Maxine Borowsky Junge

Dear Myra, Dear Max Maxine Borowsky Junge

Dear Myra, Dear Max is a book about growing older by a 93 year-old woman (Myra) and an 80 year-old woman (Max). It is an epistolary book-an email conversation of close to four years in which two women of different generations and different living situations-Myra lives in an Independent Living community and Max lives alone with her dog Betsy-share their thoughts about their lives and ponder the big questions of meaning that plague everyone who is alive and thinks. Despite health issues, we kept writing. Originally, we were motivated because we couldn't find anything to read about people 75 plus years old that seemed pertinent to us and was anything but myths, assumptions and opinions. Exploring, we learned how little literature there was about this age group at all and how it was pretty much limited to the "it's not as bad as all that, but old age is not for sissies" department with a tad of inspirational stuff thrown in. One large national study included a few "older" people, but told stories about at retirement now, how so many were able to create new careers of what they "really wanted to do" all along. There is no question people are living longer and as Baby Boomers encounter retirement age, more attention is being paid. Perhaps ageism will eventually come more to the forefront and the aging become visible and valued as they should be. We hope so. But there are those of us even older than Baby Boomers who are real social pioneers trekking along a path with few landmarks or touchstones to guide the way. In this book you will find out a lot about us. Frankly, we hope some of it will be helpful and that at least you know you are not alone. A few days ago, a friend responded to an email I'd sent by writing "Congratulations on refusing to retire!" I sent her back an email that said "This is what retirement looks like these days." We hope you enjoy our book. Love, Myra and Max