At age 80, Katharine Esty had a rude awakening when she could no longer hike to the top of her favorite mountain. She was also experiencing several small annoying changes in my body. She felt like she’d entered a foreign land. Since neither of her parents lived to 80, she had no idea what to expect. She was curious if the negative stereotypes of diminished health and lower vitality held true for today’s eightysomethings. She also wondered if people had lessons for her and others as we age.
All she knew was that she dreaded growing old—there just didn’t seem much to look forward to and lots to fear. She knew she was not alone with my dread. People in their eighties have not gotten much attention from the media. Baby Boomers and GenXers—the adult children of people her age— get lots of attention, but not the cohort of people over eighty, even though this crowd is growing faster than any other older group.
She couldn’t find a single self-help book written for people in their 80s. Or a user-friendly explanation for her four middle-aged sons on what life was really like for their aging parents and how to relate effectively to them.
She saw the need for a practical guide to this strange and uncharted territory of old age that included the important transitions that usually happen in the eighties and also the psychological tasks confronting people in their eighties. She also saw that the adult kids of aging parents don’t know how to talk to their aging parents about their concerns and worries. So as she wrote her book, EightySomethings A Practical Guide To Letting Go, Aging Well, and Finding Unexpected Happiness
Order your copy HERE. Visit Katharine at KatharineEsty.com
