JULY 6, 2024

Life at Almost 65

For the first time since I launched this newsletter in April 2022, I’ve gone two months without putting one out, which may have left some of you wondering where I’ve been (I can dream, can’t I?), and some hoping you’d heard the last from me (no such luck, suckahs!). Which leads me to banish the latter thought and address the former, as follows: I’m in the habit of taking June off from newsletter publishing, but July, it turns out, can be a pretty busy month when you’re about to turn 65 like I am. Fortunately, I started grabbing those evermore-tenuous-feeling Social Security checks some months ago, so that step in the transition to American senior-hood is in the rearview mirror. But Medicare was still there to deal with, and since July marks the beginning of my signup period, I’ve spent quite a bit of time this month and last navigating that complex world.

I don’t mean to disparage the Medicare Program—signup happens automatically when you hit 65, and is surprisingly easy and efficient. But those elements of the program that involve private companies—Medicare Advantage, Medicare supplements, and Part D prescription drug coverage—require some careful thought and consideration, along with a blinding barrage of junk mail promising to make your life so much easier if you’ll only call one of our knowledgeable representatives who are standing by! My advice to those of you who have yet to face this challenge: find a trusted friend who’s already gone through it and just do what they did.

Beyond that, getting older always comes with a few loose bricks in the old castle, and my loose bricks are centered in my teeth, my joints, and that old clock on the wall, the ticker.  I’ll have gum graph surgery in a few weeks, and my left knee is basically held together with paper clips and rubber bands at this point, so I’m about to schedule a total knee replacement for October. And as to that ticker, a CT scan taken last October found a small bulge in my thoracic aorta, the huge blood vessel that transports blood from your heart to your vital organs, so I’ll have an echocardiogram later this month to get a closer look at that. Given the amount of rigorous activity I do, my cardiologist says there’s little to be concerned about, but it was an aneurysm in the thoracic aorta that took my father’s life in February, so the doc just wants to get a baseline out of an abundance of caution. In the meantime, I have no intention of slowing down—much to the chagrin of my cycling buddy, Tom, whose job it is to drag my weak ass up and down mountains on the bikes.

I Went to a Really Good School

I am proud and happy that, as an, ahem, older gentleman, I swallowed my pride and went back to school at 45 to complete my MFA in Writing at Queens University of Charlotte. But I have to say, one of the unexpected pleasures of having attended a great program like Queens has been looking on as former classmates and fellow graduates complete and publish some truly wonderful books. My close pal Danielle Girard has been delighting readers with a steady stream of gripping thrillers for years, both before and after our time at Queens together. But there are also these authors whose recent books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and—in case you’re not getting the hint—I think you will, too:

In case you missed them, previous editions of the Bruce Overby newsletter can be viewed online here.

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