Some things bloom late—but they still bloom beautifully.
At 55, I became known to many as Hyacinth Bucket — a character I believed would be a small role in a little sitcom. ( Keeping Up Apperiencesbritish TV) Instead, she carried me into millions of living rooms, and oddly enough… into my own heart.
She was loud, proud, impossible to ignore. And somehow, she helped me embrace parts of myself I’d kept hidden for decades.
That role didn’t make me famous. It made me whole.
At 65, I stopped waiting for permission. I began learning Italian — not for work, but so I could feel opera in its native tongue. I discovered I rather liked my own company. I read poetry aloud to no one in particular, simply because it softened the day. I learned how to be alone… without being lonely.
At 75, I returned to the Shakespearean stage — a place I once feared I had aged out of. But this time, I carried no fear of critics or applause. I stood in stillness. And I let the words move through me — not because I had something to prove, but because they still had something to offer.
It wasn’t a performance. It was presence.
At 85, I picked up a watercolor brush with unsure hands. I painted what I remembered: roses from my garden, old hats from the 60s, faces once seen on the London Underground.
Not to exhibit. Not to impress. Just to preserve memory — one soft stroke at a time. Each painting was a small act of remembering.
And now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I bake rye bread. I breathe deeply in the mornings and whisper thanks to the sky. I listen more than I speak. I laugh often, but no longer try to be the one who makes others laugh.
I have nothing left to prove — and so much left to feel.
So I’m writing this not as a farewell, but as a gentle reminder:
Growing older isn’t a fading. It can be a radiant unfolding. A blooming — not back to youth, but back to yourself.
Let these years ahead be your treasure years. You don’t need fame. You don’t need perfection. You only need a presence.
Show up. Gently. Fully. Authentically. And life — if you let it — will always meet you halfway.
Written by Patricia Routledge, the actress who played Hyacinth Bucket in ‘Keeping Up Appearances.’
“I Didn’t Become Selfish, I Became Harder to Manipulate”
A Powerful eBook & Audio Experience ?
Too many of us know the sting of manipulation… The subtle control, the emotional coercion, and the bullying are masked as love or care.
This isn’t just a book—it’s a movement of truth-telling. In this compelling multi-author eBook and Audio, 27 courageous souls—both men and women from across the globe—have come together to bare their stories. Stories of reclaiming power. By saying “no more,” Of finding their way back to self-worth and soul-sovereignty.
Each chapter is a doorway into personal transformation—raw, honest, and resonant. And it doesn’t stop on the page… This book is paired with an audio version where each author reads their own chapter aloud so you can feel the truth, the emotion, and the breakthroughs in their own voice.
If you’ve ever felt trapped in someone else’s narrative, this book is for you. If you’ve ever been told you’re “too much” or “not enough,” If choosing yourself has been mistaken for selfishness.
You are not alone. These stories are here to remind you: You are worthy. You are powerful. And you deserve to live free from manipulation.
I, Sara Troy, am honored to be a part of this book, as it is a topic often brought up in our shows, placing value upon yourself is not being selfish. Do enjoy.
I’ve had the honour of interviewing the wonderful Sara Jane several times now, and I’m also proud to be a contributor to her powerful book, “I Didn’t Become Selfish, I Became Harder to Manipulate.”
Sara speaks and lives from the heart — and you can feel it in everything she does.
Below, you’ll find the inspiring shows we’ve created together, along with her impactful book. Dive in, enjoy, and soak up the wisdom shared. There’s something here for every soul ready to receive.
A Powerful eBook & Audio Experience ? “I Didn’t Become Selfish, I Became Harder to Manipulate”
Too many of us know the sting of manipulation… The subtle control, the emotional coercion, and the bullying are masked as love or care.
This isn’t just a book—it’s a movement of truth-telling. In this compelling multi-author eBook and Audio, 27 courageous souls—both men and women from across the globe—have come together to bare their stories. Stories of reclaiming power. Of saying “no more.” Of finding their way back to self-worth and soul-sovereignty.
On this show, Sara, Enolia & Sara Jane will share their thoughts and suggestions of things that work for them to help keep their vibrations as high as possible.
Sara Jane is the founder of Vocal Reiki, which incorporates both the energy of Reiki and Toning (the use of the voice but not singing).
During this interview, you will learn a little of Sara’s own story, her healing journey, and how she uses her own experiences to help reconnect with and heal your Inner Child.
All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
Fibromyalgia has been a mysterious disease, causing pain throughout the body and deep in tissues with no apparent cause. A large proportion of the medical community has believed that the disease was psychosomatic, and people essentially think that they are in pain. But, a small biopharmaceutical company, Intidyn, or Integrated Tissue Dynamics, have found what they believe to be the root cause of the disease.
Researchers from the company and Albany Medical College have found that the skin of female patients who report pain from fibromyalgia has a unique neurovascular structure or blood flow to the nerves. The scientists believe this structure may be the ultimate cause of the pain experienced with the condition.
“Instead of being in the brain, the pathology consists of excessive sensory nerve fibers around specialized blood vessel structures located in the palms of the hands,” said Dr. Frank L. Rice, president of Intidyn and the senior researcher on the study, in a press statement
Blood vessel constriction can be controlled by nerves in the skin. Patients with Fibromyalgia have an abnormally high number of nerve endings surrounding a blood vessel bridge in the skin.
“This discovery provides concrete evidence of a fibromyalgia-specific pathology which can now be used for diagnosing the disease, and as a novel starting point for developing more effective therapeutics.”
A few years ago, the company published a report in the journal Pain about a case involving a woman who was born without special nerve endings that were at the time believed to be important for touch. But the woman was fine and able to carry on with her life. She did have nerve endings near the fine capillary blood vessels in her skin, which had previously only been believed to control blood flow in blood vessels. “We previously thought that these nerve endings were only involved in regulating blood flow at a subconscious level, yet here we had evidence that the blood vessel endings could also contribute to our conscious sense of touch… and also pain,” Rice said.
Current targeted drugs, made by Eli Lilly and Forest Labs, are serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) that work on the brain. But they can also act on the nerve endings near blood vessels in the skin. “Knowing how these drugs were supposed to work on molecules in the brain,” Dr. Philip J. Albrecht, Ph.D., added, “we had evidence that similar molecules were involved in the function of nerve endings on the blood vessels. Therefore, we hypothesized that fibromyalgia might involve a pathology in that location.” As the results demonstrate, they were correct.
The team at the company looked at skin samples from women with fibromyalgia collected by the Albany Medical College and examined by a special microscope technology. What they saw was a staggering increase in nerve endings at the sight of blood vessels within the skin. These sites control the flow of oxygenated blood between small blood vessels within the skin. They can cause the blockage of this bridge area to allow the skin to radiate heat or open it up to keep heat in when cold.
“The excess sensory innervation may itself explain why fibromyalgia patients typically have especially tender and painful hands. But, in addition, since the sensory fibers are responsible for opening the shunts, they would become particularly active under cold conditions, which are generally very bothersome to fibromyalgia patients,” said Albrecht.
But these special shunts or bridges do much more than regulate heat in the body; they could be blocking blood flow to the muscles deep within the tissue.
“In addition to involvement in temperature regulation, an enormous proportion of our blood flow normally goes to our hands and feet. Far more than is needed for their metabolism,” noted Dr. Rice. “As such, the hands and the feet act as a reservoir from which blood flow can be diverted to other tissues of the body, such as muscles when we begin to exercise. Therefore, the pathology discovered among these shunts in the hands could be interfering with blood flow to the muscles throughout the body.
This mismanaged blood flow could be the source of muscular pain and achiness, and the sense of fatigue, which are thought to be due to a build-up of lactic acid and low levels of inflammation in fibromyalgia patients. This, in turn, could contribute to the hyperactivity in the brain.” The hyperactivity in the brain may account for the insomnia many patients with the condition experience.
Finding an actual physiological basis for fibromyalgia autoimmune disease will be a positive revelation for many who have been told that their pain is only in their head. With time, researchers will be able to further dissect the causes of the pain from the disease and may develop pharmaceuticals to deal with the actual cause of the pain.
PLUS.
Over 5 million people are affected by fibromyalgia in the U.S and the numbers are keep on increasing. There are numerous uncomfortable signs of Fibromyalgia. It is recognized as an unseen illness as people cannot see the way where people hurt from the disease. Usually, Fibromyalgia is a quite severe situation that the victims experience and its signs should be identified.
We have compiled the list of few of the worst symptoms and also added their coping methods. After that we have compiled the list of all of the fibromyalgia symptoms and categorized them.
