Women Over 70: Aging Reimagined

As a mother, physician, businesswoman and daughter, who navigated her mother’s 10 year journey with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Cheryl encourages all adults to take responsibility to age intentionally. Her motto is "Live Out Loud and Age Excellently." In her career as an academic geriatrician, primary care doctor, and public policy expert, Dr. Cheryl has always bridged theory and practice. She is also a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. She tells it like it is and urges us to seek excellence, not perfection. She also says: “Writing has always been a place for me to heal.” “It is never too late to believe. All those things that stopped you when you were younger, don’t matter anymore.” - Dr. Cheryl Woodson Connect with Dr. Cheryl: Email: cew@drcherylwoodson.com Website: https://drcherylwoodson.com Books: To Survive Caregiving: A Daughter's Experience, A Doctor's Advice on Finding Hope, Help and Health Dear Lauren, Love Mom: 31 Days of Affirmations for My Daughter, for Myself, and for YOU What the Mirror Sees (romance fiction written under the pseudonym Tería Robens) Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

Elaine Mays, age 84, loves her newly created home in the Maroon Village of Accompong, Jamaica. How did an educator who participated in school desegregation in Missouri and taught college in California find her way to paradise? In her early 80s, within one year, a spate of tragedies--deaths of loved ones and her own major surgeries--“shook my tree to the roots.” Upon visiting a friend in Accompong, Elaine felt immediately that she had come home. So, in October 2020, she built a home where she appreciates the warmth of Jamaican culture and environment. Elaine looks forward, post-pandemic, to supporting young women in the community. It’s never too late or never too early to make change; you can always regroup and discover. Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

Living in New York City, Betty Rauch became a highly skilled marketer who was sought after by high profile clients. When she retired, nonprofits became her passion, and soon she was marketing for causes she dearly believes in. This dynamic, talented woman is a powerhouse who likes being in charge. From promoting after-care for incarcerated men to fostering positive outcomes for pregnant women in low-income areas, to providing resources and learning opportunities for women over 50, Betty refuses to freak out about her age. We all can learn from her wisdom, scar tissue and compassion.   “Having a sense of purpose is what can make our post-retirement lives so much more meaningful, enjoyable and personally enriching." - Betty Rauch   Connect with Betty: Email: rauchbp@gmail.com Volunteer Organizations: The Fortune Society: https.//fortunesociety.org Friends of the Nurse-Family Partnership: https://friendsofnycnfp.org TTN: https://thetransitionnetwork.org/ Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.  

Imagine what it might have been like to be a serious female science student in the early 1960s only to be barred from a doctoral program after receiving a masters. Bebe (Beatrice) Magee, age 81, provides a glimpse into her early history. In 2007, Bebe retired as a Senior Scientist in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota. For more than 45 years, she and her husband, Pete, collaborated on scientific research that led eventually to ground- breaking work having implications for debilitated patients with potentially deadly infections. In retirement, Bebe expanded her engagement in rowing (which she started at age 54) to include teaching and officiating at rowing regattas. She has been able to spend more time in choral activities, singing with the Calliope Women’s Chorus--the 2nd oldest feminist chorus in the U.S.-- and with the Voices of Experience (singers over age 55). Married for 56 years, Bebe and Pete live in a big old house in St. Paul, MN, with no plans to downsize.   "Although I am not much in favor of getting older, I am very happy with this stage in my life." - Beatrice Magee   Contact information Magee002@umn.edu   Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

  Women Over 70 is celebrating its 100th episode by featuring Jean Ketcham, affectionately known as Aging But Dangerous. Jean has a laserlike focus on living life with fun, spirit, and style. She is a former small business owner, talk show host, proud parent, avid skydiver, and cancer survivor, up for any challenge thrown her way. At 81, Jean is convinced that aging can be exciting. From skydiving to retreats and fashion shows, she continues to create opportunities for women to empower each other. "Nobody can put us in a box because of our age.” - Jean Ketcham   Connect with Jean: Website: https://agingbutdangerous.com Facebook Group:/https://www.facebook.com/agingbutdangerous Email: jk@agingbutdangerous.com Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Itunes, Podopolo Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

