Connie Goldman

Everyone has a personal soapbox, something they feel strongly about and will loudly and passionately speak out if anyone will listen. For over twenty-five years I’ve been talking, writing, and producing public radio programs on a subject that people don’t always want to hear about --- aging. In fact, the reason I originally became interested in the subject was that my friends turning fifty, fifty-five and sixty were finding a dozen ways to avoid, deny, evade, and abort any discussion of their age. Hey, we loved turning twenty-one, it opened new worlds. Why wouldn’t additional years continue to present expanding horizons? More years, more life experience, wider perspective, more knowledge. It looked like a plus to me. Read more…

Today I'm writing more on the subject of Late Life Love: Romance & New Relationships in Late Years the title of my forthcoming book due out in October. One of the proofreaders expressed surprise at the inclusion of a gay couple and also a lesbian couple, Grace and Amelia, who live very openly and have discovered their freedom to make such choices in their later years.

The same-sex couples expressed an attitude not unlike the heterosexual partners who expressed opinions like, "It never really occurred to me to care what my children or the neighbors thought," and "Why would I, in my 70s, give a hoot about what people think?" I found a pattern of independence and maturity in how each couple designed their relationship. Ed had a couple of long-lasting male relationships, but when he met Michael, he was living alone. Michael had been married and had two grown children. Here is some of their story in their own words. Read more…

Charles and Joan live in different countries, yet are deeply committed to one another, eagerly plan their times together, yet desire and preserve the independence of their times apart. Sharon and Alex grew up opposed to premarital sex and cohabitation; yet now enjoy a passionate, live-in relationship of their own. Friends Lillian and George married out of apparent convenience, only to grow to love one another as the marriage progressed. And Grace and Amelia, at one time in traditional heterosexual marriages, now share a rich and full life in their later years. Read more…

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