Women Aging Together in Community

SUMMARY

At a fiftieth birthday party 17 years ago, a group of women—lesbian, bisexual, and straight—decided to create a conscious community in which they could age together. The group, where they discuss this process and support each other, is politically and personally meaningful, and a buffer against the isolation and powerlessness many aging women experience. They meet monthly, and at weekend retreats twice a year. They have become a “family of choice,” sharing holidays and celebrations and supporting each other when necessary and possible. After several years, they decided to commit for life. In the group, each feels held and seen in the complex experience of aging in today's world.

KEYWORDS:

• Family of choice
• women's community
• aging
• lesbians

Acknowledgments

Jane Ariel, Ph.D., is on the faculty of the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. In addition to her private practice, she is a consultant for Visions, a national training program dedicated to developing multiculturalism. She has written on therapy with gay and lesbian families, the “chosen family,” and mothering in the Jewish family. In Israel, where she lived for many years, her work focused on educational and social differences among Jewish minorities. She is a Board Member of the American Family Therapy Academy.