Category Archives: Getting Old

“Great Decisions” and underlying themes

Posted on March 24, 2018 by hessd

I once had a Latin teacher who said that teaching Latin was the ONLY way to learn Latin. I don’t think that’s really true. Being a Latin teacher, he often used the device of a minori ad maius [1] so … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Politics, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What to do while you are dying

Posted on February 18, 2018 by hessd

It’s a little more complicated than that title suggests. Not a great deal, but a little. [1] It will simplify things a great deal to make the distinction between “it,” the body that serves us well or ill by turns, … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Love and Marriage | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Living with Seniors

Posted on January 20, 2018 by hessd

That’s what I do. I live in a Senior Center, being old myself. [1] But when I was an undergraduate in college, I lived with Seniors, too. And Juniors and Sophomores and Freshmen. I just thought of that today. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Time on and time off

Posted on January 9, 2018 by hessd

Nearly all the words I know about work presuppose there is a task to be done and a place to do it. Whatever else there is—the person who is supposed to do the work, for instance,—gets pushed to the margins … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

IOYK

Posted on January 2, 2018 by hessd

“I’m Old, You Know.” Since the time I invented that acronym, I have learned that it also can man “if only you knew.” There are lots of circumstances in which this particular excuse is more or less appropriate, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s a PG sort of coffee shop

Posted on November 21, 2017 by hessd

In Sam Raimi’s film, For the Love of the Game, he sets up a scene in an airport bar. An insensitive boor begins regaling the woman on the barstool next to him with his extensive knowledge of the Yankees. [1] … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Society, Theology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Marriage Covenant

Posted on November 1, 2017 by hessd

We call it a “marriage covenant” without thinking much about it. A covenant is a “coming together,” certainly; every way of parsing the word must note com = “together” and venire = “to come.” But we “come together” in so … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Love and Marriage, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

And don’t forget to put the milk in the icebox

Posted on October 25, 2017 by hessd

One of my favorite slogans is “Rising Above Decline” I first ran into it in a study of what to do with excess school space in Boston and they meant simply that the school age population was decreasing, so the … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Holladay Park Plaza, Year 1

Posted on August 27, 2017 by hessd

A year ago today, Bette and I moved into Holladay Park Plaza and I want to tell you a little about it. For me, there is always the question of what to call today. I have been celebrating the various … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The (pause) Lord’s (pause) Prayer (stop)

Posted on August 2, 2017 by hessd

So many kinds of things go on in a Protestant worship service. [1] Calling it “a worship service” is almost a courtesy, but I like the term because it expresses our highest hopes about what we are doing there. Or … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Theology, Words | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment