Click here to view this email in your browser.

1. Jamie's Corner: Grandmother's day

2. RIP, Sister Inah

3. The pope on A.I.
4. When Grief Sticks Around
5. Assisted suicide in New York
6. Newsworthy Newsletter News
7. Throwback Thursday: Gigi

I’m a lucky guy – I grew up knowing both my grandmothers.

My maternal grandmother, Ann Griffith, was an army brat born at the very end of 1931 (her emphasis). Her father, an army cavalry colonel who fought in China with Chiang Kai-Shek during WWII, frequently played polo with one General S. Patton before the war. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I heard about the later general Patton taking a bath in their tub after one particularly dusty match. Grandma went on to have six children with Harry Augustus Griffith, a strapping West Point graduate who eventually became a three-star general. Grandma is still kicking at 93 years old and I’m grateful for every day she’s with us.

My dad’s mom, Florence Towey, was of French heritage and took her first breath in 1918 and her last in 2014 at the ripe old age of 96. Ya Ya, as we called her, had five kids of her own with her husband E.J. Towey, a Navy Seabee she met as a pen pal during WWII when he was stationed in the Pacific.

Boy, did those women teach me a lot.

Ya Ya was one tough cookie. She raised her five children largely on her own after she and my grandfather divorced, an uncommon family setup for Jacksonville, FL in the 1970s. I remember lying on the floor playing with a mechanical giraffe every time we visited her Tallahassee apartment under her loving watch from as early as the age of five. She always had butterscotch treats in a dish that my siblings, cousins, and I would suck on while we milled around.

Ya Ya was so loyal. She wasn’t a bubbly lady, but I can distinctly remember moments where she’d be touched by something one of us kids said or did, and you could see appreciation shine in her eyes. She had an understated, incisive sense of humor. It seemed she could soften anything with a joke or a one-liner. I remember when I was in college telling her over the phone that I was taking a class on Charlemagne; “I went to school with Charlemagne,” she quipped.

Continue reading.

We’ve been following proposed legislation in New York that would authorize physician-assisted suicide in that state.  The bill passed the New York Assembly 81-67 on April 29th, but the bill has not yet been passed by the New York Senate.  While it has 25 sponsors in the Senate, 32 votes are needed for passage. The Senate Majority Leader has not committed to bringing the bill to a floor vote, and the position of the New York governor is unclear.  The New York legislature typically adjourns in early June.  Meanwhile, there has been much public debate for and against the measure, especially from disability rights activists.

Grief is a deeply personal process, and there's no fixed timeline for how long it "should" last. Understanding the four key elements—accepting, allowing, adjusting, and reconnecting—can help make sense of the emotional shifts that follow loss.

These stages aren’t linear, and they reflect the unique nature of each relationship and experience. With time, healing doesn’t mean forgetting—it means learning to live fully again, even while carrying the memory.

Watch here.

We’re a little late in reporting this, but April 30th brought the death of Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, a 116-year-old nun from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and a member of the Teresian Sisters of Brazil since age 19.  At the time of her death, she was the world’s oldest person. 

Sister Inah was born on May 27, 1908, the fifth of seven children.  St. Pius X (1835-1914) was pope when she was born; she lived to see nine more popes – almost 10 – after him.  Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom, aged 115 years and 267 days, is now the world’s oldest person.

Aging with Dignity has long warned of the potential danger posed to human dignity by advances in artificial intelligence.  So we were encouraged this week when we learned the subject is also on the mind of newly elected Pope Leo XIV.  In a Saturday talk to the College of Cardinals, the pontiff explained his choice of papal name was mainly because Leo XIII “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

What Is the Turing Test? How the Rise of Generative AI May Have Broken the Famous Imitation Game | Roland Moore-Colyer, LiveScience

New York’s Euthanasia Bill Targets Me:  Suicide-by-Doctor Cheapens Disabled Lives | Dovie Eisner, UnHerd

Assisted Suicide is Not a Compassionate Policy | Alex Schadenberg, LifeNews

Illinois:  Physician-Assisted Dying Would Put Illinoisans With Disabilities in a Potentially Precarious Position | Riley Spreadbury, Chicago Tribune

Connecticut:  Lethal Injection Drug Posted on CT Company’s Site, Prompting Concern From Officials | Ken Dixon, Connecticut Post

New York:  There Are Ways to Die with Dignity, but Not Like This | L.S. Dougdale, New York Times

Scotland:  Scottish Health Committee Raises Over 30 Concerns with Proposed Assisted Suicide Law | RTL News

Happy 75th Birthday, Stevie Wonder: Genius Musician and Practitioner of Peace | Roger Friedman, Showbiz 411

Who would have thought a romantic musical comedy about a family grooming its daughter to become a prostitute would be a hit and the following year win nine Academy Awards, including for best motion picture?  It’s true – Gigi premiered 67 years ago today at the Royale Theatre in New York City and became a critical and commercial hit worldwide.

The movie Gigi was adapted from a 1944 novella by French author and actress Colette (Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, who died 10 years later).  It is set in turn-of-the-century Paris and follows Gigi's transformation from a carefree teenager into a sophisticated young woman.  The film explored themes of love, societal expectations, and personal growth, all wrapped in a lighthearted and charming tone. 

Actress Leslie Caron played the title role, joined by legendary French actors Louis Jordan and Maurice Chevalier.  The movie’s lavish production design and costumes ably capture the elegance of the Belle Époque (1871-1914) era in France.  Its 14 musical numbers included favorites “Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember It Well."  Gigi’s blend of wit, romance, and musical flair has kept it a beloved classic all these years.  Leslie Caron, today 93, remains the only living principal cast member of Gigi. 

Read more:  Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB web pages for Gigi

Listen:  “Gigi” and “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”

Watch:  The theatrical trailer for Gigi

"What I can do, you cannot do. What you can do, I cannot do. But together, we can do something beautiful for God."

Aging with Dignity is the nation's leading advocate for better end-of-life care. Our Five Wishes program has reached over 43 million Americans.

Visit our website to learn more. 

Click here to manage your subscription preferences or here to unsubscribe.