My mother celebrated her 91st birthday last week, and I was thrilled to be able to spend time with her. I spent a week visiting with her and my father, also 91, and their friends. We went out to dinner with a long time family friend, and I sat in on my mother’s Bible study group, something I have done several times. I am sorry I missed the discussion of Bad Girls of the Bible. I am incredibly fortunate to still have both my parents in my life. While my mother has mobility issues, she is able to get around with a walker. My dad is in better physical shape and still drives short distances to the grocery store, Starbucks and their favorite sandwich shop. When the weather is nice, they take a picnic to the local park. They repeat themselves (as we all do) and their memories can be faulty (mine, too), but they keep up with the news and participate in events at the retirement community. Our dinner out was at the new fine dining bistro on campus. I enjoyed delicious gourmet potstickers and lobster ravioli in pesto cream sauce. I am also fortunate to be able to connect with my parents’ friends as well. They talk openly about the joys and challenges of getting old. The leader of the Bible study made a comment that has stuck with me. In a discussion of what kind of evidence we use to support our beliefs, she said she tends to dwell more in the mystery of her faith, not doubting but finding the human explanations of the divine and the afterlife to be inadequate to describe her widening sense of the beyond. The women in the Bible study also talked about the challenges of continuing to find purpose in their lives. Most of these women married, raised families and, as part what I think of as the Betty Friedan generation, a few went to college and most worked outside the home in some capacity. They had opportunities to travel. They volunteered in their local churches and communities while they worked and more so after they retired. Now, even as their world gets smaller, they see the next generation moving into their places as committee chairs and event organizers. I don’t remember if the group had a specific answer to the challenge of finding purpose, just that it was a struggle. For me, yhe answer lies in the way they live: they are active in the world they inhabit. They participate on committees, offering their historical knowledge (the retirement community is 75 years old); they meet in various study groups; they attend lectures, concerts and, if possible, go on field trips. There are several choral groups and a bell choir that participate in the weekly chapel service. The retirement community has partnered with the Rodale Institute, which operates a small farm on the campus. Residents are invited to help with the farm as they are able and everyone benefits from easy access to fresh vegetables. There are lots of public spaces where people can socialize. Usually, one table in the gathering area holds a jigsaw puzzle. Together, these elders are creating a new purpose, supporting themselves and others through the process of growing old and dying and providing an example to the next generation about how to live your whole life.