This is my eighth month writing this column, and over time, I’ve come to believe that one consistent ingredient in a successful retirement—if there is such a thing—is building and maintaining social relationships.

Since moving to the Lowcountry, I’ve been fascinated by how many men and women in our social circle have maintained friendships that began decades ago. I love hearing stories about the people I know now from the people who knew them back then. There is something remarkable about a friendship that has survived 40 or 50 years—college, careers, marriages, children, moves, and all the inevitable twists and turns of life.

Dear Pink Panel,

I can’t seem to unsee this, panel members. I saw a person I know steal something out of a purse at a party. It has been missed by the owner, and the buzz is it’s been stolen. It was a fairly valuable item, and everyone talking about it knows everyone else, too! What should I do? What would you do? I have no one else to ask without letting the cat out of the bag!

Signed,
Claudia

Q: My husband and I are not on the same page when it comes to our just-turned four-year-old son. He thinks our son’s behavior is a phase that he will outgrow. To me, his defiance and tantrums are alarming and need to be dealt with now to prevent them from getting worse. Most recently, he has started hitting and kicking us when he doesn’t get his way. My husband responds by talking and compromising. Ugh! What is your take on this?

Greek mythology is a collection of ancient stories that explain the origins of the world, the lives of the gods, and the adventures of heroes. These myths were passed down for centuries by Bards (oral historians) and served to teach moral lessons.

At the center of Greek mythology is Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods. Zeus became ruler of Mount Olympus and was recognized as the god of the sky, thunder, justice, and order.

August is National Eye Exam Month which serves as a timely reminder that healthy vision is about much more than seeing clearly—it’s an essential part of living well. From reading a favorite book and driving safely to recognizing the faces of loved ones and enjoying the beauty around us, our eyes connect us to the world every day. Yet eye health is often overlooked until something changes.

Regular comprehensive eye exams are one of the simplest ways to help preserve vision, monitor overall eye health, and establish a baseline that can benefit you for years to come. At every age and stage of life, understanding how to care for your eyes is an investment in your future quality of life.

How the Lowcountry Helps Us
Stay Curious, Connected, and Engaged

Recently, a friend forwarded me a Facebook post featuring a cognitive specialist discussing what often happens during the first two to three years of retirement. The specialist explained that working provides our brains with a steady stream of challenges—making decisions, solving problems, meeting deadlines, maintaining routines, learning new things, and interacting with others. When that structure changes, our brains have to adjust. According to the specialist, this transition may be one of the most significant adjustments our brains will ever make. This certainly caught my attention.

Dear Pink Panel,

I am with a very kind man who is good-hearted in every way. Lucky me, right? Well, I guess every silver lining has a cloud because he has a big flaw that is really starting to bother me. He is a LUMP! He almost never wants to go anywhere. He will not even think about going out to dinner, on a hike, to a movie and has no interest in travel, which I love. I am not a nag, but I feel like I’m becoming one. I ask for outings regularly and always get turned down. This is NOT working. Any advice or help is more than welcome, Pink Ladies!

Signed,
Nora

A grandmother in Arkansas says her adult children have great difficulty telling their children what to do. They turn instructions—more accurately, what they think are instructions—into questions and then wonder why their kids don’t seem to appreciate their timidity.

Grandma’s email made me think of a habit I have noticed among people a generation or more younger than myself. To wit, when they order food in a restaurant, they ask if they are allowed to have whatever they want. For example, when ordering a hamburger, instead of saying, “I’ll have a hamburger” or “I’d like a hamburger, please,” they ask, “Can I have a hamburger?”

The Reel Corner isn’t forgetting
America’s 250th celebration.

Lately, all kinds of “Top 250” lists have been popping up, like patriotic songs and landmark books about our history and values. So now, it’s time for The Reel Corner to join the party. At last month’s Fourth of July picnic, I checked in my friends Trudy, Diane, Marie, George, Ellen, and Kris to get their picks for their favorite patriotic films. After hearing their suggestions, I put together The Reel Corner’s Top 10 Patriotic Films. Take a look, celebrate your patriotism, and honor the stories that helped shape our nation.

