By Stephanie Raffelock
This book is exactly what it says – a delightful little book on Aging. The author takes you on a journey and you smile as you follow her gentle path through retirement life. It covers how retirement has changed from our parents and grandparents time. It pokes at the establishment, why are there no advertisements for sports clothes for grey haired people – good question…. Some parts are very thought provoking.
As I read, I found myself empathising with much the author was saying – sometimes you need to have lived through it to understand. So if you’re heading towards retirement, this is a lovely book to while away an afternoon with. If you have not yet retired, it will make you think what you want out of that stage of your life, if you are already retired, you will smile as you read. The book is peppered with lovely little stories, all well thought out
I found myself wryly smiling at so much. Like the author, I am also in my sixties, and I felt we shared so many common experiences. Having retired in my mid-fifties, I can absolutely concur that people do retirement differently than they did years ago. As a generation we are indeed re-writing the rules. I certainly never remember my grandmother or my mother taking any exercise, beyond walking to meet their friends for afternoon tea. I certainly couldn’t envisage them wearing sports gear and going hiking. We are rightly far less concerned by “what will people think?”
The book is broken into four sections which I found helpful, the concepts of each one well thought out.The section on Grief, I found thought provoking. I loved the idea of Reclamation. Both reclaiming things you used to enjoy and had not time to pursue, but also the concept of retiring things that are no longer needed. (I agree – retire panty hose and high heels!) Vision was an interesting one. So many thoughts in there – be it practising gratitude, or advice for her nieces. And the final section – Laughter is an essential at whatever stage of retirement you are at.
A gentle read, you will enjoy it. I’ll leave you with a quote from the book
Aging is a strange new journey, a time of humbling and a time to laugh, a time to be wise and a time to remember childlike wonder
You can read about Stephanie at https://stephanieraffelock.com/, and you’ll also find a link to pre-order her book there. It comes out on 28th April.
Please note – I have not been paid to do this review
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