2016 Top Ten Posts

By Thegenaboveme @TheGenAboveMe

Photo by Sam Churchill.

Over the last year, this blog enjoyed a significant jump in readership.
Two posts from 2016 moved into the Overall Top 15 viewed posts.
Another eight posts from this year, moved into the Overall Top 25 from over 300 posts. 
Thank you, dear readers, for traveling with me.
This blog records my journey to better my own aging process while supporting the generation above me.
I'm hoping that other travelers have an easier path because of my "trail notes." 
Without further ado, here is a countdown of the Top 10 Posts from 2016, in ascending order:
#10 About Schmidt vs. O'Horton: A Film Pairing. 
Both of these films (one American, one Norwegian) chronicle the transition from full-time work to retirement.  The main characters, however, take a radically different approach to adjusting.  Great performances by Jack Nicholson and Baar Owe.  
#9 Celebrate Singers Who Are Stayin' Alive
Baby Boomers said farewell to many favorite entertainers.  While it's appropriate to memorialize them, we can also embrace many recording artists who are still living and working.  Are your favorite singers from the 1960s and 1970s on this list? 
#8 The Simple Grass Cutter: An Elder Tale from India.
Many fairytales and folk tales feature young adults as protagonists. This tale from India shows how mature adults rearrange their values as they age, shunning wealth and fame for being content and for giving resources to the rising generation.
#7 The Stranger in the Recliner: Book Review
John and Doreen McGettigan took in a mature homeless woman, thinking they would house her for a few days until placing her elsewhere. Weeks turned into months.  Eye-opening view on caregiving and the plight of aging homeless people. 
#6 Quotes on Aging from Authors G through N.
For the last five years, I have been using Twitter @TheGenAboveMe to share my growing collection of quotes on aging. Now my treasury of aging quotes is available on three blog posts. For some reason, the second one receives more views.
#5 Home for an Emptying Nester.
Looking for a home in my mid-50s while launching kids presents a different set of challenges than when looking to start a family.  Do we buy close to the high school or close to my husband's office? I'm reading to downsize, but I still have two older teens in the house.
#4 Midlife Ennui
After a half a century of living, sometimes I get a feeling that I've "been there, done that."  Have you had that feeling? And what are some of your strategies for finding a zest for life when life can get boring?
#3 Caregiving: The Myth of One and Done
It's hard to imagine that the aging process can be long and complicated when many people don't discuss or depict late life.  Adult children can initially believe that their parents need one dramatic act of intervention. This is a myth.
#2 Somebody Stole My Iron: Book Review
Tapia recounts her experience of supporting both parents through health challenges. Her father had Parkinson's Disease. However, it was her mother's memory problems, which included emotional outbursts, that proved the most challenging.
#1 Mean Arterial Pressure: Biomarker of Health and Longevity.
This post is one from a series of posts describing biomarkers correlated with improved quality of life and longevity from a longitudinal study. This particular post describes mean arterial pressure.
Related:
2015 Top 10 Posts  - including Celebrities born in 1962
2014 Top 10 Posts -  including Aging Films to Watch Next
2013 Top 10 Posts - including Films depicting Alzheimer's Disease
2012 Top 10 Posts - including Films about Aging