We’re Not Your Old Grandmas’ Anymore”
By: Marguerite Fair, Writer and Founder of the Golden Goddesses
For millions of women, life changes after the age of sixty. Many women have lost husbands; children are now grown and out on their own. Some women find themselves in financial distress, and are forced to start life over without a support system.
We are Baby Boomers who witnessed the old examples of aging women. We hail from the olden days, when women who turned fifty had one foot in the grave. Heaven knows where the other foot was planted. Thoughts of starting over were unthinkable. If you had a husband, you took care of him until he died, which back in the day was at sixty-five. Then it was predicted that we would live on the average of fifteen years after the spousal death occurred.
We then usually lived on our husbands’ pensions; sold the family house, downsized to a small apartment and waited for our children and grandchildren to visit. Those of us, who were considered lucky, moved in with our children. It was acceptable to play bridge, and do charity work if some disease of old age did not prevent us from doing so.
We bought into the broadcast of brainwashing from 1950, that basically, we simply waited for death to put us out of our misery. How could a woman as decayed as fifty- plus have anything left to offer the world? Our eggs were dried up; our skin was horrific; our waistlines had gradually expanded to the size of stretched out truck tire belts. At fifty, most women back in the day did not look half as good as your average seventy-five year old does today.
Dating? Over the age of fifty? Face lifts? Implants? Botox? Injection fillers for your face? Liposuction? Were you from another planet? And as for exercising, the only one who made a career out of that was Jack LaLanne.
Thank heavens, particularly for women, that the social concept of aging has progressed. Medical technology; coupled with the awareness of healthier life style choices, has added years onto the lives of women over fifty. We are now recognized and appreciated for our experiences and value, and respected for our creative abilities, and unique voices. We are not your old grandmas’ any more. We are not sitting around waiting for death. We are simply too busy living our new lives!
The shift of life occurs about every ten years, and now women are not just starting over at age fifty, but sixty, seventy, eighty and some of us ninety as well. If we are alive, we continue to grow, change and experience new adventures. And yes—we date, and get liposuction. We reserve the right to do what we choose with our bodies. Anybody have a problem with that? Take it up with our lawyers.
Still, for some women, it can be a tad intimidating to wake up, look around and realize that we are off to the races again. We all need support. We all deserve a system of friends, and healthy purposes. We need a new plan. We cannot do it alone.
And so, from my experience, I voted to make the age of sixty-plus the time of life when we turn into Golden Goddesses. Experienced, attractive and valuable, we are starting over. I want some company along this next incredible journey, and so I say—let us become Golden Goddesses together to pave the wave to our futures.
Marguerite A. Fair is a writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She has formed an online community, http://www.goldengoddesses.biz. The purpose of the online community is for women to come together to network, share ideas, and promote themselves, their businesses and causes. It is about making new friends, inspiring other women and being inspired by them.
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Can You See Jesus In The Clouds: Like most modern day people, my life has been busy, hectic and full. Due to the uncertainty of the today’s economy, my focus has been primarily on making a living…paying bills…staying one step ahead.
However early Friday morning, May 28, 2010, I had an indescribable urge to sing the words to the song TAPS. For those of you who are not familiar with this song, it is played on a trumpet at the funeral services of American Veterans. I learned the words from an old song book, when I was a small child. I had even sung the song at a few funerals.
My first reaction was to fight off this song playing in my head. You see I had a very busy day ahead of me and I wanted to be rested…not hear a melody over and over again. Then a voice in my head said, “When you get up, sing the song for the Veterans. People need to remember.”
When you are a creative person and you need to work on left brain things…it really becomes a battle of…logic verses emotions.
I got up, entered my office, turned on my computer and said, “Can’t do the project because I haven’t been able to hook up my mike to my PC.”
A voice said…try it…
In ten minutes, the mike worked. There was only a minor problem with the volume levels.
Okay, I thought…I need pictures…I began pulling shots that I had taken from the ocean at Carlsbad, CA. The words to the song played in my head as I selected pictures.
Day is done…Gone the sun
From the lakes…From the hills…From the sky
All is well…Safely rest
God is nigh.
Now this project had wings. I quickly transfer everything over to the editing program. Next it was time to sing…acappella…clear…brass like…sounds, came from my throat.
The word “Remember” stuck in my head and was added to the verbiage at the end on the video.
