I have a January birthday, so every time I make a New Year's Resolution, I think of it as, "By the time I reach __ years old, I will have accomplished _____." And, even though I just keep celebrating my 25th birthday over and over (and over, and over), the fact of the matter is that when I make my 2009 resolutions, I will be planning to complete them by the time I'm 30. And that's a major age in my book. That's, like, a grown up age.

Friendship runs deep in individuals and in humanity. It's an essential fact of life for most people, a vast collection of relationships reported to lower blood pressure and the risk of depression and provide social interaction and connection in an increasingly disconnected age. It's immortalized in songs and in its own section at Hallmark. When it works it survives bridesmaid horrors, periods of remarkable self-absorption and the collection of bumps and bruises that life gives every relationship. It can be painful and it can be glorious. But should it be legalized? 

A while back The New York Times reported on Simulating Age 85, With Lessons on Offering Care. The article described a training program called Xtreme Aging. People in training do things like wear distorting glasses, wear ear plugs, tape up their knuckles to make movement difficult and walk with kernels of corn in their shoes to simulate how it feels to be old.

Throughout my life, I've had some great role models.  I attribute my getting through some of life's toughest times to those people I looked up to.  One of them was my grandmother.  Gram was in midlife when I was born -- just a few years younger than I am now.  So I got to know her when she was showing up in the world as the person she really wanted to be.

Recently my mom had her 89th birthday.  One of the greatest gifts she got was a visit from Sitella, her best friend.  Sitella drove over to be with us for the birthday celebration.  She's almost 80 and she and Mom have been friends for almost 50 years.

I went with my offspring last night to see the movie "Wanted" with James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman. In it a young man is beaten repeatedly when he fails to give an acceptable response to the question "why are you here?"

Call it luck, call it a curse, but whatever humans are up to in this world, you can bet we'll drag the animal kingdom along with us. (For example, 57 percent of American pets are overweight or obese.) When the U.S. government announced earlier this month that the U.S. life expectancy has surpassed 78 years (still behind 30 other countries), it was yet another mirror to the lives of our animal friends. The Golden Years have arrived at America's zoos which means unchartered waters for zookeepers.

In my heart,I hold a memory. My Grandmother is in her early 80's. We have come across the state to see her, picking her up at her retirement center and driving her across the street for lunch at Applebees. She has ordered steak, and a margarita, and white wine. It is 11:30am. Grandma's hands are gnarled by arthritis, so I help her cut her steak. She weighs about 99 pounds these days, but she eats with relish. "Ummm.This steak is so good. Ummmm! Can I try your shrimp? "

Three weeks before my 24th birthday, the cashier at the corner grocery refused to sell me a lottery scratch-off until I showed him my ID. He was afraid that I was part of a sting operation to catch vendors selling lotto tickets to minors. While many women would be offended that they were mistaken for a 16 year old, I was used to it. Until recently, when my appearance has caught up to my actual age, people always thought that I was much younger than I was.

When is it time for a senior to assess their driving skills? How do you tell Mom it might be time to drive only during daylight hours? How important is driving to maintaining a senior’s independence? How do you objectively assess anyone’s driving skills?

Every twelve months or so we all go through it, that time of year that some of us may loath and others may love...Yes, I'm talking about the "B" word. How do you feel on that one day a year? Are you happy? Depressed? Angry? Ambivalent? All of the above? Is every year different? Are some numbers easier to reach than others?

* The woman across the street and to the right of my house is a widow. She's not quite retirement age and neither was her husband when he died in his sleep a year ago. * I The man across the street and to the left of my house is also a widow. He and his wife seemed like the very "typical" retired couple. Their driveway holds three campers/RVs. Two years ago they were preparing to go on a trip, he was backing the RV out and, well, he ran over his wife - she did not survive her injuries. Since then he has wandered the neighborhood with his dog, talking to any neighbors who ventured into his path. He is lonely. He rarely has family who visit him and last week - his dog died. He is not handling it well. * TW's mom has numerous health issues and struggles to help her disabled daughter make it through the day. The stress of dealing with her daughter's health needs has taken its toll on her. * My mother has no serious health issues, yet, but she does sometimes struggle with trying to keep up with a very busy 2 year old grand son. * My father has had to learn to deal with a blown out knee and the fact that surgery has not restored the knee to the condition that would allow him to continue to play hockey.