Dont Act Your Age

My Psychedelic Escape Plan

Receiving a draft notice in the late 60s felt like getting a death sentence. Add to that a growing resistance to the Vietnam War and it's easy to see why guys between 18 and 26—like our friend Bob—looked for any way to avoid induction. Instead of fleeing to Canada or shooting himself in the foot, Bob came up with a creative ploy he hoped would work: LSD. 

There was a word-of-mouth rumor that taking it could make you unfit for military service. So with the help of his girlfriend, Bob dove into an altered state not unlike Alice in "White Rabbit." Did it work to avoid the Army? We'll let Bob explain. Let's just say there were unintended consequences and plot twists. And while his psychedelic escape plan didn't turn out the way he hoped, Bob still took some positives from the experience. 

Fifty years after Bob's trip, LSD is back. Not yet legal, but used to cure addictions, to ease the end of life for the terminally ill, and for a new fad called micro-dosing. Check out these links for some serious reading about all of the above.

"Psychedelic Science Is Making a Comeback"

"The Science of the Psychedelic Renaissance"

"Why people say ‘micro-dosing’ is curing their mental illness"

"Psychedelics Are Helping Cancer Patients Fend Off Despair"

Her Name Was Jean

You didn't have to attend high school in a small midwestern town to know a couple like Denny and Karen. They were always together, holding hands and whispering secrets. Before class. After school. At the mall. Everybody knew a graduation ring would soon be followed by one that announced engagement. It all rings true for Karen and Denny — except the last part. 

Theirs is the story of love that was lost and found more than once. How it survived through decades, and despite marriages to others. And a happy ending that became the first step on a new road of discovery.

Your Mileage May Vary

How do high-mileage Americans thumb their noses at the grim reaper? It's not all diet, exercise and teetotaling as you'll hear from 40 happy folks over 75. They share some of their secrets to long life in this sneak preview of "Lives Well Lived," a new film hitting theaters from Maine to California. And the film's director, who recently hit 50 herself, tells you what lessons she learned that give her a brighter outlook on growing older. For a second opinion, you'll hear from John Leland, a New York Times reporter and author of the book "Happiness Is A Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old." It's a short episode that should leave you with a lot to think about.

Last Train from Marienburg

Most of us remember little or nothing about being 5 years old. Frank Gregor is the exception. At 78, he recalls it all too clearly. Far better than he'd like to. That's Frank in the picture with his family during a happy moment right before their world turned upside down. If it's true that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, nobody would know better than Frank.

 

This anti-aging warrior will raise your consciousness, your blood pressure or both.

Ashton Applewhite’s book (“This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Aging”) is a wakeup call for a society obsessed with youth. The stigma of wrinkles. The stereotype of being feeble and forgetful. Ashton believes our worship of everything young creates a caste system where anybody over 50 is marginalized at best and shunned at worst. While you may not agree with everything Ashton says, she delivers a cherry bomb of an argument that people of any age can’t ignore. Follow Ashton's crusade against ageism at thischairrocks.com

The New Old Me

Break-ups, shake-ups and couch surfing at 60. Is it too late to rebuild your life when fate knocks you
around like a piñata? Meredith Maran wrote the book on starting over after being blindsided by a series of misfortunes that would send the toughest of us reeling. All right on the doorstep of what was supposed to be those easygoing Golden Years.  Photo: Robert de Bock

DAYA Profile: The Reluctant Millionaire

Honk if you had dreams of getting rich when you were in your 20s and 30s (even most hippies did). Well, we know a guy who turned that dream into reality. An Iowa boy from humble beginnings, he became a savvy entrepreneur, and later sold his company for the big bucks. Now in retirement, he’s found that money can buy happiness — not just for himself, but for thousands of people for whom diabetes is a daily cross to bear.

Learn more about the Mary & Dick Allen Diabetes Center here. The leading edge facility is part of the Hoag Hospital System in Orange Co., California.

Crash Landing: A Love Story

A 60-something woman trying to hold a relationship together. A crisis at 8,000 feet. A certain...eh, bodily fluid. Dealing with loss without losing your mind. It's like a whole season of a TV drama in one short and sweet episode.

What can the dying teach the living about life?

For starters, lessons learned the hard way about what’s truly important, whether you’re 25 or 75. Listen as Hospice patients look back with the perspective only someone at the end can see clearly. Even their regrets can teach us how to live with purpose and dignity. 

On The Trail of a Killer

Ebola. Just because it's no longer a scary headline doesn't mean that it's gone. But why in hell would a comfortably retired Granddad go looking for it?