Once everything was compiled I loaded the video on YouTube. My immediate thought was that we needed to “Remember” the Veterans on Memorial Day and this would be a great reminder.
It wasn’t until I replayed the short video that one scene struck me with awe…
Was I seeing Jesus in this cloud over the ocean? Is He holding something dear in his arms?
The only thing that I did to that particular photo was to take the color out of the sky, leave the ocean blue and crop the picture.
Soon I became really fascinated by this entire dilemma. So I investigated the original picture, removed the color and discovered that there was a bigger picture…I interpreted Jesus holding something precious in his arms, while another was also watching…
The words to the song in the video that correlate with this picture are “Gone the sun”.
At first I wasn’t going to say anything about my findings…for fear of mockery…But I truly believe that we as believers are not given the spirit of fear…So I wanted to share this with others.
Rationally thinking you could say that in the picture you see just clouds. However I believe that encouraging dialogue about spiritual things is always a good thing.
But on a much deeper spiritual note, I believe that seeing God’s work, loving God’s world and being in awe of His majestic presence…brings me to my knees to make the time to say thank you Lord…Thank You!
By remembering others we are keeping alive the true American Dream…Freedom.
To see the music video "Remember Taps by Kathy Bee" on YouTube click on the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImoZouIkQgk
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BEWARE OF THE SPIDER: It's summertime and time to clean-up the back yard! But be careful where you put your bare hands. Dark spaces and woodpiles could be the home of the dreaded Brown Recluse Spider.
These spiders can cause any of us a lot of pain. The worst was an elderly patient who was bitten at the small of her back by a recluse that was hiding in her slacks. When she put them on, it bit her resulting in a saucer sized wound. If you're not familiar with this spider, get yourself educated. They can cause you months of misery, not to mention medical expenses and even death under some circumstances such as staph infection.
Spider bites are dangerous and can have permanent and highly negative consequences. They like the darkness and tend to live in storage sheds or attics or other areas that might not be frequented by people or light.
If you have a need to be in your attic, go up there and turn on a light and leave it on for about 30 minutes before you go in to do your work.
See Pictures Below:
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If you are bitten, take immediate action. Immediately cover the area with an antibacterial gel such as Neosporin and then wrap with saran wrap if the location allows you to use Saran Wrap.
Go to your doctor or the hospital. The first few hours are crucial and while there is nothing you can do to get the poison out of your system, there are things you can do to prevent the venom from spreading and causing al to more pain and problems. The doctor will give you anti inflammatory medications and a pain killer.
You may not feel pain in the first hour however excruciating pain will follow, depending on the severity of the bite and the size of the recluse spider.
If there are reasons you can not get to the doctor:
Take Motrin or another NSAI (Non Steroid Anti Inflammatory). Put an icepack on the bite and leave on for 20 minutes. Repeat every hour.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO YOUR RELATIVES AND FRIENDS!
The Famous Hollywood Graffiti Gown Finds A Home?
In 2007, Randy McLaughlin was a special guest on Kathy Bee's TV Show Touching Lives,where he expressed that he was searching for a place to safely display his Hollywood Graffiti Gown.
The purpose of the gown was to ultimately raise money for AIDS awareness by auctioning the gown to the highest bidder, with the bid starting at $1,000,000.00 
Years later...in 2009, Kathy Bee accepted an invitation to perform at the Woman's Club of Hollywood then arranged for Randy and The Hollywood Graffiti Gown to be unvailed to the attendees at this event. Not only were former stars in attendance whose autograph was on the gown, the owners of the Hollywood Museum were there displaying memorabilia.
At the right place at the right time...
Currently the gown is being displayed at the Hollywood Museum in a specially designed glass  case so guests can view it in its entirety.
The famous gown contains over 400 names of the most influential females in a variety of professions, including Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, Carol Channing, Elizabeth Taylor, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchett, Mother Teresa and the cast from “Desperate Housewives” among others.
In addition, McLaughlin also has on display the red dress worn by Joan Collins on the cover of Playboy Magazine, a salute to “The Price Is Right” with nine black and silver evening gowns in the exhibit and a period piece worn by legendary star of Phantom of the Opera, Dale Kristien. “I'm honored to have these gowns on display at the Hollywood Museum” states McLaughlin. The upcoming event will also serve as a precursor to the upcoming release of his book “The Glamour Kings of Hollywood.”
 You can visit the gown at the Hollywood Museum in Hollywood, Calif.
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