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Elena is originally from Argentina and has lived in seven cities on four continents around the world. She is a writer, an artist, the mother of four, and grandmother of 10. She travels extensively and lives in Coconut Grove, Miami. She writes about topics of interest to herself and her peers.

Latest Posts By Elena Karplus

8 months ago

The Best Part of Journaling: Bearing Witness to Your Life

It was my father who encouraged me to “write about it” when he gave me that first pink and turquoise diary when I was 10 years old. You know the kind, the ones with a little lock and key that hold a young girl’s many secrets. Diaries were simpler then…

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2 years ago

Are There Benefits to Sleeping Alone on Purpose? My Personal Experience Says YES!

I am not a good bed partner. Well, maybe I should say that I have never been a good sleeping partner. I need full and absolute possession of the bed. I move, I squirm, I sigh and sometimes, I am told, I even snore. I dream a lot. I wake up early and often during the…

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2 years ago

The “W” Word – What Being a Widow Means to Me

The realization that I was going to be known as “a widow” was one of the aftershocks of losing my husband. The power of the word itself, the images and feelings…

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2 years ago

The Post-Menopausal Artist – Never Too Late to Start Doing Something You Love

I think of myself as a “post-menopausal artist.” I was a little over 60 when I surprised myself and started painting. I walked into an art supplies store and bought some acrylic paint, paper, and brushes…

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3 years ago

Do You Feel Invisible or Invincible Over 60?

In our youth-oriented society, women are often written-off by age, and if you watch TV or read articles, you would think that after 40 we begin a wild ride up and over the hill. It’s as if we begin a steady course toward invisibility…

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3 years ago

The Joys, Traditions and Melancholy of the Fall

When I moved from Tokyo to New York, I was a young mom with three children under 3 years old. I was too busy settling down in a new home, in a new country, in a new continent to notice much about the weather. I didn’t know then how much it would…

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3 years ago

Searching for Some Kind of “Normal”

I spent over a year alone in my house, connected to the world through my computer and my phone, with promises of a vaccine and dreams of “getting back to normal.” To be honest, at that point, it wasn’t really clear to me what “normal” was any more…

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4 years ago

Memorable Women in My Life: Evita Peron

Whenever I am introduced to someone and they ask me “Where are you from?” and I respond that I was born in Argentina, one of the first things that springs out of their mouths is “Do you dance the tango?” to which I hate to reply, “Well, not really…

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4 years ago

Marking My First Anniversary of Sheltering in Place

March 11, 2020 will be added to the collection of significant dates in my life. It will mark the first day of staying home alone protecting myself and others from the menace of Covid-19. I have written before about the trials and tribulations…

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4 years ago

Yes, I Decided to Get the Covid-19 Vaccine

After almost 11 months of isolation and watching the devastation this virus has created in our world, I gratefully accepted to take the Covid-19 vaccine when it was offered to my age group. It happened last Sunday…

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