Friends & Family

[Tuesday 9/22/26 6:20am ET]I was in SHOCK yesterday when I happen to "glance" at the Kroger Gas Prices as I headed into store to get my Weekly Groceries.Lol, trying to HOLD ONTO the half tank I now have.Back BEFORE Gas prices started upward, I would Gas up once a month when I received my Monthly Retirement Social Security.Now I am staying home & driving ONLY as required (food,medical).Geez, are we stuck with NEVER seeing "lower" Gas prices? 🤔 I feel once the wars go away (if they ever), YES!!!I am SAVING as mentioned above by staying home but TOTALLY BORED & really struggling with having to do this in my Retirement. But have NO interest in getting behind on things like rent, electric, car insurance and so on.One TIP I read over the years is to COMBINE your errands when you can.Another TIP I saw online was to LIGHTEN your load. I was "guilty" of carrying around stuff in my trunk I had forgotten about. The ONLY time I ADD anything to my vehicle is during Winter. Got to be able t

WE would luv to "hear" from YOU!!! Maybe share any TIPS that are "helping" you with transportation. 🤔As I AGE I know at some point I will NO longer be able to "drive" but until then my "ride" (2006 Honda CR-V) comes 1st after my bills. I keep up on her maintenance. Lol, too old to be stuck out on the highway broken down or freezing my old a.s off somewhere during the Winter. Now I do stay home ALOT during the Winter as I live on a hill. Learn't that lesson a few Winters ago. Made it down my hill but could NOT make it back up.When she is at my Mechanic, I use the City Bus & Uber if I have to leave her. I try NOT to as my "tolerance" for the passengers & Uber Drivers is ZERO. Now there are sometimes NICE Uber Drivers, usually the old people like me. My daughter pays for my Uber & I have a "free" bus id for bus. Only costs 85 cents each way with a "free" transfer to a 2nd bus from their "downtown" terminal as needed. I keep "change" in my purse so I have it always. Bus setup

WE would luv to "hear" from you no matter how old or young you are. Maybe READ what other members have posted & leave a "comment" if you can. 😉I have "steps" where I am & already having "knee" issues but plan on looking for my NEXT HOME before I CANNOT make it up my "steps". Not interested in a Nursing Home & NOT quite ready to move in with my only child (a daughter). While I "like" my neighbors, as I AGE I am "craving" QUIET. Ideally would luv to move into a Small Cottage with NO "steps".Thanks,Nicole (Friends & Family Forum)

We would luv to HEAR FROM YOU. Let us have some FUN with this!!! 💃👍🙃

Per my Wall Calendar, today is the 1st day of Fall.While the trees have NOT started to change colors as yet, our weather here in Virginia is "cooling" down.I luv driving along our mountains with their 2 lanes, just APPRECIATING what nature can do.And add the view of the mountains from my Cute Studio Apt in the hills.Lol, DREADING what is next. Yes, Old Man Winter.Thanks,Nicole (Friends & Family Forum)

What made that place special to you?Who were you with when you visited?What is your favorite memory from that trip?Did you try any food there that you really enjoyed?What was the most surprising thing you saw or experienced?Would you visit that place again? Why?What place would you love to visit someday?

Have an Super Sunday 

I hope we all sleep well tonight and wake up with comfort in our hearts. I live in Wisconsin and enjoy the outdoors with my pups. I hope we all find something that we can enjoy - Even though we are grieving.  Hugs to you all! cecilia

[Sunday 9/20/26 1:27pm ET]I am suppose to get NEW glasses each time I go see my Eye Doctor & he says I need to. But to be honest, some years I "skip" getting them. I usually get my "prescriptions" filled at Walmart.(1) I have "thought" about trying the ONLINE option. But it seems to be a chance you will NOT get the correct fit and so on. Anyone using online? Any thoughts or tips?(2) And any thoughts/tips on OTHER OPTIONS would be greatly appreciated.Thanks,Nicole (Friends & Family Forum)

Do you like or dislike this TIME CHANGE?  🤔 Lol, any "funny" experiences for example FORGETTING the time CHANGE & arriving at your destination TOO EARLY OR LATE? 😅 Nicole!