First let’s start with a recent film:

General Life-Saving Basics You Need to Know

What are the first things someone should do when they realize
another person may be in life-threatening danger?
Call 911! Don’t hesitate, call. If you are going to approach the patient: First, make sure it is safe for you to do so—if you become injured or placed in danger, you cannot help the patient.

What information should you be ready to give the dispatcher?
Be ready to give an accurate location, clear directions, and any known hazards; scene safety is paramount. Is the patient conscious, breathing or do they have a pulse? Give as much information as you can about what happened, as this helps determine if additional resources or specialty care may be needed. Explain the patient’s complaint and note any signs or symptoms (i.e. respiratory distress, chest pain, nausea, bleeding etc.). Report if there are multiple victims. If so, how many? Do not become frustrated with the questions being asked. Dispatchers are trained to gather information and are passing it along to EMS while they are on the way to you.

When I started this journey of self-reflection
and self-exploration six months ago,
prepping for and writing this article,
I made what was perhaps the most surprising discovery of all..

 
For as long as I can remember, my expectation of the retirement years—my “Third Act”—was that they represented a kind of finality. A resting place. A hard stop. A chapter where life gradually slowed down and settled into a humdrum routine.

But surprise, surprise—retirement here in the Lowcountry has been anything but final, restful, or boring.

Dear Pink Panel,

How would you handle rejection from a family member you had thought to be close?
By this, I mean, I did not feel any open animosity, and there has been
no argument that I know of. I am totally unsure if I should make a move
or leave this situation to play out. Can you help me?

Signed,
Roni

Q: Our soon to be 5-year-old son enjoys playing with his 14-month-old brother, but there have been three times recently when the baby has started crying and when I check, big brother has a guilty look on his face. So far, the baby has suffered a scratch under one eye, a red mark on his face where a ball hit him, and a bruised forehead from falling over. When big brother is banished to his room for these incidents, he is more upset about being punished than about hurting his brother. His lack of remorse bothers us. As a result, we've put baby brother off limits for a time. Are we expecting too much?

Who Knew Wool, Tentacles, and Flying Saucers could spark so much trouble!

The Sheep Detectives (PG)
Hugh Jackman, Nicolas Braun, Patrick Stewart, voices of Julia Louis Dreyfus, Brett Goldstein, Regina Hall | Director: Kyle Balda

The Sheep Detectives is a delightfully cozy romp that blends broad comedy with a clever whodunnit, making it the sort of film that genuinely has something for everyone. At its heart is a rural charm, the kind that will appeal to anyone who’s ever daydreamed about living on a farm and raising sheep. But the film pairs that pastoral setting with a light, Agatha Christie–style intrigue.

Is there anything more iconic—
or frankly more stereotypical—in retirement
than picking up an activity like tennis?.

 
Life in the Lowcountry put this game squarely in front of me from the word go. And what an experience it has been so far.

I’m not a novice when it comes to tennis. In fact, at the tender age of 40-something—when both of my mid-teen children were driving and becoming amazingly self-sufficient—I started taking lessons at our neighborhood club. It was convenient, available nights and weekends, and I figured I could work off both the stress of the workday and a few of those unnecessary workday calories by smacking a few balls around for an hour or so.

Dear Pink Panel,

My last two on-line meet ups have been disastrous. Panel, please tell me how to avoid this kind of thing because I seem to be a big failure at spotting a phony.
I could even expand this to my recent luck with meeting new people in general.
I feel like I am missing cues. What are some signs or hints
to look for to avoid online dating scams or liars?

Signed,
Sandy

“What have I done to cause
my 18-month-old son to reject me?”  
    

