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Experience

Experience January/February 2025

Cheers to a Healthy New Year

Seth D Kramer

Summary

  • Bucket lists are usually created with the mindset that your health will be the same once you finally get around to doing the things on the list.
  • Staying healthy throughout the aging process can often cause some indignity.
  • This issue’s Tech Column is a very thorough examination of how technology is being used and will be used by the medical profession.
Cheers to a Healthy New Year
Tatiana Sviridova/Moment via Getty Images

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As Benjamin Franklin supposedly said, the only things guaranteed in life are death and taxes. But there is another guaranteed thing in life, and that is: the state of one’s health is not static. Yet, it is not uncommon for people to envision their future without taking the vagaries of health into account. And senior lawyers contemplating retirement are no exception.

People often have a “bucket list” of things they want to do in retirement. However, bucket lists are usually created with the mindset that your health will be the same once you finally get around to doing the things on the list. However, time and age often create health issues that you didn’t anticipate, making some of the items on the list impractical. The possibility of health limitations is one reason that people are urged to “front load” their retirement with bucket-list items because they may have better health in the early part of retirement than in the later years. Something to think about.

Health is the theme of this issue, and we bring you several articles that deal with health from many different perspectives.

Tom McClure writes about the positive impact running has had on his own health and life—such as participating in marathons—in “Making a Run for It in Your Senior Years.”

Gary Fry shares how exercise helps him (and countless others) deal with a tendency toward depression in “Exercise Is a Boon for Your Mental Health”

Brian Tannenbaum writes about the challenges inherent in practicing law and doing trial work in “You’re Not Going to Die: My Type II Diabetes Diagnosis.” And Gerald Todaro gives a comprehensive primer on how to pick the right physician in “A Senior’s Guide to Picking a Medical Specialist.”

Staying healthy throughout the aging process can often cause some indignities, and Joe Weeg explores some of them in “Embarrassment as a Guide to Health Decisions.”

Marc S. Stern explains (sort of) how a hospital stay for ankle surgery became an almost psychedelic experience in “How I Spent My Fall Vacation.”

Our Tech column in this issue is a very thorough examination of how technology is being used and will be used by the medical profession in “The Increasingly Important Role of Technology in Modern Medicine.”

In his “Curmudgeon Corner” offering, Norm Tabler wistfully compares the quality of care that his car gets during maintenance servicing with the quality of care he gets during medical checkups in “I’m Jealous of the Care My Car Gets.”

This issue also includes some other interesting articles. Joan Bondareff writes about a top-of-mind concern in “What Is the Future of Social Security?”

David Kaufman, in his “The Weakest Link” column, goes into the ways one can always be prepared in “Chance Favors the Prepared Mind.” And Stephen Terrell, in his “On Second Thought” column, suggests 10 movies that everyone—young and old—should see.

As usual, we have our playlist devoted to songs that deal with the theme of health. Tom McClure and Michael Richmond have put together a clever and interesting list that will make you want to go listen to the tunes. If you have any suggestions for songs to add to the list, please send them to sethdkramer@gmail. Check the next few issues of Voice of Experience, the monthly newsletter of the Senior Lawyers Division, for any additions suggested by you, our readers.

Enjoy this issue and stay healthy.

Onward!

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