Lois P. Frankel - Ageless Women, Timeless Wisdom: Witty, Wicked, and Wise Reflections on Well-Lived Lives

Praise for

AGELESS WOMEN, TIMELESS WISDOM

I love this book! Wisdom and wit worth remembering and sharing.

Josh Berman, Creator and Executive Producer, Drop Dead Diva and Notorious

It would be a Shame if the humor and inspiration from these wise women was lost. Dr. Lois captured their spirits in a book to share with every woman in your family. This is truly a good read.

Award-Winning R&B and Disco Singer , Evelyn Champagne King

Its about time for a book like this. For too long the wisdom of older women has gone unnoticed, unappreciated, and undervalued. Ageless Women, Timeless Wisdom is sure to put a smile on your face and the faces of the women you share it with.

Singer/Songwriter , Rita Coolidge

A portion of the proceeds from all book sales goes to Bloom Again Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing working women living at the poverty level with rapid response financial assistance when they encounter medical challenges that cause them to miss work.

Also by Dr. Lois Frankel

Women, Anger & Depression

Kindling the Spirit

Overcoming Your Strengths

Nice Girls Dont Get the Corner Office

Nice Girls Dont Get Rich

Stop Sabotaging Your Career

Nice Girls Just Dont Get It (with Carol Frohlinger)

Also by Lisa Graves

A Thyme and Place: Medieval Feasts and Recipes for the Modern Table Historys Witches, an Illustrated Guide

Trail Blazers, an Illustrated Guide to the Women Who Explored the World

Her Majesty, an Illustrated Guide to the Women Who Ruled the World

Colorful Women in History, a Coloring Book

The Witches, a Coloring Book

This publication contains information provided directly from women interviewed and the submissions of others. It is sold with the understanding that the content is an accurate reflection of what was provided or submitted, although certain words or phrases may have been edited for grammatical purposes. The author and illustrator specifically disclaim any liability for the contents of this book or the photographs contained herein.

Copyright 2015 by Lois P. Frankel, PhD

First Skyhorse Publishing edition 2017

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Lisa Graves

Cover photo credit by Lois P. Frankel, PhD

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-1624-7

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-1626-1

Printed in China

This book is dedicated to my mother, Sonia Kriss Frankel.
I wish I had the opportunity to tell her that I finally know just how wise she really was.

AGELESS WOMEN, TIMELESS ADVICE

Witty, Wicked, and Wise Reflections on Well-Lived Lives

For the unlearned, old age is winter. For the learned, it is the season of the harvest. Hasidic Proverb

There is a sign that has hung in my office for many years: Entrance to anothers soul is a sacred honor. It is a reminder that as a psychotherapist, executive coach, and, now, documenter of womens unique lives, I have a responsibility to treat what is shared (whether across the couch, across the desk, or across the ocean) as precious. Listening to the stories of the women interviewed for this book as they spoke about where they came from and how they got to be where they are now, I was touched by the trust they placed in me with their most treasured possessionstheir memories. Quite honestly, I had no idea how richly and deeply their experiences would transform my world. Not only did I learn to be more patient (not something for which I am known), but also more curious, compassionate, and courageous. I was inspired to take action on several other projects I had been thinking about but not quite sure about embracing. Im hoping that reading this book may have the same impact on you as well!

For the purpose of this book I chose to focus on septuagenarian, octogenarian, nonagenarian, and even a few centenarian women. In other words, women from seventy to a hundred years old. Every effort was made to include a wide spectrum of women with different backgrounds, ethnicities, educational experiences, and religions. Some had married and lived decades raising children and sometimes grandchildren, caring for ill husbands and parents, creating nests from which progeny fly out of to be productive members of society, and often being forced to observe more than participate in the events around them. Other women that I spoke with chose not to marry or have children and instead had careers outside of the home, traveled extensively, or ran their own businesses. Yet others chose religious paths and spent their lives educating generations of children, caring for the poor, or ministering to the sick. Regardless of their past, every woman had valuable insights, perspectives, and experiences from which we can all learn.

As a society, however, we often fail to capitalize on that wisdom. Instead, we marginalize women who no longer look like Madison Avenues definition of vibrant and relevant and overlook the myriad ways in which their existence is actually essential to the survival of us all. As a result, older women theselves often dont recognize and acknowledge the ways in which their contributions are still valuable. So, the process of gleaning their wisdom took longer than I anticipated. It wasnt as simple as asking a question and receiving an answer, it was about first listening to their stories. Woven between the lines of long lives were pearls of wisdom hard-earned from life experiences as unique as seemingly identical snowflakes, only to find under closer examination just how inimitable each one is.

Unfortunately most people tend to lump all older women into the same homogeneous pile when nothing could be further from the truth. They are as different in maturity as they were in their youth. Curious young women continue to take classes on subjects like the Byzantine Empire and the History of the American Railroad well into their nineties. Social-minded young women become mature women who volunteer for hospice or to teach immigrant women how to read. And adventurous young women continue to seek challenges to conquer with grit and determination. The stories I collected from women around the world reflect these differences in temperament, background, experiences, and interests.

Listening to them was not only inspirational, it was also a lesson in history. From ninety-one year old Peggy Kennell I learned about the Johnstown Flood of 1936. Eighty-six-year-old Wai-Ling Lew taught me about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that barred the immigration of all Chinese laborers. And Yvonne Richmond, eighty-one years old, illuminated what it was like for an African American to live through the race riots of the 1960s.