Last week, Paul and I called our grandchildren’s other grandmother whom they lovingly call “Grandma Kansas.” We had seen her a month ago at our great-grandson’s first birthday party, and she didn’t look or sound good. She had been diagnosed with breast cancer about three years ago that had metastasized into her other breast and theninto her lungs. Shortly after that visit, our granddaughter called to tell us that Grandma Kansas’ doctor told her that she had between three weeks and three months to live.

Then maddeningly, after allowing her to stew on his prognosis, he told her he had one more treatment he could try. I wondered why he would do that, when he had already had told her the wonders of American medicine, at least as he practiced it, could do no more for her. She had already told him and her family that she was tired of fighting. I surmise he was fighting his own battle with the helplessness he must have felt when he could not cure her or at least prolong her life. Or less benignly, he may have been practicing aggressive medicine to protect against a lawsuit. ...
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My mentee and friend, Chris Tatevosian, has had Multiple Sclerosis for thirty years now. Diagnosed when he was in college, he now is legally blind and spends his days in a wheel chair. Despite this, miraculously the assistance he receives from services for the blind allow him to use his computer. He co-hosts a radio show on blogtalkradio on coping with chronic pain, and is a lively and engaging host. I know. He and his co-host interviewed me on their show a month ago or so. He is relaxed, comfortable, and funny.

But it was not always like this. ...
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I have some fantastic news!

My radio show,“Relationships 101,” which currently is heard on www.webtalkradio.net, is about to be heard on terrestrial radio. It will air on WWPR 1490 AM in Sarasota, FL from 9:00 – 10:00 EDT beginning on July 14th. I am thrilled, because this is a prime radio time slot, and because this is the first concrete step toward syndicating my show. ...
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Robert McCartney of the Washington Post wrote an Op Ed piece reprinted in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Tuesday, June 22. It was entitled,“A Best Friend’s Final Gift.” McCartney at first didn’t want to be present when his old and sick dog had to be euthanized. In fact, he didn’t even want the dog in the first place. “I did not want anyone to see my tears.” He did not want anyone to watch his fall from manhood as tears rolled down his cheeks.

McCartney wrote,“I avoid funerals, adept as finding reasons why it’s too inconvenient to go. But in the last hour or so I spent with Brooks [the dog], I came to recognize what I’d been avoiding – feelings of sorrow and loss.” ...
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Cougar is the current slang term for women who date younger men. On my most recent radio show (http://tinyurl.com/yzxnexy), I interviewed a woman who has had a dickens of a time meeting a man her age or older who also is her intellectual peer. This woman is a divorced eye surgeon, and she’s seeking a male partner who has some kind of professional degree. She has not found anyone age-appropriate, so she has begun dating younger men out of necessity.

A little research explains why men date older women and women frequently date people substantially younger than themselves. ...
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