Sex over sixty

Aging is often about rediscovering ourselves. Age brings changes in outlook and environment, with a new focus at each stage of life - studies, courtship, marriage, career, raising children, seeing them leave the nest, retiring, losing a partner. What doesn't change is the need for emotional and physical intimacy - the close loving bond with another human being that can be expressed and strengthened through sexual connection.

Society often equates sexuality with youth, but the fact is that vitality, sensuality and the urge to love and be loved are timeless and ageless in the human spirit. Bodies change with age, but anyone can live with passion - and if practice makes perfect, seniors should be the best lovers around.

In this issue of Expression we explore what many formerly considered a forbidden frontier - sexuality in later life. But as we'll see, old attitudes and taboos are giving way, slowly but surely, to a new awareness of sexual expression as an integral and indeed essential part of healthy aging. Well-being comes from accepting the natural rhythms of the life cycle and the expressions of intimacy and sexuality particular to each person, at each stage along life's journey.

Mary E. Cooley
NACA Member, Nova Scotia