Being Nemo

I'm in Chicago this week attending the American Society on Aging/National Council on Aging Annual Conference along with 3,999 other people. It's a zoo. And I have the prestigious honor of being a speaker here, along with about 1,299 other speakers. Who knew there would be topics like "Intensive Case Management for Russian-Speaking Elders with Mental Illness: A Collaborative Approach," "The Mapplethorpe-Haring Model of Depression Treatment for Older Adults with HIV" or "Believe and Anything is Possible: All You Need is Web Programming and Bubbles?" No shortage of variety here. I've enjoyed meeting new people and hanging out with old friends, too.

ASA has new leadership and it's nice to see many young people attending a conference about aging. Jane is a thirty-something Gerontology professor at University of Northern Colorado who is pitching her program at a trade show booth. She's a smart cookie, getting in on the ground floor of senior care as 78 million Boomers morph into senior citizens. My favorite speaker so far is author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, MacArthur Prize-winning sociologist and Harvard professor. She read most of her speech, but spoke passionately and eloquently about developing "a compelling vision of later life, one that does not assume a trajectory of decline after 50 but recognizes this as a time of potential change, growth and new learning, a time when our courage gives us hope." I bought a copy of her book, "The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk and Adventure in the 25 Years After 50." I feel quite thrilled and special to have been one of her peers as a speaker here, along with those 1,298 others. Nothing wrong with being a small fish in a big pond. After all, I'm one of those 78 million Boomers. I just think of myself as Nemo.