Author: Iris Ruth Pastor

My dad died fourteen years ago at age eighty-eight – shortly after I qualified for Medicare. Even at my advanced age, his demise left me feeling rudderless. Some days I would think about him fleetingly or not at all. Some days, especially if I was in the throes of a situation, I would long for Continue reading

Question: What’s The BEST Gift You Can Give Your Adult Kids? Answer: A detailed plan for your future care and well-being if and/or when you should become unable to care for yourself due to physical debilitation or cognitive decline Sure, there is a plethora of information available online for what legal documents need to be in place. Continue reading

This Sunday evening Jewish people around the globe will begin to observe the holiday of Yom Kippur. As a Jewish broad who’s been around for 79 Yom Kippurs, I’m finding the older I get the more serious I take the essence of this solemn holiday. In junior high school, I repented about talking behind a friend’s back. Continue reading

The book Theo of Golden is all the rage. I planned to continue reading it on my London-bound flight. Seated early in the boarding process, I keenly observed the passengers boarding the plane – all who were rapidly passing my row. I spotted a woman carrying Theo Of Golden and immediately raised my hand – holding up my copy Continue reading

I’m betting that everyone, everywhere, at any time in history would be vastly interested in how to effortlessly prolong life. The quest for the secret to longer life can probably be documented as long ago as 4000 years. Gilgamesh – around 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia appeared in the Epic of Gilgamesh – as a hero who nevertheless Continue reading

Many years ago, I lived in a house with a majestic staircase. One Sunday afternoon, I was bounding down the steps clad in a pair of ripped cut-off jeans and an embroidered top. As I neared the bottom of the stairs, I found my husband staring at me with a thoughtful expression. “You know, Iris,” Continue reading

I think I am a slow learner. I have been a mother since 1970 – that’s 56 years. You think I would have perfected my role by now. Nope. But I feel better knowing that my good friends and neighbors aren’t so savvy about parenting their adult kids either. My pal Georgia is visiting her Continue reading

My sister is ten years younger than me. So for a long period of time we had little in common and I viewed her as an extremely annoying interloper into my family of origin. The nerve of her – like when she stuck her sticky little fingers into my 500-piece stash of Bazooka Bubble Gum Continue reading

I am not a psychologist. I’m not an expert in human relationships nor a researcher into the human brain and psyche. I’m just a plain ordinary person trying to live her best life in harmony with my family. Here’s how I truly believe you can achieve family harmony: LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS ThIs revelation did not Continue reading

I have a grandson who will soon be turning 18. I thought buying a birthday present for him would be very easy. Why? Because he loves Legos and goodness knows, the sheer variety of things to be built with Legos is endless. Imagine my dismay, when he nixed my idea quite succinctly. I take it Continue reading