taxes?

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Deferred dream comes true for actress Nan Tepper

By Tom Tugend

"I had been a student, wife, mother, news executive and caregiver, but I had always promised myself that one day I would be an actor."

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Temple bingo— a gamble if it’s a good way to raise funds

By Sharon Schatz Rosenthal

Typically associated with American Legion halls, Elks clubs and churches, the sedentary game that caters to seniors is not often associated with Jewish houses of worship. But a few synagogues across the Southland have offered weekly bingo nights as temple fundraisers for decades

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

All pink, all the time

By Molly Binenfeld, Contributing Writer

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Economic turmoil puts pressure on Jewish community

By Brad A. Greenberg

The food pantry would not open for another 40 minutes, but already about a dozen people were waiting in the parking lot, many holding umbrellas to shield themselves from the blistering San Fernando Valley sun

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Geriatric love, (I.B.) Singer style

By Tom Tugend

To Max's surprise and delight, the bereaved widow proves quite amorous, insisting, as do his other female companions, that a man is never too old for some active love-making