Each month, I trade in the usual format for something looser. A look back at what we read together, what I was personally into, and what life actually looked like on my end while I was writing to you.

I call it the Monthly Edit. Think of it as the issue where I stop being the editor and just talk to you.

Welcome to the October edit.

October started with the addition of an 8-foot skeleton to the neighborhood and is ending with daughter #2 asleep upstairs.

In between, I became a beginner again. Twice.

Someone asked if I play golf and I said “not yet,” and headed to the course, then picked up another golfer’s shot. He was still playing it. And on the padel court I learned the ball doesn’t know you sat in traffic. Not my best showing, but the best I had that night.

Some old habits came back too. I bought groceries for five when there are two of us in the house. The kids sang the address song in the group text, six years after we left that house.

My sister came to visit and inspected all 24 of my plants. Turns out I’m not the only 50+ “plant lady.”

The beach house finally feels like ours. It might even have a name.

And finally, Halloween is tomorrow. I still don’t do scary. I hope my neighbors take the 8-foot skeleton down on Sunday.

Here's the best of Bloom. for the month.

Articles you clicked on most this month

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Take Your “Hon” and Shove It.

The barista called her “sweetie.” Nobody else in line was called that. She assumed she knew why. Read

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The Thing No One Tells You About Daughters.

She has a wish she’s made at every stage of her daughter’s life. It has never once come true. Read

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The Friend I Almost Gave Up On, and the One Who Never Showed.

One friend went weeks without writing back. Another couldn’t wait to make plans. She thought she knew how both would turn out. Read

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The Pleasure of Being Unaccounted For.

As a kid, she rode off on her bike with a Dr Pepper and didn’t come home until dinner. Nobody knew where she was. Read

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The Grandmother Hypothesis.

Only a handful of mammals live decades past menopause. Science has a theory about why women do, and the best evidence isn’t human. Read

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Why Front Porches Slowly Disappeared.

Every house on the block used to have one. Then they started vanishing. The reason isn’t what you’d guess. Read

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Do Your Emojis Make You Look Old?

Send a thumbs up and you’ve already told them more than you think. Read

A son who cooks. Sunday football moved to his apartment this fall, and somewhere along the way he took over the kitchen. Chili, cutlet sandwiches, sliders. Now I’m the one asking him for the recipe.

Lowered expectations. Somebody finally made a home magazine for the rest of us. The throw pillows are on the floor and nobody is folding a fitted sheet. Good Enough Housekeeping is my new favorite read.

Two women I got to know this month, one through a long phone call and one through the Bloom. questionnaire. Neither is following the script for 50-something.

A padel addict with a plan. Andi started 6 Love Sports after turning 50. She calls it a reunion of everyone she’s been, not a reinvention. She also recently sang karaoke until 3 a.m. and refuses to do dishes. I play padel, so I was always going to love her.
Read our conversation.

Monaco, from a distance. Jeanne went on a Mediterranean cruise for her 30th anniversary, the trip of a lifetime, and spent the Monaco stop in her cabin with a fever. She enjoyed the view anyway, since swimming ashore wasn’t a realistic option. Her word for this chapter is “savour.” Meet Jeanne.

That's the whole ask.

Questions or Inquiries?