Here is the Overall List of Symptoms of Fibromyalgia
GENERAL
1. Activity level decreased to less than 50% of pre-illness activity level 2. Cold hands and feet (extremities) 3. Cough 4. Craving carbohydrates 5. Delayed reaction to physical activity or stressful events 6. Dryness of eyes and/or mouth 7. Edema 8. Family member(s) with Fibromyalgia 9. Fatigue made worse by physical exertion or stress 10. Feeling cold often 11. Feeling hot often 12. Frequent sighing 13. Heart palpitations 14. Hoarseness 15. Hypoglycemia (blood sugar falls or low) 16. Increased thirst 17. Low blood pressure (below 110/70) 18. Low body temperature (below 97.6) 19. Low-grade fevers 20. Night sweats 21. Noisy joints – with or without pain 22. Poor circulation in hands/feet 23. Profuse sweating 24. Recurrent flu-like illness 25. Shortness of breath with little or no exertion 26. Severe nasal allergies (new or worsening allergies) 27. Sore throat 28. Subjective swelling of extremities (feels swollen But can’t find anything) 29. Sweats 30. Symptoms worsened by air travel 31. Symptoms worsened by stress 32. Symptoms worsened by temperature changes 33. Tender or swollen lymph nodes, especially in neck and underarms 34. Tremor or trembling 35. Unexplained weight gain or loss
PAIN
36. Abdominal wall pain 37. Bad hip pain 38. Burning Nerve Pain 39. Chest pain 40. Collarbone pain 41. Diffuse swelling 42. Elbow pain 43. Exacerbated Plantar arch or heel pain 44. “Growing” pains that don’t go away once you are done growing 45. Headache – tension or migraine 46. Inflamed Rib Cartilage 47. Joint pain 48. Lumpy, tender breasts 49. Morning stiffness 50. Muscle pain 51. Muscle spasms 52. Muscle twitching 53. Muscle weakness 54. Pain that ranges from moderate to severe 55. Pain that moves around the body 56. Paralysis or severe weakness of an arm or leg 57. Restless Leg Syndrome 58. Rib Pain 59. Scalp Pain (like hair being pulled out) 60. Sciatica-like pain 61. Tender points or trigger points 62. TMJ syndrome 63. “Voodoo Doll” Poking Sensation in random places NEUROLOGICAL 64. Blackouts 65. Brain fog 66. Carpal Tunnel 67. Feeling spaced out 68. Hallucinating smells 69. Inability to think clearly 70. Light headedness 71. Noise intolerance 72. Numbness or tingling sensations 73. Photophobia (sensitivity to light) 74. Seizures 75. Seizure-like episodes 76. Sensation that you might faint 77. Syncope (fainting) 78. Tinnitus (ringing in one or both ears) 79. Vertigo or dizziness
EQUILIBRIUM/PERCEPTION
80. Bumping into things 81. Clumsy Walking 82. Difficulty balancing 83. Difficulty judging distances (when driving, etc.) 84. Directional disorientation 85. Dropping things frequently 86. Feeling spatially disoriented 87. Frequent tripping or stumbling 88. Not seeing what you’re looking at 89. Poor balance and coordination 90. Staggering gait
SLEEP
91. Alertness/energy best late at night 92. Altered sleep/wake schedule 93. Awakening frequently 94. Difficulty falling asleep 95. Difficulty staying asleep 96. Excessive sleeping 97. Extreme alertness or energy levels late at night 98. Falling asleep at random and sometimes dangerous moments 99. Fatigue 100. Light or broken sleep pattern 101. Muscle spasms/twitches at night 102. Narcolepsy 103. Sleep disturbances 104. Sleep starts or falling sensations 105. Teeth grinding 106. Tossing and turning 107. Un-refreshing or non-restorative sleep 108. Vivid or disturbing dreams/nightmares
EYES/VISION
109. Blind spots in vision 110. Eye pain 111. Difficulty switching focus from one thing to another 112. Frequent changes in ability to see well 113. Night driving difficulty 114. Occasional Blurry vision 115. Poor night vision 116. Rapidly worsening vision 117. Vision changes
COGNITIVE
