VISITING SOLO SENIORS : FAMILY OF CHOICE FAMILY OF FRIENDS

 VISITING SOLO SENIORS : FAMILY OF CHOICE FAMILY OF FRIENDS

One of the nicest things an NMNK can do is go visiting NMNK seniors.

I think we can learn a lot from those who are senior to us and many of us have parents or grandparents who have already passed away.  There is an increasing number of people who were only children who will go into their senior-hood without parents or siblings.  While some of these people have other blood relatives who may look in on them and be there to stand up for them, many depend(ed) on a FAMILY OF FRIENDS.

I first heard the terms FAMILY OF FRIENDS or FAMILY OF CHOICE (MADE UP OF FRIENDS) while having contact with many gay males in business.  I became friendly with some of these men and learned that though their family of birth had kicked them out because they were living a gay lifestyle (which usually meant no marriage, no children), they had formed family with others in the same situation.  They provided each other mutual support, but it wasn't all talk about problems, it was actually BEING THERE for each other through unemployment, hospitalizations, and so on.

Why not go to a senior building or assisted living in your area and volunteer, or ask the staff if you can be involved in casually visiting seniors there?  Maybe take your dog too.

You may make some friends - of choice.

(First posted on June 6, 2013)

SUSAN JACOBY 'S NEVER SAY DIE TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT BEING OLD ALONE BROKE and ILL

SUSAN JACOBY 'S  NEVER SAY DIE TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT BEING OLD ALONE BROKE and ILL

VIDEO EXPIRED taken down Nov 2023

Linking to a YouTube video in which author Susan Jacoby explains her viewpoint. Will our old age be so different than that of our parents or grandparents? New Agism has taken over. Just read a devastating book, written by a secular humanist Susan Jacoby, who looks at the facts not the spin on old age. NEVER SAY DIE, THE MYTH AND MARKETING of THE NEW OLD AGE, put out by Pantheon Books this year, looks at issues like Baby Boomer finances (especially severe for old women), Alzheimer's, and other issues that the people promoting 80 as the new 50 don't want you to try on. While reading this book I was thinking of the recession we're in and the fact that many women never have the kind of employers who provide retirements. So many are already hurting, already working hard and unable to save. I was thinking that fear of being alone and broke in old age IS STILL NOT A GOOD ENOUGH REASON TO HAVE CHILDREN TO TAKE CARE OF YOU IN OLD AGE . In visiting seniors living in retirement homes, board and cares, and nursing homes, I already know that many of those who had children - and grandchildren - still do not get the visits they need. I notice those ads that have vital active and young looking grey haired seniors enjoying their retirement years. They rarely seem to show real residents, people with walkers and wheel chairs. This book is not light summer reading, but it is reading that will make you think and activate.

Sister

(First published  August 30, 2011)

S IS FOR SINGLE!

OUR ENEMY DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER / PARENTHOOD BY PROXY

OUR ENEMY DR. LAURA SCHLESSINGER / PARENTHOOD BY PROXY

Flipping through... Dr. Laura Schlessinger Parenthood By Proxy DON'T HAVE THEM IF YOU WON'T RAISE THEM C 2000 Cliff Street Books... 

Tripped across this one on the library shelves today and was intrigued by the DON'T HAVE THEM IF YOU WON'T RAISE THEM subtitle. And she's right that you don't get to resign from parenthood. Of course, anyone who listens to Dr. Laura's radio program, which is broadcast across the nation knows that she is ALSO AGAINST ABORTION, suggesting to anyone who cannot afford to raise a child that they should give that child up for adoption, and that she is AGAINST SINGLE PARENTHOOD as well. She frequently advises couples to stay together to raise a child, a kind of "You made a baby now you are stuck in an unhappy marriage attitude." BUT THEN AGAIN, I often think that her callers already know what she is going to say... REST ASSURED Dr. Laura IS THE NEVER MARRIED NO CHILDREN ENEMY. I've heard her tell people who have just gotten married to SHUN their still single friends. She doesn't really have any use for those of us who choose to remain unmarried and childless... She doesn't have any regard for us.

(First published October 14, 2008)

Note: She is no longer on the air!

CONDALEEZA RICE is NEVER MARRIED NO KIDS

 CONDALEEZA RICE is NEVER MARRIED NO KIDS

Link here to a bio on Condaleeza which mentions that she has never married or had children, and may have only partnered (at least financially) with one person - a room mate.  A woman of accomplishment and importance, not to mention extreme controversy, she seems to be able to handle it all and CONDALLEZA RICE is NMNK like us!

(First published on June 5, 2011)

As of October 2022 she remains NMNK.  

Note: Over time I have sometimes published about someone who was NMNK and some of those persons have married, often "late" in life, and had a child or children, sometimes by surrogate.

DAISY HEART

 

LOVE YOUR FRIENDS AS THEY ARE

VALENTINES DAY can put a lot of pressure on devoted Never Married No Kids types. That's because this is the big American celebration of couplehood. But you CAN send Valentines to your very unmarried friends and let them know you LOVE THEM AS THEY ARE!

HUMOR : HOW TO LOOSE YOUR VIRGINITY : HUMOR

HUMOR : HOW TO LOOSE YOUR VIRGINITY  
 I thought this was funny and I bet you will too...

W.C. FIELDS HUMOR

 This one was relayed to me the other day. Someone asked W.C. Fields, the Old Hollywood comedian, "DO YOU LIKE CHILDREN?" And he said "ONLY WELL DONE, MY DEAR !"

(First published August 14, 2009)