Share Your Experience

Sometimes it's not so much "older" women, as much as "experienced" women.

I've reconnected with a superb group of women on Facebook that I first knew as girls in high school. It's over 30 years later, and we've all been through some life 'stuff.' As we band together, we are using our life experiences to support and guide one another. As a collective, we're going through all kinds of trials. One is a new widow. One has a teenager that just became an 18-year-old adult. Some of us have children with mental illnesses. Most of us have marriages that need attending. Most of us are in or are approaching menopause. Some of us have weight control issues. Most of us have homes that can use some decluttering.

Amid the group, there is usually someone who has already been through the trauma that another is currently facing. So we encourage each other. Share our wisdom. Share the humor. Generate some energy to keep on keeping on.

On another front, the 'old hags' in my quilt group are going through their own life changes. They are facing terminal illness, moving from independent living to assisted living, coping with the death of children, the loss of sight, the advancing of chronic illnesses, the loss of a spouse. These adopted big sisters, mothers, aunts and grandmothers have taught me so much about what it means to age with dignity and humor. They've taught me about living with independance and inter-dependance. They reinforce the lessons of love and forgiveness.