In our conversation with Amy Schiller, a social worker and professor who specializes in the field of death and dying, we start to unpack the myth of the “Good Death.” Amy talks about letting go of control in the dying process, and how becoming aware of our fears and beliefs about dying can impact our lives, and allow us to live more fully. Amy offers her students the opportunity to write Legacy Letters, and suggests everyone consider their own Advance Directives for when the end of life comes. Constance shares the many ways she is trying to practice and “rightsize” her own deep fears about death and dying, and Lori opens up to the possibility of an Afterlife.

And don’t forget to hang around for our “After Thoughts” where Lori and Constance unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard, and where we have started “Listener Shout-Outs,” and episode-based Challenges for our listeners. 

SHOW NOTES:

The CHALLENGE for this episode is to complete one of the exercises discussed - a Legacy Letter, some Death Cleaning, a Death Meditation and let us know how it went :) 

Find out more about Amy Schiller 

Amy's Blog

Dying Well by Ira Byock

Rightsize your Fears by Mark Nepo

The Fifth Season, Mark Nepo 

Death Meditation with Ajahn Nisabho

Going with Grace, Alua Arthur

Legacy Letter

Advice for Future Corpses Sallie Tisdale

Death Cleaning

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter

Final Gifts by Maggie Callanan

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Just in time for VALENTINE'S DAY, Constance and Lori speak to Kandee Love, a licensed therapist specializing in couple’s and sex therapy. We explore topics ranging from sexual expression across the life stages to sex toys and tips for older adults. Kandee emphasizes the importance of prioritizing pleasure, passion, and play in a world filled with stress. Kandee has labeled February as “Spunky Old Broads Month,” and encourages women to re-write their old narratives and embrace boldness in the bed room. We discuss the idea of redefining sexuality beyond traditional penetrative sex, and the great importance of communication in a relationship, and we end with Kandee providing tips for enhancing sexual expression and intimacy in long-term relationships. This is an episode you don’t want to miss! 

And don’t forget to hang around for our “After Thoughts” where we unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard, and where we have started “Listener Shout-Outs,” and episode-based Challenges for our listeners.  

 SHOW NOTES

If you are interested in learning more about Kandee’s work, check out her website: https://www.kiscounseling.net. 

Kandee’s Yes, No, Maybe List to try 😊 (WADY CHALLENGE – try using this and let us know!)

Spunky, Old Broad Month 

LUBES TO LOVE: 

Water-based products (safe with all toys and condoms): Good Clean Love Almost Naked, Sliquid, Aloe Cadabra, Astroglide, Uberlube 

SILICON BASED (don’t use with silicone toys): Astroglide X, Wet Platinum, 10 Millennium, Uberlube

NATURAL (not condom safe): Organic coconut oil

TOYS TO TRY: 

EASY TO GRIP: Palm power, Iroha  Series (Yuki, Koharu), VM Wand vibrator

CLITORAL STIMULATORS: SILA Cruise, SONA Cruise, Namii Clitoral Suction Stimulator, Wominizer Premium Duo, Evii External Vibrator with Dual Motors Pulse Wand 

 G SPOT VIBRATORS: Kurve, GII G spot Vibrator, Je Joye Juno Flex 

DATING WEBSITES FOR SENIORS: Seniorsizzle.com, DateMyAge, BeNaughty, OurTime, Tinder for seniors, Seniormatch, Kinky-seniors.com, Seniorfuckbuddies

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Have you tried one of our challenges and want a Shout Out? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

You can text Fan Mail to the link below, but heads-up, we are unable to respond to these Fan Mail Texts. If you'd like a reply, please reach out on our FB/Substack/or email/or include your email address in your Fan Mail Text. 

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Constance and Lori speak to Ellen Blum Barish, a writing coach and memoir author. Even if writing is not your thing, listen in to our lively conversation about leaning in to this form of creativity as a tool for growth and reflection as we age.

