Happy Anniversary

Aging Well Newsletter

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

The newsletter celebrated its fourth anniversary on February 3rd. This article is Number 300. It started with three subscribers and now has over 1600. A number I could not have imagined when I started.

In the first article, I said

How do you want to spend the rest of your life - aging well or going slowly downhill until death? It's a choice, you know, but it does take commitment. As an older adult, you can sit on the sofa, eat pizza and drink beer, watch sports or talk shows hour after hour and let time drift by, or you can pull yourself up by the bootstraps and challenge yourself by finding a new hobby, learning a new language, exercising, or joining a club.

Since then, I’ve learned a lot about aging well—it takes more work and effort than I thought. My body is changing despite my efforts, so concessions must be considered. I can get down on the floor to play with my great-granddaughter, but getting up is another story; I can’t hike like I used to and forget things. Yet, I did manage to walk five miles along the Pacific Ocean on New Year's Day.

If you are unfamiliar with the newsletter, let me introduce you. It is and always will be free. However, if someone wished to support my work, they could donate to the Alzheimer’s Association. Click on the link to access their website.

I am an 86-year-old widow who began writing seriously four years ago after my husband's death. For a while, I posted two weekly articles—one focused on aging well and the other on caregiving—but that was too much. Besides, caregiving is an issue for everyone—people of all ages care for pets, babies, parents, spouses, next-door neighbors, and the world.

I now publish a weekly article on Fridays, covering emotional, physical, intellectual, and practical topics necessary for people who wish to age well.

What surprised me the most is what I’ve learned and gained from other writers and the friendships I’ve made. So, this article is a thank-you to every subscriber for their continued support and care and to every friend I’ve met.

I plan to write the newsletter for as long as possible and explore different areas and topics—maybe even compile the articles into a book. A woman can dream, can’t she?

I’d love it if you could share the Aging Well newsletter with others. I want to share the lessons I’ve learned through my years of life and caregiving with as many people as possible. More than anything, I want to continue expanding our community of readers.

So please forward this email to a friend and invite them to join us. They can subscribe here:

Thank you so much for being part of the Aging Well community.

Janice Walton is a psychologist, widow, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and writer. Her book Aging Well: 30 Lessons for Making the Most of Your Later Years is available on Amazon, and she has written articles for Substack.