Why am I Telling My Age?

The diagnosis seemed inevitable: In early 2022, after watching, waiting and dreading, I found that I had early-stage breast cancer. I would choose to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. The surgery was extensive, the recovery difficult.

But this is not a medical story.

This is the story of what happened to my attitude toward my work — and my age — when I was forced to drop out of my life for five months. I thought a lot about time and energy and age and accomplishments. On dark nights, I thought about how much time I had left.

What did I want to do next? For the first time in my life, I didn’t really know.

That’s when I started wondering if there were other women like me. Women who’d been working for years in a career that offered satisfaction and challenge. Women who’d made big changes — and big mistakes — but had grown and learned and were willing to share how they did it. Women who knew the value of friendships, who wanted to keep growing, and who weren’t ready for retirement, unless retirement gave them the freedom to do work they really wanted to do. Women who were embracing the idea of “older and wiser” rather than pretending it wasn’t happening.

Turns out we are everywhere. And that’s what Telling My Age is about: Women who have experience, expertise and wisdom to share — and want to keep sharing it.

About the title.

I struggled for many months thinking about what to call this newsletter. Anything that included the word “old” seemed to be out. Cutesy alliterations and vague references to “late career” ambition also didn’t really do it. But how we talk about ourselves matters. So does authenticity.

So I’ve decided to Tell My Age: I’m 64. And so glad to be here.

Join the conversation.

Won’t you join me as I explore what it means to be Telling My Age? Feedback, suggestions and reactions are welcome (civility is everything, but you already know that).

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Thank you. So much.