About Me

My name is Madeleine Kolb, and I created this blog because—as I grow older—I can’t help but notice that a lot of the grim and depressing things we all hear about aging don’t seem to be true. The stereotypes just don’t fit me. Or most of the people I know.

 As Mark Twain said,

It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.

And much—maybe most—of what we know for sure about life in our 50s, 60s and beyond just ain’t so. So a while back I started reading everything I could about what matters most as we grow from youth to middle-age to old age. Things such as good health, good relationships, and work that we care about.

I gave speeches about my own experiences and became a Human Guinea Pig of sorts, testing for myself  whether it’s really true that you can’t teach an old dog/person new tricks. So far, it doesn’t seem to be.

In my younger days, I earned degrees in zoology and genetics at the University of Washington in Seattle. After moving to Boston, I worked for more than 20 years in the environmental field. Returning to Seattle, I got a Certificate in Technical Writing and Editing  from the UW and a job as a technical writer in a federal agency.

After retiring from that job, I started this blog and moved back to the east coast with my domestic partner. An aeronautical engineer—now working at the Pax River Naval Air Station—he jokes that he “just can’t hold a retirement.” 

I have an adult daughter who lives and works in Albany, New York. Over the years, she’s been the inspiration for several blog posts, such as Open Letter to my Daughter on Turning 30.

My passions include cooking and eating healthful food, walking or running (sometimes outdoors, sometimes, in), reading, birdwatching, bluegrass and rock music, and Toastmasters.

Some of my guest posts can be found at

GoodlifeZen  What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say
Feed the Beauty  Seriously Tweaking Stereotypes
Live Bold and Bloom  Boldly Face the Number One Fear in America 
imPOWERage   Test Pilot, Dick Newman, Fails Retirement
imPOWERage  Opinon: Being Attractive at any Age 

I’d love to get your comments, questions, and suggestions on my blog.