by Marguerite Elisofon | Jul 31, 2015 | baby boomers, crime rates, criminal justice reform, drug counselors policies, John Boehner, millennials, Obama, prisons, psychologists, sentencing laws, slavery, youthful offenders
Did you know that America has by far the highest incarceration rate of any Western nation, with 750 humans in jail per 100,000 people? If that statistic isn’t horrifying enough, consider the fact that over 50% of inmates are in federal prison for drug crimes...
by Marguerite Elisofon | Jul 25, 2015 | ACCES-VR, autism, baby boomers, college grads, disabilities, hope, John Milton, Larry David, lawyers, millennials, optimism, OPWDD, Pace University, pessimism, Shawshank Redemption, twins
In one of my all-time favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption, Red reads a letter from his friend Andy, who escaped from prison after years of being punished for a crime he didn’t commit. In the letter Andy says: “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things,...
by Marguerite Elisofon | Jul 10, 2015 | aging, baby boomers, Billy Joel, Botox, empty nest, Grateful Dead, hip surgery, Indy 500, Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, parents, Paul McCartney, Phil Lesh, plastic surgery, rock stars, Rolling Stones, twins, youth
Aside from plastic surgery and Botox, how can we grow old gracefully if we’re lucky enough to stay healthy and remain on the planet? For me and many other baby boomers in our 50s and 60s, this is a burning question. First we raised our children and watched them...
by Marguerite Elisofon | Apr 10, 2015 | autism, Ayn Rand, baby boomers, Compelling People, criminals, disablity, empty nesters, Hillary Clinton, Hitler, Martin Luther King, Oprah, Osama bin Laden, psychopaths, Robert Kennedy, terrorists, The Beatles
Wouldn’t it be great to have such a compelling personality that you could persuade people to buy your product, adopt your point of view, or follow you to the ends of the earth? I promise I wouldn’t be a psychopath, and I’d really enjoy that kind of power. ...
by Marguerite Elisofon | Mar 27, 2015 | art, baby boomers, careers, Coca Cola, empty nester, Frank McCourt, Golda Meir, Grandma Moses, grandmothers, KFC, late bloomers, music, older athletes, Picasso, retirement, Vassar, writing
It is never too late to be what you might have been. –George Eliot Isn’t it encouraging to know that even if you’re 50, 60 (or possibly older), you still have time become successful in a new career? According to The New York Times, “Finding...
by Marguerite Elisofon | Jan 2, 2015 | baby boomers, baby proofing, babysitters, birthdays, cancer, empty nest, Febreze, Google, grandparents, holidays, Lego, suburbia, the next generation, twins
Hatching the Next Generation Instead of looking back at 2014, I thought it would be more fun to look forward. What happens to new empty nesters down the road after their offspring have flown the coop? Some parents may preserve a grown up child’s room...
Marguerite Elisofon is a New York City writer and the author of My Picture Perfect Family, a memoir about how her family navigated life with a child on the autistic spectrum before the internet and support groups existed. She also blogs about parenting young adults and disability related issues in The Never Empty Nest. Her writing has been featured in a variety of publications, including Time and NY Metro Parents magazine, and her family’s story has been featured by the NY Post, Fox News, The Daily Mail, and on Jenny McCarthy’s Dirty Sexy Funny radio show. A Vassar graduate, Marguerite was born and raised in New York City, where she still lives with her husband, Howard, in their mostly-empty nest. She is available to speak about a wide variety of issues relating to twins, parenting, and autism. 