Aging

[close] Discuss interesting books in the biological sciences with a focus on aging and longevity.

[close] Some women in their 40s still have young kids at home while others are closer to being grandparents, or happily never had any children, or maybe are still hoping. We’re lifelong singles, married for the first time, or third, homemakers or careers women … there’s a lot of variety. The thing that brings people in their 20s together, for example, is that they’re all essentially in the same “life stage,” but as we move into our 30s, the gap in our experiences widens, and by the time we’re in our 40s, we no longer have a recognizable group.

[close] ...April 02, 2014 to May 02, 2014... For a decade, I was sole, unpaid caregiver for my mother who suffered from dementia. She died in April 2012 at 97. I write a blog journaling our experiences, and have published two books, "Begins the Night Music: A Dementia Caregiver's Journal, Vol. I" and "To What Green Altar: A Dementia Caregiver's Journal, Vol. II." What are your experiences with caregiving?

[close] Social Security and Medicare are hot button topics for this year's presidential elections. Yet almost half of aging baby boomers are financially -ill prepared for retirement and will likely be as dependent on those programs as their parents have been. Will boomer politically mobilize to defend those programs? Is AARP, with its 40 million members uniquely positioned to set the national agenda on these topics that matter most to baby boomers? Will it harness what could be the largest-ever senior voting bloc to defend threatened cutbacks to Social Security, Medicare and other pension systems? Join in the conversation about these fundamental issues which will affect the election and our country's future.