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Friendships

For most of our lives, our social relationships are accidental. Then, in our 60s, we find ourselves wondering how to make friends as an adult. This is not a trivial question. Having strong social ties is good for our health and happiness. Let's explore this topic together.

11 months ago

The Emotional Benefits of Pen Pal-ing

I remember passing notes to my bestie in grade school and waiting with exhilaration for her return message. It was all great fun even though we were sitting just a few rows apart in the same classroom and would spend our entire recess engrossed…

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11 months ago

5 Not-So-Easy Ways to Navigate Around a Narcissist

It is a challenging journey to navigate around a narcissist, yet it is a necessary step towards reclaiming your emotional autonomy. Let’s face it: those of us in our 60s and beyond have weathered the storms of relationships, whether married or single…

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11 months ago

Ageless Bonds: An Exploration of the Vital Importance of Friendships as We Grow Older

In the fabric of life, friendships are the threads that weave through our journey, creating a vibrant pattern that only deepens with time. As we age, the value of these connections becomes immeasurable, contributing significantly to our emotional…

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11 months ago

The Loss of Friends Is Inevitable but It Hurts No Less

I like being old. At nearly 80, I think I am allowed to say so. Indeed, I like being old so much that I wrote a book about it. But that doesn’t mean that everything about being old is wonderful. Far from it. And one of the things I like least is the loss of friends…

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12 months ago

Building and Maintaining Emotional Intimacy in Relationships After 60

You might think that after years together you’ll have built a deep emotional intimacy that bonds you and provides profound satisfaction for you and your partner. You may think that, but you’d be wrong in many cases…

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12 months ago

I Gather, Therefore I Am: Finding Other Women for Health and Happiness

As I sat in a local restaurant at lunchtime, waiting for my friend, I looked around and saw a large room filled with women doing exactly the same thing. We were all gathering to commiserate, share, expound and take or offer encouragement and advice – woman to woman, beet salad to beet salad – no topic too large or too trivial to take on.

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12 months ago

The Importance of Choosing Good Friends After 60

Lately, I’ve been thinking a great deal about friendships. Friends and social acquaintances are a big and important part of a woman’s life. Therefore, it remains vital, as we age, not to let those relationships slip away. It’s so easy to get…

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1 year ago

Keep Your Women Friends Close, Even When You “Don’t Have Time”

Author and diarist Anaïs Nin wrote that “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” According to a 2011 study in the journal Oncology Times, women with early-stage…

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1 year ago

Cherishing Best Friends in Our 60s

It is my profound good fortune to be spending this week with an amazing human being called Julie: she is and has been one of my besties for 25 years. We live quite different lives, and almost entirely in different parts of the world, but we have an unerring…

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1 year ago

Easy Cooking and Entertaining for After 60 Dinner Parties

Years ago I would often have people over for dinner. We called these events dinner parties, and I would usually invite anywhere between two to five couples. I would spend all day in the kitchen, cooking up a storm and still be busy when the company arrived…

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