Mary Novaria

What an 80-Something Couple at the Grocery Store Taught My Husband and Me About Aging Three years later, I still think about these strangers. By  Mary Novaria     Jul 19, 2019 TEMI OYELOLA There’s nothing especially unusual or remarkable about the older couple I wheel past at the cheese case in the grocery store. She’s sporting a faded lavender tracksuit circa the 1970s that’s seen better days. Her husband’s khakis are baggy, and he’s wearing a long-sleeved shirt despite the 90-something degree weather. The duo is huddled together, each steadying themselves with one bony hand on the cart as they squint at a wedge of sharp cheddar...or maybe gouda. The cheese has aged, and so have they. Aging is considered desirable in cheese and wine—but for people? Not so much. Especially not in Los Angeles, California, where there are billboards for Botox, plastic surgeons, and vein clinics on seemingly every block. Click here to read the ...

I’m challenged. Not sure what got into me, but I agreed to participate in not just one, but two separate challenges that have the potential to be very good for me. You should know that I don’t ordinarily go in for these things. First of all, I’m not much of a joiner. I’ve quit piano lessons, the Girl Scouts and the Junior League. Second of all, I don’t like to set myself up to fail. And by fail, I mean not finish. You see, I don’t always finish things--from diets, to decorating projects, to books I should read but can’t get through. (I know, it’s not good to should all over yourself.) Not finishing may have started back in my junior year of high school when I couldn’t get through Gulliver’s Travels . I also quit going to gym class so I could sit in the library mooning at a senior basketball player who barely knew I existed. Not me. I wish my hair were that long. So what am I thinking taking on two challenges, one for three weeks and another for ...