Author name: Jan Whalen

Dear very cool woman, Today we celebrate turning 60 with Linda. Does it sound odd to use the words “celebrate†and “60†in the same sentence? I used to think that 60 was a time to start shopping for a porch rocking chair so one could be comfortable waiting for life to crumble—but of course,

Dear cool woman, I’ve always thought that being 50 is reaching the half way point of life. Of course, we get no longevity guarantees, but in the case of this blog about women turning a new decade, we are truly midway. I have to laugh as I write “turning†as if the day we reach a new age

Dear beauty, Today we feature a woman who is ‘pushing’ fabulous forty. I find it encouraging that as we age, we gain so much and Tinisha’s life reflects that wisdom. Tinisha was born in the Chicago area but moved to Phoenix in 1999. She, like many of us, wanted to live in a warmer place.

Dear very cool woman, Are you enjoying our journey with women who are stepping out of one decade of life and dancing into a new one? Our third fascinating woman, Niamh (pronounced NEEV) gives us a glimpse of her world at 30; and with three decades of living to her credit, she has much to show us.

Dear lovely woman, Today we celebrate being 20 with Katrina—or Kat, as she’s sometimes called. This is the second blog in our series celebrating women who are entering new decades from 10 to 100. Kat reminds us of all the cool things about being 20. I feel a tinge of envy as she describes her

Dear very cool woman, July has always been filled with birthday celebrations for our Whalen family and so it seems natural to consider the topic of birthdays this month—specifically the decade changers. It doesn’t matter if you feel anxious or excited about stepping into a new decade, it’s significant to leave the one you’ve known for—well, a

Dear wonderful woman, For a gazillion years, the question has been asked of artists and writers: “How do you get these creative ideas?†While I’m sure stacks of research exist regarding this topic, my own opinion is that the good stuff comes to us from God—or as I often say, the Divine. We each have

As we begin Father’s Day weekend, I’d like to share a paper I wrote during my servant-leadership master’s program. This particular class was called “The Spirituality of Work†and since the paper features one of my brothers, Ralph Whalen, I’m especially happy to share it. Eleven years ago, Ralph and his wife Joyce worked at Taipei American School