OK, this is amazing. I just read a blurb in the NY Times about a concert given by Barbara Cook, a lovely musical theater star that I have admired for years, (she created the roles for Marian the Librarian in Music Man and Cunegonde in Candide in the 50’s). It is wonderful to find this admiration is not in vain and has every reason to continue. At 84, yes folks, 84 years old, she memorized and learned 11 new songs for the concert and as a consummate actress did her homework on character and back-story. Whenever I start to despair about aging, I read about women (Maya Angelou is another) that are still creating, performing, writing, and loving life into their senior years. Maya even says that at 82 she is experiencing the best years of her life. In a society that worships young women, I find these ladies extremely inspiring and heroines for me to emulate. For some, reaching retirement age means becoming less involved in work, peacefully staying at home taking it easy, using aging as the excuse for being less productive. Not so with these ladies! Barbara, Maya, I am going to follow your examples and  have my best years always ahead of me. It really is never too late to make something new, create something bold, go places you’ve never been. I want to be part of a society that honors women like this that push the envelope and still have dreams to pursue into their 80’s and beyond. Brava, ladies!

Read about Barbara’s concert here, it is still playing through Saturday. Wish I was in NYC!