For starters, we discuss the hidden value of writing for people who don’t like to write. Ellen suggests looking through the old stuff we tuck in drawers and stash away in closets and think about the stories they have to tell. Also, think about using photos we have stored in our phones as prompts for our writing We jump back to our adolescence when many of us poured ourselves into our diaries and journals, and used writing as an early form of self expression. And at this time of life, we explored the possibility of using writing as part of a Life Review. This can be an important process that makes connections over the course of our life to look at and rewrite the narratives of our lives. Finally, we offer a fun little writing challenge to our listeners that may land you on the WADY website. So listen in and get your creative juices flowing. 

And don’t forget to hang around for our “After Thoughts” where Lori and Constance unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard. 

SHOW NOTES

If you are interested in learning more about Ellen's work, check out her website: https://www.ellenblumbarish.com/

If you are interested in learning more about Ellen's memoir "Seven Springs" check out this link: https://www.ellenblumbarish.com/my-work

If you are interested in learning more about the book that Constance mentioned in the podcast that offers writing prompts, check out this link: https://www.suleikajaouad.com/the-book-of-alchemy

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

You can text Fan Mail to the link below, but heads-up, we are unable to respond to these Fan Mail Texts. If you'd like a reply, please reach out on our FB/Substack/or email/or include your email address in your Fan Mail Text. TY

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Constance and Lori speak to Ramsay Ringo, a career coach and expert on caring for elderly parents. We discuss the unique challenges of supporting aging parents when you are in your 60s yourself. Ramsay emphasizes the importance of a simplified approach to avoid overwhelming caregivers, and provides many practical tips. We explore the tension between ensuring the safety of elderly parents and respecting their desire for independence and autonomy.  We also cover the complexities of coordinating care across different family members and locations, and ways to talk to our adult children about caring for elderly parents. Finally, Ramsay coaches us on practical ways to prepare for our own aging. Please join us for this very constructive discussion.

And don’t forget to hang around for our “After Thoughts” where Lori and Constance unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard. 

SHOW NOTES

If you are interested in learning more about Ramsay’s work, check out her website: https://www.ramsayringo.com/

Ramsay collaborates with clients who are looking to make an impact and:

o   Take meaningful steps toward a new or first job

o   Change their professional focus or industry

o   Pursue a professional position after time focusing on family

o   Tackle a big mid-life shift using decades of experience to do something with extra meaning

o   Or to pursue the ultimate career shift, retirement and living into the third and fourth quarters of a values driven life. 

We were also lucky enough to persuade Ramsay to share one of her original poems with us: 

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

You can text Fan Mail to the link below, but heads-up, we are unable to respond to these Fan Mail Texts. If you'd like a reply, please reach out on our FB/Substack/or email/or include your email address in your Fan Mail Text. TY

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Constance and Lori catch up after the Thanksgiving holiday break. We cover everything from no longer giving a fuck, to spiritual connections with our deceased parents, to Mel Robbins’ "Let Them" Theory, to aging pubic hair 🤣 And we preview a few of our upcoming shows. Please join us for this quick, warm check-in.

SHOW NOTES

Aging Out of Fucks: The Neuroscience of Why You Suddenly Can’t Pretend Anymore, Ellen Scherr

What We Gain When We Stop Caring, Anna Holmes

Melani Sanders’s “We Do Not Care” Club (Instagram and Facebook)

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

We would love to hear from you! Please text us your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement below :)  

Heads-up: we are unable to respond to these Fan Mail Texts. If you'd like a reply, please reach out on our FB/Substack/or email/or include your email address in your Fan Mail Text. TY

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Constance and Lori speak to Gail Rice, psychologist and writer, based in Sydney Australia, about her recent life-imitating-art birthday celebration. For her 70th birthday, inspired by Emma Thompson in the film "Good Luck to You Leo Grande,"  Gail hired not one, but two male escorts. She clearly touched a nerve, as her story went viral.  She's been interviewed all over the world and recently had her television debut. Gail explains that these encounters were less about the sex and more about "shocking herself awake," and finding her voice. We also explore themes of reinvention, risk-taking, late-bloomers, body acceptance and the boundaries of a therapeutic relationship. Gail also reveals her next adventure. Please join us for this incredible empowerment story. 

