Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age By Carrie McConkey Today, my sister Paige is turning 50. Let me rephrase that. My little sister Paige is turning 50. She’s had a bit of a dress rehearsal on two occasions. The first was in 2020 when she watched me enter the new decade. But I didn’t set a…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age By Carrie McConkey “Your blood work looks fine. You’re in menopause,” said the nurse at my new gynecologist’s office. The prior week had been my first annual checkup since Dr. McCollum, my beloved women’s physician, had retired. The menopause message was old news — sort of — since a similar…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 12 Days before my 51st birthday, I received an unexpected gift. By Carrie McConkey My primary care physician’s office was calling my cell; when I answered, it was his nurse, Linda. “Dr. Chaudhuri is out of town, but he wanted me to call you with your bloodwork results from last week’s…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 11 Finding My Way Back to a Significant Place. By Carrie McConkey My Sister in Curls and fashion informant Laura Cope recommended I watch the movie Halston on Amazon Prime a couple of years ago. …

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 10 I’ve discovered a second generation of sisterhood among the daughters of women I hold dear. By Carrie McConkey In my early forties, I let go of my ambivalence toward having kids. The questions had slowed regarding when John and I were going to start a family, and he and I…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 9 Smoothing out my feelings about having curly hair. By Carrie McConkey I’m certain I was born with the wrong hair texture. As God’s all-knowing finger was heading for the “STRAIGHT” hair button, I’m convinced a clumsy angel tripped over her harp, causing Him to accidentally stab “CURLY”. (”Whoops!” He must…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 8 Facing planned and unplanned stressors against the backdrop of COVID, I’m turning to a once-beloved hobby for relief. By Carrie McConkey I’ve been crying a lot lately. My husband John and I have lost several loved ones in recent months, and I’m still recovering from elective foot surgery. The grief…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 7 Tips and advice for a surgery brought on by style. By Carrie McConkey Bunion. I hate the word. I’d always associated a bunion with a wart — an unwanted growth. And no one wants an unwanted growth. But somewhere along my life’s journey I developed hallux valgus — a bunion…

Decade N° 5: A Not-so-Average Blog on Middle Age Month 6 A childhood in the seventies and eighties provided opportunities for creativity and love. By Carrie McConkey My husband John leaned over our kitchen counter, hands pressed on either side of my November Decade N° 5 blog draft. “What do you think?” I asked, ”Does it make sense?” “Yeah, but it’s…