THE BITCHIN SISTERS - Nancy and Janet are old and in the way!

THE WORLD IS CHANGING. It seems like there are more instances of crime, robberies, home invasions, and more. Nancy and Janet remember their childhood, when they roamed, unchaperoned and without cellphones, in forests and around lakes. They lived charmed lives, no doubt, but currently, for the first time, fear is on the rise.

STORIES WE REMEMBER--and some we DON'T WANT to remember. Have you ever watched a program or read a book or seen a movie and thought, "what if this had been ME?" Sometimes the story will come at just the right time, and it alters your actions. Sometimes the story, the song, perfectly expresses an event in your life and will always incite the memory. You probably have a memory like this...

THERE AE SO MANY THINGS! Tank tops. Hi heels. Short shorts. Climbing ladders. Shoveling in the garden. Kneeling on the bare floor. ETC. ETC. ETC. As we have aged we have had to change our wardrobe, our jewelry, our household chores, and the way we vacation. While much has been lost, Nancy finds a long list of things she CAN STILL DO!

NOT TO GET POLITICAL, but the social atmosphere has chilled with the result that divisions seem greater, values seem oppositional, and people are tiptoeing around a lot more. In spite of all this Nancy strives to find a way to connect--and she makes it work!

NANCY HAS GIVEN THIS A LOT OF THOUGHT. Janet, not so much. Nancy explains how she changed over the years until her values and her expression of her values synced to reveal her life's meaning. She encourages listeners to evaluate their own beliefs, values, and actions. D E E P.

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE ONE! Whether it's a spouse, a friend, or a sympathetic family member, an emotional support person can help you when you most need it. Maybe it's a trip to the emergency room for an illness or accident. You need SOMEONE there, physically, to hold your hand and make sure you're treated well. Or perhaps you're chairing a fund-raising event for your favorite service club--your emo...

We're all waiting for it, after a certain age. What will it be?--Cancer? A stroke? COPD? WHAT???? IT'S THE WAKE-UP CALL. We'll learn about it in a doctor's office, or in an email or text. "You're screwed." Everything is going to change. This is IT! You're going to have to go through something you REALLY don't want to do, but there's NO OTHER WAY. And then what--after the change?

My great-grandchildren like to taunt me and imitate me, in a good-naturedly way. We are friends. I know them intimately and they know me. I am teaching them how to be grandparents--for when the time comes. From board games to excursions to parks, museums, caves, lakes, plays--grandparents do it all. Nancy has many ideas for entertaining grandkids at home. Grandparenting really IS a way to atone fo...

I was just a little girl when I learned about vaccines. It was the polio vaccine. You cannot imagine the scope of vaccination! Even at age 81 I remember the scene when hundreds of children were vaccinated at my grade school. And today... ???

Taking a walk through our gardens is like wandering through our lives. So many plants remind us of people we loved, places we've been, and adventures we've had. Janet has a wild, woodland garden with commemorative trees and flowers. Nancy has an Asian influence garden including unique features made by her husband. For the Bitchin' Sisters, the garden is an extension of their lives. Of course, mist...

WHEN YOU GET TO BE OUR AGE you've got some stories about cars and trucks you've owned--anyway, if you live in rural Wisconsin you absolutely need a vehicle. Nancy and Janet remember cars from their childhoods. Vehicles seem to have stories of their own, through the years. From cross-country trips with four children in a station wagon to the disappearance of a silver Mustang, 50 years ago, For most...

How many times have you looked back and marveled at the result of a choice you made--a relationship, a change in employment, a move to a new place. Do you wonder what MIGHT have been your life if you had made different choices. Nancy found a life's work; She counsels listeners to become more confident, and to make choices that benefit them.

What is it that you seek out? A rare bird at the feeder? A great bakery with your favorite donuts? A yarn shop? Or maybe it's some hot live music OR some HOT Thai cuisine! What do you seek out?

The bitchin' sisters and their friend, Ann, describe three "splitting p" stories. Janet left an abusive realtionship when she still had young children, Nancy's husband died unexpectedly, and Ann's husband of over 40 years left her for a woman wo was younger than their grown daughter--in China! But what did these women do? They'll tell you how they survived, changed, and grew. And you? How did you...

PETS are not always the fluffy, cuddly kind. In fact, it seems that the sisters and their friend, Ann, recall stories of some unusual pets, over the years. Still humans seek the companionship of other living beings, no matter how humble.

NANCY tells the story of her husband's sudden death, and how her motorcycle became a means to healing and rebirth. She tells of the far places she rode and the solo trip to Maine, where she had lived years before. She tells of friends along the road. She tells us about meeting Mike, now her husband, on a "poker run." Since then they have traveled 170,000 miles together! She's led an INTERESTING li...

TODAY my husband remarked that the LAST CENTURY was ACTUALLY more than a quarter of a century ago! So MUCH has changed, and I don't just mean the obvious. Not computers and cellphones, I've tried to keep up with that, and I've done pretty well. But there are SO MANY THINGS that have changed while I wasn't looking! I was a hold-out for a cellphone, and that cost me. And then when I got one I had a...

YES! NANCY GOT MARRIED ---AGAIN! And why not? She ans her "better half" had been living together for over 20 years when they were presented with a religious reason to marry. BUT IT WASN'T EASY! There were many steps. MANY STEPS! They followed them all and, on the way, they did sweet little things for each other. They behaved like young lovers, with gifts and gestures. Even when a family tragedy in...

IF YOU HAVE THE INCLINATION you can help make your community a better place. Can you read? Maybe you could volunteer to read to children at the library or dschool. You can join a friends group and help where your interests lie. Mark talks aout his 37 years of service as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician. Janet used graphics skills to promote several friends groups. Even Nancy's KNITTING GRO...

THERE IS NO DENYING THE RESTORATIVE POWERS OF NATURE. Janet and Nancy reminisce about childhood days spent in the woods of the Catskill Mountains. This provided a lifelong desire to live in the country, in the woods, in nature. So many people live in cities, in hi-rises, in duplexes, in apartments. Do they ever see the night sky? Do they have any connection with the natural world? Both of the bitc...

NAMES I'VE KNOWN-- Our name defines us, to some extent. Apparently, people name their babies names that signify a higher class that their own. Some people name their babies joke names! My two kids have the first names in the baby names list, Abby and Aaron. There was a bit of a feud with their father--let's leave it at that. Who are you and who have you been. I was everything from "Legs" to "Grand...

TRUST is such an elusive thing. It is often on shaky ground, but it perseveres. Nancy relates a personal generational story about trust. She also explores how to demonstrate trust and how to nurture it. I've often heard the phrase "trust issues." Apparently a person is loathe to trust when they've suffered a history of broken trusts. Sounds about right.

COFFEE, it's SO much more than a beverage. Nancy saw it as an adult ritual. When vacationing, she sought out coffee plantations and even seemed to form an emotional attachment to a certain blend. Janet just remembers that it was NANCY who got her hooked on coffee creamers--the bain of the middle-age female body. And that's just starters...

If you have a partner of many years, you have probably discussed the idea that ONE of you will "go" first--unless, of course, you're in an accident, or a house fire, or a mass murder. Otherwise, it's you or them. And then what? I've had friends who've had to "go it alone'" and I have been impressed by how capable and strong they are. How would I react? How wound you?

Nancy measures her life by husbands! Yes! And then she measures by her name: maiden name, married names, hippie name! And then she asks, "what if you knew how long your life would be? How would life be different? And what if you could know how long other people would be living? It brings up all sorts of ethical questions.