Mary Ann
The definition of a Hat Trick is three goals in a hockey or soccer game during one game by one player. It is a remarkable feat for an athlete. This blog is about another kind of Hat Trick. It is a book review of three books on aging that I recently found and thought you might enjoy hearing about them.
The Hat Trick books are all written by people over 85 years. They are easy reads, and all are amusing with their advice about aging.
The Wonder and Happiness of Being Old – Offering of Hope, Joy, and new Ways to Perceive Aging by Sophy Burnham is written in letter format. Remember I shared with you that is a popular style right now, i.e. The Correspondent. Burnham is writing to her 60-year-old cousin Eleanor, with topics that are divided into five sections that include what it is like to be old to family to love embracing all aspects of living. Each section has several topics that are only a few pages long so you can read just one and more if time allows. It is the kind of book that you can pick up and open anywhere in the text and gain a nugget of advice from it. Section 4 has letters that Burnham wrote to herself at 21 to be opened at 42, 42-letter to be opened at 63, 63-letter to be opened at 84, and 84-letter to be read at 109. Burnham is spunky enough she could be around at 109.
There is a message of thankfulness for the small joys of life, the love we give and receive, and how important forgiveness is to our inner peace. No matter how old you are, we all could use an elderly friend or relative to impart life lessons to help us each grow gracefully into old age.
Our second Hat Trick book is by Judith Voirst. Do you remember reading Alexander, and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day to your children? Judith Voirst was the author of that book and many, many more. I especially enjoyed the books of poems and reflections that she wrote for turning 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and most recently 90 years old. I have loved those books and relating to her documentation of a particular decade. I have given several as gifts.
Voirst can sum up a situation with concise language and then give a zinger of a sentence that will make you smile and at times make you break out laughing. This has made her a bestselling author. Her latest book is Making the Best of What’s Left – When We’re too Old to Get the Chairs Reupholstered. It is full of short essays and poems capturing one of the last chapters of our life. She finds humor in these years. Sometimes a good laugh gets us through some challenging times. Thank you, Judith Viorst for pointing it out to us. This is also a book that you can pick up and read any place in the text and enjoy her wisdom.
The last book in the Hat Trick is More Rules for Aging – Making the Most of your Ridiculous, Wondrous Life by Roger Rosenblatt. This book is an extended edition from his first book, Rules for Aging. There are 114 essays that run from one sentence to small paragraphs. It is very easy to read. Each essay will give you some good aging advice. Rosenblatt is funny, and it is reflected in his essays. You will find yourself chuckling or at the very least grinning.
If we are lucky enough to make it to old age, you might as well laugh. Remember it is the best medicine, and since we take a lot of medicines, there are no bad side effects and doesn’t cost anything. All three of these books were loved by Lisa and me in our Non-Fiction Book Club. It was truly a Hat Trick on aging. So, if you want some wisdom for the ages and a tickle to your funny bone, these books will fill the bill. They are meaningful and just right to read anytime returning repeatedly to the fountain of wise words to help us through our own old age.