“What have I done to cause my 18-month-old son to reject me?” asks a new dad. Whenever he tries to hold his son, feed, dress, or change him, the child puts up great resistance and screams hysterically for his mother.

Actually, Dad is describing behavior that is not at all unusual for this age child. It has its roots in the fact that with rare exception, the parent who has been at the child’s beck-and-call until now has been the mother. During infancy and early toddlerhood, even the most well-intentioned father is considerably less involved with his child than is his wife.

Fashion in film is more than costume; it’s shorthand for identity, mood, and moment. A good costume designer translates character psychology into fabric, and cinema then translates that fabric into cultural desire. Watching films from Breakfast at Tiffany’s to The Matrix, you see outfits leap off the screen and onto the streets—sometimes as subtle inspiration, sometimes as outright viral trends.

Take Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961): The opening image of Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy’s black sheath, layered with pearls and a long cigarette holder, didn’t just define Holly Golightly—it cemented the little black dress as an icon of chic, accessible glamour.

Your pulse can reveal the most important factors
regarding the current state of your heart.
World Heart Rhythm Week, June 1st-7th, plays a vital role in raising awareness about heart rhythm disorders, also known as arrhythmias, which affect millions of people worldwide and can lead to serious complications such as stroke, heart failure, sudden cardiac arrest, and death. The campaign encourages education about symptoms, risk factors, early detection, and treatment options, while promoting healthier lifestyles, and regular
heart screenings.

Experiencing the world differently in retirement—
slower, more intentional, and with
deeper appreciation.

As I stood at the bluff of the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in France last summer, it was impossible not to feel the weight of history. The wind, the vast stretch of sand, the quiet—it all carried a gravity that books and photos have never quite captured. My husband and I had long dreamed of this trip, and with 2025 being the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, we knew there was no better time to finally experience it.

Dear Pink Panel,

I have been told a secret in absolute trust, but telling what I was told could really help a hurtful situation. I know this is hard for the panel to answer with so few details. But just in general, what do you think about this sort of situation?

Signed,
Judy

Our Question of the Week (QOTW) is,
“Pray tell, what is ‘outdated’ about obedience,
respect, proper manners, and humility?”    
      

Said QOTW is prompted by numerous grandparents who have informed me they are not qualified, apparently, to care for their grandchildren because they are not hip to the most up-to-date parenting methods. They reprimand their grandchildren when they misbehave, for example. Or, even more egregious, said grandparents absolutely refuse to negotiate in the face of tantrums.

Ryan Gosling goes where hope meets the impossible!

Ryan Gosling is an actor whose range quietly defies easy categorization. He can shift from romantic lead to volatile antihero, from introspective drama to broad self-aware comedy.

He has quietly become one of Hollywood’s most magnetic, versatile actors. He first captured mainstream hearts as the sensitive, romantic lead in The Notebook, but over the years he has shown remarkable range from the brooding antihero energy of Drive to the playful scene-stealing turncoat as Ken in Barbie. Gosling brings an easy charm and a distinct physicality to his roles, with equal parts deadpan humor, emotional honesty, and polished charisma. This combination makes him an actor worth following, someone who can anchor a sweeping love story, carry a sci-fi premise as in Project Hail Mary, or reinvent a genre with subtlety and style.

When was the last time you checked in
with your doctor?

Are you up to date on routine exams and screenings? If not, National Women’s Checkup Day—observed each year on the second Monday in May—is the perfect reminder to schedule your annual visit and stay on top of your health.

As part of National Women’s Health Week, this observance encourages women to take proactive steps toward better well-being. Regular checkups can help detect potential issues early, before they become more serious. They also provide an opportunity to talk with your physician about risk factors, symptoms, and any concerns—big or small.

Building new social circles, nurturing connections,
and learning how to make friends all over
again in life’s later seasons.

When outlining ideas for this column, one avenue I wanted to explore—for myself—was the idea of learning how to be a better friend. A better confidant, a better listener.