WHY EVERY PARENT SHOULD TAKE A ONE-ON-ONE TRIP WITH THEIR TEENAGER—REALLY! MJ Hanley-Goff Before my daughter, Emily, and I took a trip to Paris, I made her watch the iconic action-thriller film, “Taken.” It was the first of that Liam Neeson series about two teens snatched while on vacation in the City of Lights and
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HOW TO GIVE ADVICE TO YOUR ADULT CHILDREN Curtis Seltzer The best way to give advice to my 31-year-old daughter, I’ve discovered, is to arrange for her to give advice to me. I trust in the power of inherent analogy. If I sense that she is crossways with a supervisor, for example, I might ask
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WHEN YOUR HEART IS YOUR MAP MJ Hanley-Goff I remember it well. I was driving along the Cross-Bronx Expressway on a three-hour ride back to my Hudson Valley home from Long Island, after an evening of game-playing with my nephew’s boys. It was winter. My mind wandered, as it does on long drives, when a
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A few weekends ago, I spent an evening sitting at the periphery of a rock-and-rollicking conversation among five women. They’re what I call my wife’s “Big Chill Group,” friends who have been close since high school in Pennsylvania more than 40 years ago and still get together for sporadic, self-determined reunions. They came to our
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There’s no question that life-long friendships are jewels to be treasured, but some time ago, I was treated to a fresh perspective on the friend phenomenon. While in Manhattan one day, I was invited to attend a program sponsored by the United Nations Committee on Ageing (yes, that’s how they spell aging), to listen to
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This fall I joined the in-transition tribe of aging American parents commonly known as empty nesters. My fraternal twin sons went off in college, a two-hour plane ride away—not exactly the distance of an arctic expedition, but far enough away to ensure that our home will be much quieter, with just my wife and me.
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WHEN MENTORING IS PART OF LIFE’S JOB DESCRIPTION Terri Connett MAYBE IT’S BECAUSE THE FERTILITY DRUGS LEFT ME STILL BARREN. Or it might stem from my three siblings and me being raised by our exhausted, widowed mother. We really could have used some encouragement growing up. For whatever reason, I’m in love with the concept of
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KEEPING A BUSINESS THRIVING THROUGH SEVERAL GENERATIONS Patricia Galteri and Jayson J.R. Choi It’s hard enough running a family business—keeping family members from overreaching or competing, duplicating tasks, or entertaining thoughts of killing one another. And even when there is relative harmony, the owners of family-owned or closely-held businesses are busy running their companies, not
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ON FLOWERS, FRIENDS & FAREWELLS Roberta Israeloff ABBY AND I MET IN A GENTLE YOGA CLASS. ” ’Gentle’ as in ’geriatric,’ ” she said, as we waited on our mats for the class to begin, watching all the young girls arch their backs and touch their toes. We both spent most of the class resting
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ADOPTING A SECOND DOG, AND BEING THE ONE RESCUED Ken Taub FOR THE SAKE OF LOOKING OR ACTING YOUNGER, we adults tend to do a lot of strange things: eye and face lifts, testosterone patches, yogic headstands, or adventure treks to Nepal. But imagine if we could stay close to home, stay on our feet,
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