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Bob Bostock has been a speechwriter for 20 years for senior government and business leaders and is a New York Times best-selling coauthor who has also written and curated several exhibits at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. Born and raised in New Jersey, he and his wife, Mary, are about to become empty nesters in Lawrenceville, NJ, where they have lived since 1995.

 

The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party
Recently my wife and I traveled to northern Virginia to help her Aunt Margie celebrate her 90th birthday. The luncheon party, arranged by the birthday celebrant herself, included 11 guests, all of whom (with the exception of my wife and me) were in their late 70s or 80s. As we sat around the table, I mentally added up the number of years represented by all the guests. There had to be at least 750 years of combined life among this group. That’s a lot of living and a lot of experience. And everyone was still very much “with it,” both mentally and physically.  Read more...


 

Remember or Be Remembered

Remember or Be Remembered
Earlier this year, an elderly neighbor of ours died after a long illness. When we moved into our house 20 years ago, we came to know her only in passing. She was the old woman who slowly walked her collie past our house three times a day. The sum total of my knowledge about her was the long, camel-hair overcoat she wore in cold weather and the wreath of snow-white, thick hair that adorned her head.  Read more...


 

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Should I Stay or Should I Go?
While enduring the long and miserable winter of 2014-2015, my thoughts increasingly turned to getting out of New Jersey for someplace warm. A brief visit to Charleston, SC, in March—where I had to go out to buy some short-sleeved shirts—made me ask the question The Clash posed in 1982, “Should I stay or should I go?”  Read more...


 

No Heirlooms for One’s Heirs?

No Heirlooms for One’s Heirs?
My wife and I were at a neighborhood cookout when one of our friends mentioned he had been in another neighbor’s basement recently to help her turn off the water to her leaking hot-water heater.  Read more...


 

These Old Guys

These Old Guys
In 1984 when my wife and I bought our first house, I started watching the PBS home-improvement show This Old House to get some ideas on projects I might be able to do myself.  Read more...


 

I Lied to My Father on His Deathbed

I Lied to My Father on His Deathbed
My generation has been called the sandwich generation, people in middle age who bear some level of responsibility for their children and their parents. While reliable statistics are not readily available, it is estimated that almost half of people in their 50s and early 60s find themselves in this demographic.  Read more...


 

Make New Friends but Keep the Old

Make New Friends but Keep the Old
When my sister was a young girl, she was a Girl Scout Brownie and my mom was one of the leaders of her group. The girls would often meet in our basement, and I can remember hearing them sing various songs, often as rounds, designed to impart some pearl of wisdom. The words from one of those songs have always stuck with me. "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other, gold."  Read more...


 

Empty Nest

Empty Nest
Early this spring, one of my Facebook friends posted a photo of a robin’s nest that had appeared in a lilac bush outside her porch. A few days later, she posted another picture: the nest now had two beautiful, blue eggs resting in it. And then, a few weeks later, a photo of the nestlings, their necks extended to the sky, their mouths wide open waiting for their next meal. This was followed, predictably, by a final image—the nest was empty again.  Read more...


 

Aging Actuarially

Aging Actuarially
It’s rare, these days, that any piece of mail carries unexpected news. Between phone calls, Facebook, Instagram, Tweets, texts and Snapchat, we learn of most events, both happy and sad, almost in real time.  Read more...


 

Thomas Wolfe Was Wrong!

Thomas Wolfe Was Wrong!
Who says you can’t go home again? At the age of 55, I found that while you may not be able return home, you can go to the House again.  Read more...


 

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Our Mission

The Silver Century Foundation promotes a positive view of aging. The Foundation challenges entrenched and harmful stereotypes, encourages dialogue between generations, advocates planning for the second half of life, and raises awareness to educate and inspire everyone to live long, healthy, empowered lives.

Notable Quote

"It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment; in these qualities old age is usually not poorer, but is even richer."

Cicero (106-43 BC)



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