Why we have this blog

For twelve years, I wrote a blog called Musings from Jeff. It began in April 2012, shortly after cancer surgery and just over a year after I sold Pinon Management. The blog was a personal outlet — a place to write whatever moved me — though its deepest roots stretched back to my years before Nursing Home Management, a formative period that became foundational to my career in long-term care.

Four years ago, I stopped writing. What felt like writer’s block turned out to be something more final. I assumed that chapter of my life was simply closed — the way so many chapters eventually are.

Then, out of nowhere, Carrie Leljedal of the Gray Panthers of New York City (GPNYC) reached out. She asked me to write a piece on why my generation urgently needs change in long-term care. The invitation caught me off guard. I’d been certain that phase was behind me. Could I even find the words again? I asked Carrie if I could bring on a co-writer. She said yes.

I knew exactly who I wanted.

Gail Meehan — co-creator of this blog — has been a colleague and friend for over five years. Her dedication to elders, and to the care and dignity they deserve, is both expansive and inspiring. We’ve shared long, powerful conversations over the years, and when I asked her to join this project, her enthusiasm matched my own. Together, we wrote three pieces for the GPNYC’s Gray Matters blog; two have been published so far.

From there, an idea took hold: why not create our own space? A blog with the freedom to explore the many issues that matter most to aging Americans — and a platform broad enough to invite other leaders and advocates in the elder-care world to add their voices as well.

And so here we are, about to launch The Tao of Aging.

It turns out the writer’s block wasn’t permanent after all. We owe a debt of gratitude to Carrie at the GPNYC — one thing really does lead to another.