I'm Old. And I Still Have Things To Do

Even The Paralympics Doesn't Listen To Disabled People ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  [View in Browser]( | [Donate [WBUR]]( [WBUR](  [WBUR]( August 8, 2021 Dear Cog reader, When Pat Lowery Collins was diagnosed with cancer, she was assigned a medical team to manage her care. Most of the doctors on her team appeared younger than her adult children. And they were a formidable, if charming, bunch, armed with body scans and blood work and her lengthy health history. “What’s curious is that not one of the eminent physicians on my team asked the questions that I considered to be what they really needed to know about me,” she writes, in this [reflection on life and illness](. “Shouldn’t a doctor know about his or her elderly patient’s passions? Maybe she throws pots or sculpts or creates magnificent gardens well into old age. Maybe she volunteers for Habitat for Humanity or has stories to write or people who still depend upon her as a friend, mentor or confidant.” The notion that we become no less human — or relevant — as we age resonates with me (Cloe). I sure hope to have as much meaningful work in my 80s as Pat does. Also this week: Aimee Christian on the surprising [ableism of the Paralympics]( Kendra Stanton Lee [goes to summer camp]( for the first time at 40; Rich Barlow makes a compelling case for [eating bugs]( (sorry, Rich, I’m still not convinced); and Steve Almond on the [fear in our politics](. -- Cloe Axelson and Kathleen Burge Cognoscenti editors newsletters@wbur.org Must Reads url[I'm Old. And I Still Have Things To Do]( I’m very tired of being told that “age is just a number,” writes Pat Lowery Collins. It isn’t. It’s a natural progression, and we don’t become less human as we do it. [Read more](.   #%23%23[Twitter](   #%23%23[Facebook](    [Swimmer Becca Meyers' Ordeal Shows Even The Paralympics Doesn't Listen To Disabled People]( By refusing Becca Meyers, a deaf-blind swimmer, a personal care attendant, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee is treating her like a burden, writes Aimee Christian. That's the very behavior we want the Paralympics to change. [Read more](. [Why We Should All Eat Bugs]( Years ago, we treated some dinner guests to silkworms sautéed in olive oil, writes Rich Barlow. Dining on bugs could soon be a lot more popular. [Read more](.  Support the news [I Went To Camp For The First Time This Summer At 40. Here's What I Learned]( Camp didn’t beg me to be a different person, it just asked me to try to get out of my own way, writes Kendra Stanton Lee. [Read more](. [We Have Nothing To Fear But Fearmongers]( America faces real emergencies. But half the country is heeding false alarms, writes Steve Almond. [Read more](. What We're Reading "A woman who was able to vaccinate all the other eligible people in her family hadn’t been able to get it herself because she has four young children she wasn’t allowed to take to the vaccination center." "[No, the Unvaccinated Aren’t All Just Being Difficult]( The New York Times "With her baby rapidly losing weight and at one point going 26 hours without a wet diaper, at no point did anyone in the hospital so much as mention the word 'formula' to Chapman. "[When ‘breast is best’ becomes too much]( The 19th "This is the question in front of Andrew Cuomo and New York: Will the old paths to maintaining power — dishonesty, threat, performed dominance — continue to serve the powerful?" "[How Is Andrew Cuomo Still Here?]( New York Magazine “ I had run away to summer camp, but I was still stuck with my same anxious, workaholic self. — Kendra Stanton Lee, "[I Went To Camp For The First Time This Summer At 40. Here's What I Learned]( ICYMI [Simone Biles Can Fly, But She's So Much More Than Her Wings]( I am constantly reminding myself that I don't have anything to prove, writes Theresa Okokon. Neither do you. And neither does Simone. [Read more](.       If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📨 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news [WBUR]( [WBUR]  [WBUR]( [95289b97-66e8-43d4-a174-3bc3520a79a9.png]( [Instagram](  [Twitter]( [Facebook]( Want to change how you receive these emails? [Stop getting this newsletter by updating your preferences.]( I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters.]( Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2021 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved. You signed up for this newsletter at wbur.org. Our mailing address is: WBUR-FM 890 Commonwealth AveBoston, MA 02215-1205 [Add us to your address book](