Slate's Geezer Issue One Year Later: Visit to My Future

In "A Visit to My Future," columnist Emily Yoffe gives us a humorous, and at times melancholy, glimpse into old age as she shadows women from a Washington, D.C. retirement community. While I expected an account of the loneliness and nostalgia of life in an old persons' home (something like the NY Times article "Slight Shadows of Life"), what I got was a profile of the spunky and optimistic widows who populate "Leisure World." Though their interests may primarily concern navigating casinos and cashing in on coupons, the ladies of Leisure World possess a starkly realistic, yet lively, approach to life that offers hope to the rest of us. For example, when asked if she was looking to remarry for the third time at age 77, Ann Simpson replies simply that men her age are searching for "a nurse with a purse." Yoffe's tone matches the lightheartedness of the widows, and surprisingly, she pokes fun at herself rather than at the women. The only serious turn in tone comes at the end of the article, where Yoffe hints on the loneliness and abundance of free time that compels women to waste money at the penny slots. Despite the sobering moment, Yoffe gives us a refreshing take on the activities, romance, and wisecracks that compose life inside a retirement community.