And don’t forget to hang around for our “Afterthoughts” where Lori and Constance unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard. 

SHOW NOTES

Here is a link tree listing all of Gail's essays, interviews and other published works https://linktr.ee/gailricewrites

Two of Gail's Essays published by Sari Botton in Oldster Magazine

https://oldster.substack.com/p/for-my-70th-birthday-i-hired-an-escort

https://oldster.substack.com/p/happy-endings

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

ALERT WADY Listeners:   Due to a technology glitch, or to my senior brain 🤣, we accidentally published an environmental rap song instead of this Holiday episode, and over 70 of you downloaded it before we caught the error. Sorry, but it's all fixed now! Although we did receive some lovely compliments about the song 😊 Thanks in advance for trying again 🙏 

Join Lori and Constance for a discussion about their evolving holiday traditions as they and their families age. They reflect on the changing nature of family gatherings, and the reduced pressure to maintain the traditional "Norman Rockwell" holiday experience. As always, expect some laughter (about spiked holiday punches to maintain the peace), and some tears (about the inevitability of change and loss).  Please join us in this intimate discussion as you prepare for your own holiday traditions. 

And, please reach out to us with stories about how your holidays have evolved and changed as you have aged. We'd love to hear the good, the bad and they ugly. Let us know if you'd like us to shout out your story during the next episode. And wishing all of you meaningful and peaceful holidays. 

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Constance and Lori check in with Bonnie Lee Black, writer and popular blogger, about her mission to amplify the voices and activism of older women. Join us as we explore themes of aging, death, sex, and civic engagement. Bonnie shares her journey from blogging about aging to advocating for activism in her hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  We discuss the imperative of making some noise, and knowing that we count. We also touch on themes of mortality, discussing Jane Goodall’s view that death might just be the “next great adventure.”  Bonnie leaves us with some tips for getting involved in a way that feeds your soul.

And don’t forget to hang around for our “Afterthoughts” where Lori and Constance unpack the episode and chat about our thoughts on what we heard. 

SHOW NOTES

Bonnie's blogs and books can be found here:

https://blog.bonnieleeblack.com

https://www.bonnieleeblack.com

We would love to hear from you! Do you have ideas for future podcasts? Want to be a guest on our podcast? Please send your comments/suggestions/criticisms/encouragement to: 

Email: [email protected]

Rate & Review on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-aint-dead-yet/id1828702362

Follow the show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61578375460053 

Visit our website: https://wady.buzzsprout.com

Listen Here! (Our linktree will direct you to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, GoodPods, and Pocket Casts)

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Is age only a number? Are the 60s the adolescence of aging? Does a lengthy life equal a live well-lived? All of these questions and more will be discussed, if not answered in this episode. Every decade of life holds its own, unique gifts and challenges. Constance and Lori will unpack the differences of being in your 60s and being in your 70s with Claudia Perez, a psychologist who specializes in working with clients navigating their 70s, 80s and even 90s. The conversation also dives into the concept of “joyspan,” a term coined by Kerry Burnight, a former professor of geriatric medicine and gerontology, to refer to an alternative way to embrace life beyond just looking at our life span as an indicator of a well-lived life.

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt

Sex! Sex! Sex! It never gets old, even as we get older, but there’s no denying that things change. In this episode, Constance and Lori hear from sex therapist Jen Rafacz, who specializes in working with “medicare-aged” clients. Jennifer busts some myths about sex no longer mattering to people as they age, and offers some hacks to getting and keeping the sexual motor running, regardless of the physical changes or limitations of the aging body or the libido. Normalizing, informative, and sex-positive, this episode opens the door to a vital conversation we should all be having about sex with our selves or with others during this third chapter of our lives.

Send a text

Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. Eleanor Roosevelt