Rosie Wolf Williams

Member retention is as important as membership growth. How do you keep association members once they have signed on?

How can you incorporate personal time into your day?

Maria-Kristina Hayden was visiting with her 70-year-old father when he received a text message on his phone. He seemed puzzled. "The text message was from an unknown number, and it said, 'Hey, do you want to golf later this week?'" says Hayden. "My dad is a golfer, and he has many friends that he golfs with throughout the month. But he didn't recognize the number."
Fortunately, Hayden is the founder of OUTFOXM, a Dallas-based cyber response company that helps individuals and organizations pre...

Michael Zwick heard a story from an old friend whose wife had been a home health care nurse. One of her patients had taken a liking to her and left her some money in his will when he passed away. But it took some time for the estate's attorney to track her down to settle that part of the estate.
Zwick, a practicing attorney, realized there was a need for a company that tracked down missing heirs. In 2001, he founded Assets International in Southfield, Michigan, a licensed and bonded private i...

'Ghosting' may now be common in employment and dating relationships, but it still hurts
By Rosie Wolf Williams
Several years after losing her husband in middle age, Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell decided to try online dating. She met someone on a dating service who seemed compatible, and they agreed to meet after chatting online for some time.
"Then he not only ghosted me, but he blocked me on the day before the meeting," says 59-year-old Campbell, a Next Avenue contributor who lives in Arkansas. "I...

Editor’s note: This is an installment of the “Retirement for the Rest of Us” series, a Next Avenue initiative.

Allen R. Smith says that he never planned to retire. Holding degrees in exercise physiology, he spent a decade in the wellness industry and worked as a ski instructor in Colorado. As he moved into retirement age, he planned to shift into a second career as an author and columnist.

"Years ago, I vowed never to be in the situation I'm in," says Smith, who lives in Oceanside, California...

Congratulations! You graduated!
And now you are moving back home.
The reason is probably financial. Tuition isn’t cheap and you may have tackled that bill on your own. Although some colleges and universities froze or lowered tuition during the pandemic, many cite lower enrollment numbers and inflation as a reason for raising tuition rates.
After college, the job hunt might be difficult no matter what type of degree you have under your belt. New college graduates often end up working in jobs t...

Gudrun Fortner has felt the sting of inflation. She is on a fixed income, and although her mobile home is paid for, the 73-year-old Florida resident says rising costs of living — particularly the rising cost of eating — have made it difficult for her and other older adults to make ends meet.
"Without my little food stamps and church, I would be in deep trouble," she says.
Others share her concern. Benefits that are known colloquially as food stamps and issued under the Supplemental Nutrition ...

Older adults who wear bras have to consider issues like mobility, arthritis, breast surgeries and even finances when choosing bras. Our breasts take on new shapes and sit differently in bra cups, and hooking a back-closing bra may be a literal pain for those with joint issues.
In addition, it becomes difficult to fit an unbalanced chest because of mastectomies or lumpectomies. "Research has shown that bra shopping is among the most stressful clothing purchases for women regardless of a person...

Seniors aged 65 or older are the country’s fastest growing age group of cannabis users, according to data collected by Statistics Canada.
Rosie Wolf Williams | Cannabis Health
Since its legalization, cannabis seems to have hit its stride in several age groups. But the older Canadian has embraced it. In fact, seniors aged 65 or older are the country’s fastest growing age group of cannabis users, according to data collected by Statistics Canada.
The poll involved 5,452 Canadians and asked wheth...

The arrival of a colorful seed catalog in the mailbox on a gray winter day just might make the gardener's heart beat a little faster.
"There is something pleasurable about leisurely flipping through photos of beautiful edibles and flowers during the coldest months of the year," says Kelly Funk, president of Park Seed in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Seed catalogs provide a great source of inspiration for all types of gardeners.
Seed catalogs provide a great source of inspiration for all types of...

Aging brings about physical changes that affect the body's ability to cool itself and to stay hydrated. You depend on water; in fact, it makes up more than half of your total body weight. It is necessary for temperature regulation, the elimination of waste, joint health, and more. Dehydration can occur if you do not have enough water in your body to carry out those tasks.
Older adults are more apt to experience dehydration due to diabetes or renal disease. Some medications can affect a person...

Dowager's Hump, or neck hump, is a fatty lump that forms at the base of the neck, making the natural curve at the neck's seventh vertebrae more noticeable.
It is often most associated with older women (hence the name), and many women dread that they, too, may be forced to shift their gazes to the ground as their posture inevitably announces their age.
However, with the age of technology giving us information at our fingertips, Dowager's Hump is shedding the notion of being an older woman's pr...

Jude Evans-McCarthy found herself struggling with feelings of despair, but she kept them to herself, not wanting to be labeled as “crazy,” and even withheld information from her doctors.
Then one day, after years of struggling, she nearly drove her car into the path of a semi-truck.
“The only thing that stopped me was that my pets were in the car. And I didn’t want to [kill myself] and have my son dealing with the aftermath of it, wondering if I didn’t love him,” she said.
Evans-McCarthy was ...

Craig Coleman of Springfield, Vermont, believes that volunteering is a way to live the Golden Rule. He certainly acts on that belief, volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Senior Solutions, Volunteers in Action (VIA), and the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which honored the 76-year-old Coleman with its President's Award earlier this year.
Volunteering, he says, has deepened his spirituality and allowed him to express his personal faith.
Coleman exemplifies the millions ...