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Toward the end of her 40-year career as a creator of science museums, Sheila Grinell began a “second act” as a novelist. Her debut, Appetite, appeared in 2016, and her second novel, The Contract, in 2019. She writes a monthly newsletter and engages with readers on social media.

Latest Posts By Sheila Grinell

4 years ago

When Someone Dies at My CCRC

My husband and I moved into The Terraces last July, joining about 300 other residents living in independent apartments. Since then, three people we came to know and like have passed away. All three were around 90 years old…

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4 years ago

The Downside to CCRC Living? The Money!

A year before my husband and I committed to living in a CCRC, we had dinner with friends who had already done so. The four of us sat around a table in the restaurant in their community, and the couple talked at length…

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4 years ago

Mother Nature Here We Come – Seniors Who Simply Want to Live

Do you remember birds singing loudly and persistently at the beginning of the pandemic when traffic disappeared from the streets and skies? At the time, I wondered if I were hearing birdsong that would normally have been…

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4 years ago

Our CCRC Has an Unelected Mayor – Why Should That Matter?

Soon after my husband and I moved into our continuing care retirement community, a hearty-looking fellow walked up to us and said, “I’m Tim, who are you?” I told him our names…

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4 years ago

The Time of Guests and Accepted Invitations – An Unexpected Gift

About 250 people live in our continuing care retirement community, in six apartment buildings and two nursing facilities. Now, in pandemic mode, you don’t see many residents…

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4 years ago

How We Take Extra Care for Dogs – and Each Other – in My CCRC

Before the recent restrictions on socializing, every night after dinner in my community’s main building, an older gentleman sat in a wing chair opposite the central elevator, holding a bag of dog treats…

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5 years ago

Second Thoughts About Not Cooking – a Tale from Our Continuing Care Retirement Community

One reason I’d wanted to move into my continuing care retirement community was to stop cooking dinner. I’d grown tired of planning meals, dashing to the supermarket for missing ingredients…

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5 years ago

What the 90-Year-olds Taught Me

One evening after we’d been living at The Terraces for a few weeks, my husband looked around the dining room and said, “These people are all old. How do you feel about it?”

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5 years ago

I’m Not Ready – But We’re Moving to a CCRC

We entered the lobby – armchairs upholstered in mid-century colors; a painting of a rearing white horse; a row of walkers parked along a wall; a foursome of bent…

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