Moving to Substack + getting old in real time

First post on Substack: notes on a [B]OLDER life at 71

Hello dear reader, old or new,

I’ve been publishing a newsletter for over 20 years but I’m a bit tongue-tied with this debut on Substack. First, a big hello to my longtime subscribers. Some of you have been with me since 2001. A sincere thank you! Remember WordBiz Report?

Will the [B]OLDER podcast continue?

Yes… and no! Season 5 finished in July 2023; Season 6 started in October 2023. Then my podcast concluded once and for all in May 2024. You can listen to 100+ episodes on Substack or on Apple podcasts.

Growing old in real time with a 71 74-year-old

But I’ve got a bigger goal for writing on Substack; I want to do more than write notes on podcast episodes. I’m halfway to 72 75; I want to look under the hood of aging—in real-time. I want to answer the question: what is it really like to grow old in a society that denigrates and devalues old people? I want to write about complicated family relationships, to understand them better. It’s not too late! I’d like to give you an inside glimpse of what it’s like to be married for 50 years.

Because I think we all want to know what aging is like… the good parts, the sad parts, the painful, the unexpected, the wonderful and more.

What’s it really like to grow old?

Many of us are fascinated by real-time updates written by those living with a terminal cancer diagnosis. Our unspoken question: “What would it be like?” So it goes with old age. It’s a foreign country. In your 30s, 40s, 50s, and even 60s it’s a land somewhere far away, location not clear. Other people (code for old people) live there, but not you.

What if you could better understand old age before you got there?

Would you live your present life differently? Can old age be lived differently — defying all the ageist stereotypes that still define old people? Can we do it better? And I don’t necessarily mean longer. And the burning question: would you be less afraid of dying?

Life expectancy

My 50-year husband, Sam Harrington, is a physician author. In his book, AT PEACE, he writes that, on average, if you reach the age of 65 in good health (I did), you have 19 years and six months left of life. Let’s round up to 20 years. Add that to 65 and you get to the ripe-sounding age of 85. Not to put too fine a point on it, but 85 is only 14 years from where I am now. I could live longer, of course, but these are the average numbers.

The big topics related to aging

So I’ve got a front row seat to aging.

And I’m feeling a sense of urgency. As Sam likes to remind me and everyone else: you could die at any time! My plan is to examine the big topics that define a journey into old age: health and wellness; reinvention; legacy; death and mortality; spirituality; love; family and friendships; finances; the new meaning of work; retirement or what I and others call unretirement and more. Not necessarily in that order and from a personal and individual perspective.

BTW, these are all topics I’ve explored on the [B]OLDER (since renamed [B]OLD AGE) podcast over the past four years. But never with an eye specifically focussed on how they affect me personally. I was a mere 67 when I started the podcast in 2019. Old age seemed very far away at that point. Now, it doesn’t.

Who is Debbie, anyway?

I’m a podcaster, writer, editor, storytelling director, former reporter, Web pioneer, nonprofit volunteer, wife, mother, and grandmother. Not necessarily in that order. It’s complicated. Or maybe it isn’t. Let’s get started.