Abstract

Adjusting to old age requires more than coming to terms with eventual physical decline. It also demands accepting the permanent loss of loved ones. This autobiographical account describes both positive and negative experiences during the seventh decade of life. My coping skills have been enhanced by previous employment as a mental health professional. As an older woman, I have been forced to become my own social worker, acting on my own behalf with medical and other bureaucracies. And, as a retired social worker, I have the ability to evaluate the skills and limitations of those care providers who have been called upon to assist me in coping with the problems of old age.