Gray Matters

By writing humorous columns and articles about aging, I encourage oldsters (including myself) to laugh and poke fun at the changes that accompany our birthdays. However, ageism is not funny. Betty White, an actress that is as sassy and playful as the day is long, celebrated her 97th birthday in 2019. And Hollywood better not […]

MANSFIELD — On a typical Tuesday afternoon, the Renaissance Theatre is rather quiet. But on May 14, more than 400 vivacious seniors gathered at the Mansfield theater for the Ohio District 5 Area Agency on Aging’s annual Senior Spring Spectacular. For many seniors, like 91-year-old Freda Young, who volunteers every year the Senior Spring Spectacular, the […]

MANSFIELD — Some do it because they want to stay busy. Some do it because of current economic hardship or future financial uncertainty. There is also a group who simply enjoy it. Regardless of the reason, the simple fact is more Americans are working later in life than perhaps any time in the nation’s history […]

MANSFIELD — Anthony Coleman spent most of his life on wrestling mats, battling for individual victory. Two years ago, the North Ridgeville resident began battling on behalf of seniors and their families across a five-county area, including Richland and Ashland. Coleman is a franchise owner of CarePatrol, founded in 1993 and now the largest senior […]

MANSFIELD — Christie Core’s life changed just 11 days after the birth of her fourth grandchild. “She tested dirty,” Core said. “They did the little cotton ball in the diaper and shortly after they came home, Children Services came.” Core, 51, said the diaper tests showed traces of methamphetamine. In turn, the baby’s parents lost […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a 2-part series in this installment of our Gray Matters Solutions Journalism project. Part 1 was published on Monday. MANSFIELD — The elderly woman, living alone, got out of bed six times in one night to go to the bathroom. Sensors in her bed noted the unusual nocturnal activity […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 1 of a 2-part series in this installment of our Gray Matters Solutions Journalism project. Part 2 will be published on Tuesday. No one grows older longing for the day they will leave their home and move into some sort of assisted living center. In fact, 90 percent of senior […]

MANSFIELD – On this episode of The Gray Q & A, Mansfield resident Ruthie Good, 71, and her mother, Mary Miarer, 93, discuss how their relationship has changed– and how it stayed the same– as they have gotten older.  Good explains how she knew it was time to start helping manage her mother’s finances, and […]

In this episode of The Gray Q & A, Judy Fisher and her father, Larry Greer, talk candidly about the difficulty of having a loved one who suffers from Lewy body dementia.  Life for the family has never been the same since Martha Greer, Judy’s step-mother and Larry’s wife, was diagnosed with the disease a […]