Welcome to AARP. By welcome I don’t mean getting the card. I’ve had mine for a while. (okay, a LONG while.) By welcome I mean attending my first AARP event, Life@50+.
They had me at hello. Actually they had me even before Hello, as soon as I walked in the door of the San Diego Convention Center.
#1: My intimate friend Mrs. Fields greeted me right off the bat in the lobby. Immediately I knew this would be a good time..
#2. Inside, more friends, old and new. Which set the tone with a theme. I learned this weekend that the #1 predictor of successful aging is not health, or money, or love, but connections.
#3. Speaking of connections, Ruth Curran (on your right above), provided a perfect example. I had never met her before, and in our first conversation, I happened to mention my interest obsession with chocolate. Ruth lives in San Diego and raved about a fabulous local chocolatier.
4. The next morning, Ruth showed up with proof. (Let’s just say it’s worth a trip back to San Diego.) In addition to her role as my chocolate supplier, Ruth was administering memory tests for the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation; and I took a test in their booth to find out if I’m starting to lose my short term memory.
Speaking of Ruth, did I mention that she brought me chocolate?
#5. More connecting, and a souvenir of a wonderful time bonding with Barbara Hannah Grufferman, who hosts an AARP video series.
#6. Per connections, it’s hard to believe 35 million people still are not online, most of them older and intimidated by technology. Recognizing the importance of changing that, AARP unveiled a brand new product created by a partnership with Intel. Check out the RealPad, reasonably priced, easy to use, an inspired idea.
#7. Inspiration was everywhere with amazing speakers including Valerie Harper, Kevin Spacey, Arianna Huffington, Martha Stewart, and Joan Lunden, who appeared despite currently battling breast cancer,
8. Bonus inspiration from Elizabeth Edwards’ daughter Kate, part of a panel on breast cancer.
9. Reminder to take risks at any age. Like the talented finalists for the Boomer Superstar Contest (posing with celebrity judges) who performed onstage and knocked it out of the park.
#10. The beautiful setting. It must be something about the palm trees. The next Life@50+ event is May 14-16, 2015 in Miami, my hometown. Hope to see you there!
Besides the palm trees, I hope there’s chocolate. Did I mention that?
Schakolad on 41st Street. I will take u.
If the person who offered to take you some place was talking about chocolate…in Miami…I am in! I so loved meeting you in person and laughing together! Here’s to more to come!
It was so wonderful to spend time with you! You ran about spreading your sunshine everywhere! Thank you for your warm welcome. I hope to see you again soon! BTW – I actually guarded your chocolate for you… and I love chocolate!
I forgot you’re a Miami resident now. Will definitely try it in May. That’s my old neighborhood where I grew up.
You’re on–May 2015; and I assume she’s talking about chocolate….what else is there??? So enjoyed getting to know you, too and look forward to next time, just hoping it’s sooner than May. Thank you again for being so incredibly thoughtful even though I should probably not thank you for enabling me. haha
You guarded my chocolate? You’re even a better friend than I realized! Thank you for that, for your sweet comment and for the fun of getting to hang out. Know I will see you again soon, especially now that we’ll be neighbors!
I love a good dark chocolate too.. Perhaps a trip to San Diego is in order, although our local chocolatier is amazing too. This whole trip looks like a lot of fun too, meeting fellow bloggers would be a delight.
Glad to see we speak the same language: i.e. chocolate. The trip was fun; and it’s always a treat to connect with bloggers I’ve met online in real life. Look forward to meeting you sometime. THanks so much for commenting.