Prepare for the Inevitable!

Yesterday I was reminded that there are still women out there who don't get it. If you are a woman who has made it well into your fifties and your husband hasn't dumped you for a younger, sleeker model, consider yourself lucky. If you're a woman in your late sixties or early seventies and your husband hasn't kicked the bucket, consider yourself lucky. For the rest of us, there's the strong possibility that we will find ourselves in one of these unfortunate situations...sooner than we would like to think. The key is preparation.

A friend came to me and asked if I could help her ease her newly-widowed mother through a growing depression. See...Mom finds herself alone at 70 after nearly 50 years of marriage, not in the best financial shape and in quite a funk about it. Mom needs a job. I have jobs that older people can do on a part-time basis. In fact, half my staff is in their eighties. The problem is, once she married Dearly Departed Dad, this friend's mom went to live in a cave, I guess. That's all I can figure.

She hasn't worked outside the home one single day. To make matters worse, she never even volunteered anywhere. So, she essentially has no skills to offer, other than homemaking. I asked if she had any computer experience, because that's something one can acquire without actually going to work. "Oh, yes...she surfs the internet all the time." When I inquired about word processing or...GASP...Excel or even something simple like Quicken. Well....no. Dad always did all their "stuff" for the house. There is really nothing I can do for this woman. I can't pay her to just hang out in my office all day, and I don't have the time to teach her the skills she should have acquired years ago.

I thought we left this mentality behind a few decades ago. I am always totally shocked to discover I'm wrong.

Ladies!!!! Even if you don't "need" a job, get out there and do SOMETHING. Anything. Edit and mail your church bulletin. Answer the phone one afternoon a week at the woman's shelter or pet rescue. Get creative - and get experience. Anything will do. When that day comes and you're left standing in the middle of the room all by yourself - for whatever reason - you won't have to start from scratch. By that time, it's almost too late.