Passing Down Skills Instead of Advice, Managing Chronic Conditions with Confidence, and What to Know About Lifetime Gifting

You're receiving this because you signed up on our website. Want to unsubscribe? Just reply to this email with the words “no thanks.”

First-time reader? Join {{active_subscriber_count}} other seniors for free.

History (Non-Fiction): Persian Fire by Tom Holland – This gripping history recounts the epic clash between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states that helped shape Western civilization.

Memoir: Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup – Solomon Northup recounts his kidnapping into slavery and twelve-year struggle to survive and regain his freedom.

Self-Help: Linchpin by Seth Godin – Seth Godin explains how creativity, initiative, and meaningful contributions can make you indispensable in your work.

Romance: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center – A professional bodyguard pretends to be her famous client's girlfriend, only to discover their fake relationship is becoming unexpectedly real.

Want to Write a Book? Get Expert Guidance.

Have a memoir, family history, business book, or novel in mind? MemoirGhostwriting.com’s book coaching service gives you one-on-one guidance, expert feedback, and accountability to help you turn your ideas into a finished manuscript.

Learn More About Book Coaching

Every family has stories waiting to be discovered. What might be hiding in yours?

Perhaps you've always wondered where your family came from. Who were your ancestors? What did they do? Where did they live? What challenges did they overcome—and what stories have been lost to time?

You may have names, dates, old photographs, family legends, or the beginnings of a family tree. Or you may have no idea where to start.

With this package from MemoirGhostwriting.com, an experienced professional genealogist will spend 10 hours researching your family history, following the clues wherever they lead and working to uncover the people, places, relationships, records, and stories that make up your family's past.

Every family is different, and every research journey follows its own path. Your 10 hours will be devoted to investigating the questions and family lines that matter most to you.

Typical retail price: $1,495

We have two 10-hour genealogy research packages available through this silent blind bid event.

Simply decide what this genealogy research package is worth to you and submit your best offer. All bids are private, and you will not see what anyone else has offered.

The two highest qualifying bids will win, subject to our undisclosed reserve price. You will never pay more than the amount you bid.

Reply to this email with:

MY BID: $______

Bidding closes at 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, August 19, 2026.

With only two packages available, submit the strongest offer you would be happy to pay.

Your family's story didn't begin with you. This could be your chance to discover what came before.

Advice is commonly offered with the best intentions, but it isn't always remembered. Skills are different. Once someone learns how to make pie crust, sharpen garden tools, sew on a button, or change a tire, they carry that knowledge with them for years.

Sometimes the most meaningful things we pass along aren't our opinions or even our experiences—they're the things we quietly teach by doing them together.

Teaching a skill naturally facilitates conversation. Rather than sitting down for a formal talk, you're working side by side toward a shared goal.

Notably, the skills that lead to these moments can take a wide array of forms:

The activity gives everyone something to focus on, making connection more natural and mutual.

There's a special satisfaction that comes from learning to do something with your own hands. The first loaf of bread may not be perfect, and the first attempt at repairing a leaky faucet might take a little longer than expected, but each success builds confidence. And that confidence can spread well beyond the specific activity in question.

Imparting that confidence also forms deep connections. People often remember who first trusted them enough to say, "Here, you try." That encouragement, and the feeling it induced, can last much longer than the lesson itself.

Many practical skills are also family traditions. Perhaps you want to pass on the way your family prepares holiday meals, folds homemade pastries, ties fishing flies, grows tomatoes, or makes a favorite soup.

These aren't just techniques—they're part of a family's history. Passing them along helps preserve something that can't be found in a recipe book or instruction manual, all while building bridges across generations.

The lessons people appreciate most are often surprisingly ordinary:

These are the kinds of minor skills that largely go overlooked but which quietly make everyday life easier.

The best teaching doesn't demand perfection. Sometimes the best approach is demonstrating a skill once, then allowing the other person to learn as they try—even if they choose a slightly different method.

Resisting the urge to correct every small mistake gives people room to develop confidence and discover what works for them. The goal isn't creating an exact copy of how you do things. It's helping someone become capable in their own way, a trait that can extend to all facets of life.

One of the unexpected joys of teaching practical skills is that stories often emerge alongside them. While making jam, you might remember helping your own parents in the kitchen during strawberry season. While repairing a bicycle, a story about your first job may naturally surface. While planting flowers, you may find yourself talking about the garden you grew years ago at your first house.

As those skills get passed on, a new person gains their own versions of these stories.

Advice can be forgotten or ignored, but shared experiences have a way of enduring. Teaching someone a practical skill builds confidence, creates connection, and becomes a memory in its own right. Long after the lesson is over, the person may still think of you every time they use what you taught them.

We're looking for seniors who are embracing life with enthusiasm, purpose, and adventure. Whether you're traveling the world, starting a business, volunteering, pursuing a passion, learning new skills, or simply making the most of every day, we'd love to hear your story.

Think that might be you?

Email [email protected] with a photo and a short bio. We may feature you in an upcoming edition of Seniors Magazine.

The discount: CubeSmart Self Storage

What it gives you: Participating locations offer discounted storage rates for seniors

How to claim it: Request the senior discount when reserving your storage unit

Opening the Windows on the First Cool Morning
From the life overview of Helen A., 81, Richmond, Virginia. Shared with permission.

Every year there comes a morning, usually sometime in early fall, when I walk outside and realize the air has changed.

The difference isn't dramatic. There's no overnight transformation, no theatrical arrival of a new season. The warmth has simply lost its insistence. The breeze carries something lighter with it, and for the first time in months I think, We can open the windows today.

