Editor’s Note

As a shameless attention-seeker, nothing was more thrilling than Chi-Chi’s restaurant on my birthday. “Gosh, I hope they’re not coming to my table,” I’d say without meaning it, as the waiters carried a giant sombrero to my table, popped it on my head, and clapped-sang “Happy Birthday” over a bowl of fried ice cream. ...

With just the eight of us in a beach house, it was easy to clear away relationship clutter and see us as the adults we are today, not the ones we remembered. ...

The trend of idealizing the good old days got me thinking about my good old days. I’m 65, so I’m old enough to have some. Summer backdrops my strongest recollections. I’m not sure what I was doing the other nine months—probably watching hours of unsupervised TV (remember, it was the ‘60s)—but all the memory-making action happened when the weather was warm and daylight stretched long into the evening. ...

Somewhere between my shoulder and fingers, I’ve lost that ability. I’ve started keeping a set of channel locks nearby, which may get promoted to the kitchen drawer to save crucial steps. The way my hand strength is going, I’m getting paranoid about other body parts. ...

The holidays for the Northeast Ohio Boomer team felt different this year for one big reason: We weren't busy pulling together our January/February issue to kick off 2025. As we announced a few months ago, Boomer has a new name and a new publishing schedule. We're now Northeast Ohio Thrive After 55, or Northeast Ohio Thrive for short. The name better reflects our readers, many of whom are not technically Baby Boomers. Plus, we think "Thrive" better describes how many of us approach this second half of life. ...

We revisit dating in this issue of the magazine. If nothing else, we point out the complexities of dating after 55. There’s a saying that potential dating partners are looking for a nurse or a purse, a cynical but in some cases an accurate way of summarizing the situation.  ...

If you're thinking about going back to school, now's a good time. Lorain County Community College kicks off a new semester in January. Register now, and read about where one of its earliest students has ended up. ...

Messing with holiday menus is not on the table with our crowd. A few of us give lip service to change, but when the “Who’s bringing what?” text circulates, we fall back to the reliable standbys. ...