It has been a very long time since I thought of them but did when I happen to take the City Bus here in Virginia. Usually I AVOID anything to do with the City Bus, but the OTHER Old Lady (2006 Hyundai Elantra) needs a LOW MILEAGE engine. I am on my mechanic's Things To Do List. The bus is a VERY LONG ride from my side of town & I took it to the downtown Walmart. To my pleasure, it circled through the HUGE MALL before stopping at Walmart. It was a "mixture" of sadness & memories as we rode by the HUGE "empty" SEARS building. I remember as a "child" my parents ORDERING from the Sears CATALOG. And me totally "fascinated" with the HUGE catalog = lots of stuff to dream about getting. Then as a teen, I had a job at the Sears in St. Louis, Missouri and had my 1st car serviced at their Auto Center. I am surprised the building here is standing empty. I would have thought another "retailer" would have taken over. Nicole!

KFF Health News 07/24/2026 - The New Old Age - To Afford Aging in Place, Older Adults Turn to ‘Golden Girls’ Housing  excerpts from the link ~“ Home sharing “is a really efficient way to create affordable housing and to support older people who want to age in place, . . . . Carefully vetting both “home providers,” who may be rattling around in family houses now too big and too empty, and “home sharers” seeking reasonable rents, About  55 organizations around the country offer these services — and demand is growing, driven by housing shortages, rising rents, and sales prices that affect both the old and the young. Legislators in several states are working to promote home sharing as an option. (Personal care is not part of these arrangements. Although nearly 80% of those people were homeowners, the center found, an increasing proportion are still paying off mortgages or home equity loans, and most contend with higher taxes, utility and maintenance costs, and

Clorox has made a blunder comparable to the "New Coke" debacle: The company went "all in" with their commitment to a new spray bottle design that is featured on virtually every one of their spray cleaning products.  The sprayer on this bottle must be lined up with the integral tube that delivers the product right until the bottle is just about dry.  The problem is, this lining up means the top cannot be screwed into the bottle.  It snaps, very, very weakly, into the bottle, allowing it to sink its tube top into the bottle's integral tube, built into the side of the bottle.  On major complaint sites, this system is attacked en masse. On the government consumer complaint site, it receives one out of five stars.  Be very careful if you are unfortunate enough to have this terribly designed bottle in your home/under your kitchen sink.  I was using the bleach spray and it popped right off the bottle, splashing bleach everywhere!  I have since found that oth

most if not all these mags and more are available to anyone by googling free magazines.  Try Mercury or Blue Dolphin.  You may not get to choose each and every time but they send out notices often, sometimes more than one a week  Some mags may be digital only while others are print.  All FREE  No credit card required.  Save your points and get free mags.

I never thought I could hurt like this.  I'm 76 this year, male, and I live in the back of my sister's home, 1600 miles from where I used to live.  Two years ago, my soon to be ex-wife asked for a separation and then a year ago, a divorce. We'd been married for 51 years, raised three kids together, and now Boom, it's over.I don't know how to begin again.  In the last 4 years, I've had two heart attacks, skin cancer, and am being treated for depression and anxiety.  Money is a constant worry since she's fighting to keep it all.  I really don't know where to begin?

