The Vulnerable Years: Rethinking What We Call the “Golden Years”

We call them the Golden Years. The phrase conjures images of retirement, freedom, leisure, and finally having the time to enjoy life after decades of working, raising families, and caring for others. But after watching my mother grow old, I began to question those words. For her, the Golden Years became something closer to the rusty years - a slow tarnishing of the independence and simple pleasures she had enjoyed throughout her life…