With her background in dance and social work, Sheila K. Collins, Ph.D., brings embodied practices to many forms of self-care, particularly for healing. Sheila’s key tenet is that the body is our center of wisdom and at the root of self-care. Our body holds our stories, tells us what we need, and expresses what’s in our hearts. As a teacher-trainer and award-winning author, Sheila offers ways to find the gifts within the pain of loss. Her forthcoming book is The Art of Grieving. Contact Information: sheilacollins@gmail.com https://sheilakcollins.com/about Sheila K. Collins Warrior Mother: A Memoir of Fierce Love, Unbearable Loss, and Rituals that Heal (2013) Sheila K. Collins & Christine Gautreaux. Stillpoint: A Self-Care Playbook for Caregivers to Find Ease, and Time to Breathe, and Reclaim Joy (2018) Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

In semi-retirement, at age 79, Hedy Ratner imparts her prodigious wisdom on women’s issues to high level policy makers. For over 50 years, as an advocate for intersecting civil rights and the second-wave women’s movement, Hedy has confronted inequalities of gender, race and class, e.g.,: working with Jesse Jackson, directing the YWCA-Chicago; founding Women in Film-Chicago; and, co-founding the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC). Under new leadership and with Hedy as President Emerita, WBDC continues to thrive in its 4th decade, promoting entrepreneurship for low income women and women of color. Hedy credits her sustainability for social justice to the unwavering support of her life partner (recently deceased) and conscientious attention to maintaining balance--physical, mental, and spiritual. "With so much more to be done, nothing in my heart and mind says I should stop now." - Hedy Ratner   Contact Information: hratner@wbdc.org More about Hedy at https://www.thechicagonetwork.org/members/hedy-m-ratner/ Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Itunes, Podopolo Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.

At age 76, Sunny Fischer (Evanston, IL) has advocated for women to be free from violence, exercise reproductive choice, afford their homes and possess financial stability. Sunny’s radicalization for women’s issues began in the 1970s while working directly with victims of rape, “the most dramatic form of sexism.” Over the past 40 years, Sunny has co- founded foundations focused solely on women’s issues, including the Sophia Fund which is now part of the Chicago Foundation for Women. Sunny’s work to promote affordable housing includes her current role as chair of the board of the National Public Housing Museum. Whatever the cause, Sunny’s approach is to listen, investigate, understand, strategize, and organize. There is a lot more work to do, and I still have the dreams to try. - Sunny Fischer Contact Information: Sunnyfischer10@gmail.com More about Sunny: https://www.thechicagonetwork.org/members/sunny-fischer/ https://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/about-us/board-and-staff- 2/board-directors/sunny-fischer/ Connect with Gail & Catherine: Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Wo70AgingReimagined Instagram: WomenOver70 Website:https://womenover70.com Email: info@womenover70.com Show: Women Over 70 – Aging Reimagined Listen on: Apple Play, Stitcher, Itunes, Podopolo Please rate our show and subscribe wherever you listen. This is how we grow.  

Two years ago, Diana Swezy, age 70, made a dramatic life change.  She left her home in the Midwest and her work as a professional educator to live in a laid-back beach village in Jamaica.  Diana’s professional life centered on students who are challenged, serving as an elementary school principal and as Director of Federal Programs. Having dealt with a long-term chronic illness and major back surgery, Diana searched for a place in which to heal, physically and emotionally. She chose Jamaica where the “thread of spirituality envelopes the realm of healing on many levels.”  Here Diana practices self-care--creating art, eating well, swimming-- and delights in life with her younger Jamaican husband. Contact Information: dswezy@gmail.com "I am learning to live well, with fun and less."

Audrey Peeples, age 81, from Chicago’s southwest side, is a history maker--the first Black woman to hold leadership positions in different kinds of organizations. Whether as CEO, board member, or community volunteer, Audrey is committed to raising awareness about racism and sexism and advocating for diversity and inclusion. “When different people are at the table, different decisions get made.” She calls out micro-systemic expectations with diplomacy and humor. Audrey intends to keep raising the hard questions and doing the hard work. "There are a lot of people like me, you just don’t know them." - Audrey Peeples Contact: Audrey.peeples@gmail.com More about Audrey’s background see The History Makers. https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/audrey-peeples-39