He certainly made his mark in those 87 years - He bought a run down TV station and put it up on satellite.Founder of CNN - 24 hour news networkPrevious owner of the Atlanta BravesLargest land owner in the USA Among many other things He definitely helped turn Atlanta into the city that it is today I met him many years ago at a charity event - He is leaving quite a legacy  CNN.com - Ted Turner’s Life in Pictures R.I.P. Ted Turner 

Between Medicare, AARP & Other Folks - I think I should be getting a PAYCHECK!!!  🙄🙄🙄 [1] Have YOU made any efforts to STOP this? [2] If YES, successful? [3] Lol, and any TIPS to share that has WORKED for you!!!  👍👍👍 Thanks,Nicole  👵  (Friends & Family Forum)

Would love to hear others thoughts on this topic... I work full time as a nurse so I have a lot of social interaction there, but am not socially active with co-workers as very few are: 1. single and 2. over 50.  I live out in the country, alone. I do not have children.    And do many activities alone such as hiking, riding my motorcycle, camping.  I do not feel lonely,  but I worry that I am isolating myself and may regret not being more social as I age.  Particularly after I retire ( still 9 years away).I do have a few friends, but they don't live particularly close by, and I do make sure to get out with them 2 or 3 times a month.  I am not religious and joining a church isn't an option for me.  What are you other single folks doing?  Give me some advice!  Thanks. Jypsy Janet 

  Hi All,I'm wondering if anyone would like to start a penpal group and put pen to paper for snail mail letters. Of course, initially, it would be email, but I'm an advocate of handwritten letters and it would progress to that. I think letter writing on paper makes both the writer and receiver of the letter enjoy the experience. I'd love anyone's thoughts on the subject.

I wanted to help, so I cleaned out the boxes in our garage and put the boxes and 8 item on Offer Up. It read I cleaned my garage out and these items are free. One man took 4 items and 8 boxes. He'll sell them to help support his family.  An elderly couple who could hardly walk took 2 boxes and 4 items to supplement their retirement.The other 4 items when to ladies who could afford them.  Yes, I could have bartered, but I'm doing okay. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. My next project is sewing and knitting clothes for premature babies and mail them to the hospital in low income areas.  Clothes are expensive for the little one. I was asked to make some totally white for the families who suffered the lost of their little one.For those of us who have the time and left over matteral. There are patterns on-line for premature babies, or 18 inch dolly pattern will do. They need help, so if you have the time why not help. Take care. 

Hi you can call me Hubert G.I remember when I was in high school about 50 years ago. My horticulture teacher visited my house to help arrange my mother Violar plants and flowers in her yard. This was to help me with my grades in school. She agreed. Everything was going fine until the teacher wanted to move certain flowers. Mom said, "You'r not going to move this flower." When everything was over I got an excellent grade in his class. Mom said, "The yard do look better." She always try to be encouraging to her 12 children, 7 boys and 5 girls. Dad did too in his on way. He was a hard worker. He showed us how to work. We were a Sharecropper family during the 1930's to 1960's. We moved off the farm into our own house, that we had built by picking cotton to pay for it. (The house is still there today in Lynchburg, SC with the magnolia tree in the front yard)  We move off the farm in our own house. What a happy day! Dad wa

Are you estranged from a family member? Have you attempted to reconcile? Share your story and read what others have to say. Join the discussion by posting a reply below.

 I  just received a BAG full of groceries from AARP Virginia compliments of my LOA (local office of aging). Fell 12/6/25 on Black Ice at age 67. Fractured ankle in 2 places. Anyway, had NO idea this was happening!!! Nicole 🤗💛 

Last few years have seen a tremendous increase in the demand for emotional support animal letters. It is one of the ways that help to ensure that you and your pet are not denied of any necessity at all. But, still, many are unaware of benefits associated with ESA. This article focuses on one of its primary benefits and how it can transform your way to visualize the world.

FROM THE ARTICLE. Progress in Creating Livable Communities for People of All Ages. By Rodney Harrell, AARP Public Policy Institute. Published February 03, 2026. With the right tools and support, people have the power to improve communities for residents of all ages. Keeping that in mind, our AARP Livable Communities team created the AARP Livability IndexTM platform and manages the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities (AARP age-friendly network) to help residents measure and support their progress towards making their neighborhoods more livable. Now there is new evidence that those efforts have indeed had a positive impact on the lives of older Americans. USE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE. https://www.aarp.org/pri/topics/livable-communities/livability-index-data-progress-livable-communities/