118. Becoming lost in familiar locations when driving 119. Confusion 120. Difficulty expressing ideas in words 121. Difficulty following conversation (especially if background noise present) 122. Difficulty following directions while driving 123. Difficulty following oral instructions 124. Difficulty following written instructions 125. Difficulty making decisions 126. Difficulty moving your mouth to speak 127. Difficulty paying attention 128. Difficulty putting ideas together to form a complete picture 129. Difficulty putting tasks or things in proper sequence 130. Difficulty recognizing faces 131. Difficulty speaking known words 132. Difficulty remembering names of objects 133. Difficulty remembering names of people 134. Difficulty understanding what you read 135. Difficulty with long-term memory 136. Difficulty with simple calculations 137. Difficulty with short-term memory 138. Easily distracted during a task 139. Dyslexia-type symptoms occasionally 140. Feeling too disoriented to drive 141. Forgetting how to do routine things 142. Impaired ability to concentrate 143. Inability to recognize familiar surroundings 144. Losing track in the middle of a task (remembering what to do next) 145. Losing your train of thought in the middle of a sentence 146. Loss of ability to distinguish some colors 147. Poor judgment 148. Short term memory impairment 149. Slowed speech 150. Staring into space trying to think 151. Stuttering; stammering 152. Switching
EMOTIONAL
158. Abrupt and/or unpredictable mood swings 159. Anger outbursts 160. Anxiety or fear when there is no obvious cause 161. Attacks of uncontrollable rage 162. Decreased appetite 163. Depressed mood 164. Feeling helpless and/or hopeless 165. Fear of someone knocking on the door 166. Fear of telephone ringing 167. Feeling worthless 168. Frequent crying 169. Heightened awareness – of symptoms 170. Inability to enjoy previously enjoyed activities 171. Irrational fears 172. Irritability 173. Overreaction 174. Panic attacks 175. Personality changes –usually a worsening of pervious condition 176. Phobias 177. Suicide attempts 178. Suicidal thoughts 179. Tendency to cry easily
207. Alcohol intolerance 208. Allodynia (hypersensitive to touch) 209. Alteration of taste, smell, and/or hearing 210. Sensitivity to chemicals in cleaning products, perfumes, etc. 211. Sensitivities to foods 212. Sensitivity to light 213. Sensitivity to mold 214. Sensitivity to noise 215. Sensitivity to odors 216. Sensitivity to yeast (getting yeast infections frequently on skin, etc.) 217. Sensory overload 218. Sensitivity to pressure & humidity changes 219. Sensitivity to extreme temperature changes 220. Vulvodynia SKIN 221. Able to “write” on skin with finger 222. Bruising easily 223. Bumps and lumps 224. Eczema or psoriasis 225. Hot/dry skin 226. Ingrown hairs 227. Itchy/Irritable skin 228. Mottled skin 229. Rashes or sores 230. Scarring easily 231. Sensitivity to the sun 232. Skin suddenly turns bright red
Cardiovascular (Heart)
233. “Click-murmur” sounds through stethoscope 234. Fluttery heartbeat 235. Heart palpitations 236. Irregular heartbeat 237. Loud pulse in ear 238. Pain that mimics heart attack 239. Rapid heartbeat
HAIR/NAILS
240. Dull, listless hair 241. Heavy and splitting cuticles 242. Irritated nail beds 243. Nails that curve under 244. Pronounced nail ridges 245. Temporary hair loss
OTHER
246. Canker sores 247. Dental problems 248. Disk Degeneration 249. Hemorrhoids 250. Nose bleeds 251. Periodontal (gum) disease
This Business and Breakfast networking group, based in Australia, has introduced me to some incredible individuals who generously share their expertise and support others on their journey. It’s a welcoming space where collaboration and growth thrive.
Here, you’ll find an inspiring collection of interviews with a diverse range of experts and thought leaders. Each conversation is a journey into unique insights and experiences, carefully curated to help you navigate your own path. From industry trailblazers to emerging voices, every guest shares valuable wisdom and forward-thinking perspectives designed to empower and uplift you. Explore their stories, absorb their expertise, and let these conversations spark new ideas and opportunities for your personal and professional growth.
COME AND JOIN US WEEKLY AND MEET SOME WONDERFUL PEOPLE.
Business at Breakfast is on every week (2 x FREE online meetings).
ALL WELCOME!
Business at Breakfast zoom link Cost: FREE
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All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support; thank you. And please support Our Forgotten Senior’s anthology and help to bring this book to awareness.
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