6A
Federation Star
JEWISH INTEREST
February 2022
The Golden Girls as role models for our golden years Aging Jewishly — What our traditions tell us about growing old By Rabbi Barbara Aiello
“I
know it sounds silly, but I guess I wanted her to live forever,” Paulette said to the reporter who approached her in the local shopping mall to ask about the death of Betty White. Paulette characterized her feelings this way, “Sure she was 99, but she was still working, still acting, still being her strong self. I just wanted Betty White to make it to her 100th birthday.” On the last day of 2021, beloved actor Betty White passed away, just 17 days before that 100-year milestone. White’s career spanned eight decades and included a radio program, a TV game show and several award-winning films. But, for White’s elderly fans, especially older women, it was White’s ensemble performance on the television hit, “The Golden Girls,” that made the strongest impression. As Paulette puts it, “They were four older women making it on their own. They became our role models for how to live a healthy and happy old age.” Paulette is not alone. According to a recent article by Ronda Kaysen, published online by the AARP (3/26/2018), Kaysen reports on what she terms ‘The Golden Girls trend,’ and writes that “More people over 50 are becoming ‘boommates,’ finding challenge and reward in sharing a home.” According to statistics gathered by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing
Studies, researchers report, o f o l d e r h o m e - s h a re r s “In the next two decades, jumped 88%.” the number of renters ages This situation exempli65 and older will swell by fies how important it is to 80% to 11.5 million.” These address where older people numbers translate into a will live and how those living growing trend, where more arrangements will combat and more elders from the isolation and maintain social Boomer generation will have engagement. chosen to divide the cost of For elderly men and housing by sharing a home women who are open to with one, two or three others exploring a home-share Rabbi Barbara of similar age. arrangement, shared culture Aiello The AARP found that the roommate and values can ease the transition — a phenomenon has taken hold mainly sociological consideration that led to Jewbecause Boomers are living longer and, in ish Family & Career Services (JF&CS) many cases, they have not saved enough of Atlanta to launch its own program for money for retirement. Couple this with aging seniors. a rise in housing prices and rentals and It’s called HomeShare ATL, an innothe situation becomes dire. In fact, vative service that piggybacks on the according to the AARP, “nearly half of Golden Girls model to create opportunithe 50-plus people surveyed in 2016 by ties for older adults to live together for SpareRoom, a roommate search platform, mutual benefit. Chana Shapiro, reporter said they could not afford to rent a place for Atlanta’s Jewish Times (10/28/2021), by themselves.” notes, “the program, which is the only one Enter “Rose Nylund,” aka Betty White of its kind in Georgia, serves all people and The Golden Girls. Writing for the regardless of their race, religion, gender Washington Post (1/24/2019), Adina or nationality, and offers housing options Solomon emphasizes why a Golden Girl to older adults who may need more living arrangement might be the wave of home support but do not require assisted the future. living or skilled nursing services.” Solomon writes, “In the decade Program manager Jean Cohen serves leading up to 2016, the older popuas HomeShare ATL matchmaker and lation grew 33% while the number says, “Our goal isn’t just to put a roof
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over people’s heads. Our goal is to build relationships, enable older adults to stay at home and to create affordable housing opportunities for both parties.” In a move that would make each Golden Girl proud, the Atlanta HomeShare program features a multistage matching process that encourages roommates to gradually get to know each other. Aiming for success, the process includes a two-week trial match, followed by a threemonth lease. If all goes well, the lease is extended to one year. And for those seniors considering a Golden Girls-type living arrangement, Betty White had this to say about the changes brought about by old age, “It’s not a surprise, we knew it was coming — make the most of it. So, you may not be as fast on your feet and the image in your mirror may be a little disappointing, but if you are still functioning and not in pain, gratitude should be the name of the game.” For 10 years, Rabbi Barbara Aiello served the Aviva Campus for Senior Life (Sarasota, FL) as resident rabbi. Her most popular columns are now published in her new book, “Aging Jewishly,” available on Amazon books. Rabbi Barbara now lives and works in Italy, where she is rabbi of Italy’s first Reconstructionist synagogue. Contact her at Rabbi@RabbiBarbara.com
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