I’ve had this “dancers of the third age” poster for a long time. It reminds me of my maternal grandmother because it depicts older women in ballet poses. I’ve always found great wisdom in how she viewed aging and lived her life. After two husbands who died, she bucked societal expectations of her culture and time, and had a long-standing relationship with a younger man (he was in his late 50s!lol), would ride her bike all over town (until she died in her 90s), would wear all the “good stuff” because “you can’t take it with you,” and any given Wednesday was a good as any other day to use the good china and expensive perfume. She was a remarkable no-nonsense woman with a huge heart...a social worker without a degree!

I miss her greatly, and this book reminded me of her. These are more “refined” ladies (lol), but the premise is the same. Old age does not have to diminish our souls and with the freedom of “old age” also comes the opportunity to explore other interests or deepen the interests we have.

This book, “Gifts of Age” was a collaboration between Charlotte Painter and photographer Pamela Valois. It’s out of print. It contains short “glimpses” into the lives of 32 inspiring women to include Julia Childs and Joan Baez Senior.

It’s not inclusive of people of color or other cultures, but I still found reading about the lives of women born in the late 1800 and early 1900s,and how they adjusted to aging, interesting. ( )