I look forward to that morning more than I do many holidays.

The house responds almost immediately. Rooms that have been sealed against heat all summer begin exchanging air with the outside world again. Curtains move slightly. Familiar smells disappear. Sounds that had been kept at a distance—birds, lawn mowers, a train somewhere across town—become part of the day instead of something muffled by glass.

What I enjoy most is that the change costs nothing.

No purchase is involved. Nothing new enters the house. The furniture is the same, the walls are the same, and yet every room feels refreshed simply because the boundary between inside and outside has relaxed for a while.

By afternoon, the temperature climbs, as it often does, so I usually close the windows again, and the air conditioner resumes its work. The first cool morning rarely lasts.

But it reminds me that not every improvement arrives through addition.

Sometimes all you have to do is open something that has been closed for a while.

***

Do you want to record your beliefs and hopes for future generations?
Have Your Legacy Letter Written

EarthCam – Live Webcam Network
EarthCam lets you drop into live views from cities, beaches, landmarks, harbors, and scenic spots across the United States and around the world. One minute you can watch Niagara Falls and the next see what’s happening in Honolulu or New Orleans. It’s an easy bit of armchair travel when you’re curious about what somewhere else looks like right now.

Artle – The Daily Art Game
Artle gives you four works of art and challenges you to identify the artist behind them, with a new puzzle appearing every day. Wrong guesses reveal additional artwork, so even losing tends to teach you something. It’s a clever five-minute challenge for anyone who enjoys art, trivia, or simply testing what they recognize.

New consumer alert warns about scams targeting previously defrauded individuals

This daily section is brought to you by MemoirGhostwriting.com, experts in capturing life stories for loved ones and/or the public.

Take a few minutes to jot down your thoughts. Even a few sentences are a memory preserved for loved ones. Some people begin by writing on their own—or even using AI tools—but many eventually decide they’d rather simply talk and have their story shaped into something lasting. That’s where we come in.

Do you want to ensure your story, values, and family history aren't lost?

Digital photos have a habit of piling up on phones and computers, where some of our best memories are rarely seen again. A photo book turns those pictures into something you can actually pick up, share, and revisit. They're especially good for vacations, weddings, family histories, milestone birthdays, or a year-in-review collection.

Instead of trying to fit years of photographs into one book, give your project a clear focus. "Our Trip to Italy," "Family Christmases," or "Mom's Garden Through the Years" will be much easier to organize.

Then gather your photos into a single folder and remove blurry shots, duplicates, and near-identical images. Aim for quality rather than quantity. A few larger photographs often look better than squeezing eight or nine onto every page.

Several established services let you upload photographs, arrange pages, add captions, and have the finished book printed and mailed to you.

Shutterfly photo books offer customizable templates and an option that automatically arranges your photographs. Mixbook photo books provide plenty of control over layouts, backgrounds, and text. For a simpler, minimalist look, Artifact Uprising photo books offer several hardcover and softcover formats.

Captions can make a photo book much more valuable years from now. Include people's names, locations, dates, and short stories when they're relevant. You don't need to caption every photograph; concentrate on information that might otherwise be forgotten.

Before ordering, preview every page carefully. Check that no faces have been accidentally cropped and proofread names and dates.

Once you've designed a book, you can usually order additional copies without starting over. A family-history book, collection of childhood photographs, or vacation album can make a particularly meaningful gift.

The goal isn't to create a professionally designed masterpiece. It's to rescue favorite photographs from the camera roll and turn them into a collection you'll actually enjoy looking through.

Online donations make it easy to support organizations you care about, but scammers often take advantage of major disasters, medical emergencies, and other emotional events. Before entering your credit card number, take a few minutes to make sure your money is going where you intend.

Instead of clicking a donation link in an unexpected email, text, or social media post, search for the organization yourself and visit its official website. Check the charity’s exact name, website address, and contact information. Be especially cautious of organizations with names that closely resemble well-known charities.

For additional reassurance, look up a nonprofit through Charity Navigator, Candid, or the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.

Legitimate charities commonly accept credit cards and other standard payment methods. Be suspicious if someone insists that you donate using gift cards, cryptocurrency, a wire transfer, or another difficult-to-reverse payment method.

Never let urgency make the decision for you. A legitimate organization will still accept your donation after you’ve had time to verify it. After donating, review your receipt and bank or credit card statement to confirm that the amount charged is correct.

Cruise deal of the day: 3 Nights Mexico Cruise - departing September 21, from $199

Unmissable American gem: Auburn, Alabama is a lively Southern college town known for its attractive downtown, leafy parks, and welcoming atmosphere that offer visitors a relaxed mix of culture, history, and outdoor recreation.

Looking for travel planning help? Fill out this form.

Unscramble the letters to find a famous person, event, or object. Think you know it? Reply with your answer and show off your brainpower.

Today’s clue: Television drama about a doctor on the run

HET ETIUVGFI

Help a life story get told, earn thousands: Refer someone to MemoirGhostwriting.com and earn 12% of what they spend, or a 16% donation to your favorite nonprofit. Find out more here.

Explore flexible sales opportunities: CommissionOnly.com gives you access to flexible part-time, work-from-home commission-only roles you can apply to. Find out more here.

Disclaimer: Some links in this newsletter are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, Seniors Magazine may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The content of the newsletter is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as financial, legal, or health advice. We may also share polling responses with advertisers to help keep this newsletter free.