The Alex and Ronni Show – 30 October 2020
Friday, 30 October 2020
We have come up today on a new episode of The Alex and Ronni Show, recorded on Wednesday.
When I started this blog 16 years ago, I subtitled it (see banner above) “what it's really like to get old” and for a lot of years that's what I tried to do - research, write about and ruminate on how we age.
Then, three years ago, the universe hit me with cancer followed shortly by COPD and I knew from the start where that ends. So I made a course correction in the topic so to write as openly and honestly as I can muster about what it is like to know you are dying – the good, the bad, the whatever else - because that is what interests me these days.
But today's conversation with my former husband, Alex Bennett, seems to be a throwback to those early years of the blog – just a couple elders talking about ordinary old-people stuff, some laments, the compensations we make for our growing list of infirmities – sort of what “it's really like to get old.”
You can check out Alex's online talk show here.
You are so beautiful, inside and out. It's wonderful to see your smile this morning.
Posted by: Janice | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 08:25 AM
Great to see you!
I want to cheer!
I want to cry.
Be here for as long as your comfort allows.
Your're an incredible woman and inspiration. Over the years, quite early on, I never thought of the words to express the feelings felt about you; your doggedness for curiosity and exploration for truth, the worthwhile use of outrage, the necessity of humor in any form.
This is an endless list.
You're love, Ronni. You found it, you shared it, and we're priviledged to feel it for you.
Thank you!
Posted by: Simone | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 08:59 AM
A particularly sweet conversation. Thanks to you both.
Posted by: Thea T | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 09:03 AM
Ditto what Thea said. Thank you Alex & Ronni.
Posted by: Doug M | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 09:29 AM
The time just flew by in this talk show! You were radiant, it was a joy to see you. The story about driving the garbage to the recycling is right up there with "fancy pants."
Thanks , Ronni.
Posted by: Salinda Dahl | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 09:29 AM
I just watched the Ronnie and Alex show and it was delightful. Your smile just lit up my day!
You are a wonderful human being; beautiful, wise, and thoughtful. Your blog has been an inspiration to me and to many others. Thank you for continuing to share your journey and know that there are many like myself who read it but don't often comment.
I have recommended your blog to others over the years. You may get a kick out of how I happened to find you in the first place. Several years ago, I was hanging out with my granddaughter when I "tooted". I said I'm sorry I "tooted" and she said, "how come old people "toot" so much"? I said let's check it out online. The first place I could find an answer was your blog. You had addressed that issue in a recent blog and so we found an answer and I've read you ever since that day.
Thanks for your good humor and wise information over the years!
Faith
Posted by: Faith Finney | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 09:36 AM
You are beautiful and amazing! That smile is radiant! Can’t find enough superlative words to describe the joy you give to so many.
Posted by: Andrea | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 09:47 AM
Thank you Ronni and Alex!!!
You brought lots of Joy to your readers.
Posted by: Redstone Gail | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 10:28 AM
Great show! As I've said many times before, I've never been much of an old-age fan, especially as my ability to DO things that need to be done diminishes, but here I am closing in on 84.
I'm fortunate (and extremely grateful!) that my husband, who will be 91 next week, is still here and in relatively good health, also that we have adequate financial resources to pay the monthly bills. We can afford a housecleaner once a month--perhaps eventually every 2 weeks--and a landscaper/handyman periodically. Living independently would be exponentially harder if we were unable to afford these "luxuries".
Since COVID-world became a daily reality, I "shop" for groceries mostly through curbside pickup and have become a regular on Amazon Prime for staples such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, disinfectant (if/when these items are available) and cat food. I'm appreciative that these options exist.
It is what it is. If the would-be Emperor of tRumpystan prevails in the election, things will get worse. Don Jr. thinks 1,000+ COVID deaths a day (mostly taking out older adults) is no big thing!
Posted by: Elizabeth Rogers | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 12:38 PM
I have greatly appreciated your writing about the ups and downs of aging and now of moving slowly toward death. With your honesty, you are laying down marking points for we who will follow. I too have read a great deal about aging and dying. Through this blog you are sharing a one-of-a-kind glimpse. Thank you.
Posted by: Bonnie Keast | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 01:55 PM
baby boomers are already getting treated like crap in retirement homes. A couple months ago there was a video of a black guy punching a 75 year old boomer repeatedly in the face in a retirement home. Hey, maybe you boomers shouldn't have favored blacks and minorities over your own white children with your political correctness, multiculturalism bullshit? You boomers are getting exactly what you fucking deserve. Enjoy those retirement homes, boomer scum!
Posted by: pah | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 02:29 PM
This particular Alex and Ronni Show, was really heart warming!
I agree with many of the previous comments, being wonderful seeing Ronni smile and you both talking about ageing.
I have gained so much insight from these blogs and Shows, they speak to me directly.
Ronni, you are an inspiration!
Posted by: Wendy Robyn Link-Pierce | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 06:39 PM
Want to say I am thankful that you have such thoughtful neighbors....if I was one of them I would bring you a bowl of the minestrone soup I made tonight with tomatoes from my our garden !
I love my cleaning ladies who visit to clean twice a month...have had them for about 8 years ever since I had a bad fall and was incapacitated for a year... more and more I find myself needing to rest and unable to do too much in the garden, or in the house. Husband has been crippled up from a bad knee for about a month...he was in amazing shape, an exercise addict but finally now the ortho doc thinks that he needs a meniscus repair...waiting on the insurance so the MRI can show what, exactly is wrong.
We have voted by mail for several years and did so soon after receiving our ballots.
The only place I stand in line is to pay for groceries at the Big Box store, and to pay for the amazing clothes I find on the rare visits to my local thrift stores...precautions in place, of course.
I am a year older than you are, Ronni, and a long-time reader. So glad you now have some help so you can conserve your energy. I will miss you and your fans' comments immensely when you depart this vail (vale?)of tears.
Posted by: Joan M. | Friday, 30 October 2020 at 06:56 PM
Alex Bennett, Ronni's ex-husband with whom she did the video blogs, posted on his Facebook page that Ronni has died.
https://www.facebook.com/abennett/posts/10224983197430822
Alex posted this around 1 AM, ET, Saturday Oct. 31, 2020.
If you don't have a Facebook account, I don't think you can see the Facebook post. All it says is "Ronni Bennett died today. My love is with her." As I write this, there are well over 100 comments to Alex's post. I haven't read them.
I am as shocked and devastated by this news as I know all of you will be when you read this. We knew it was coming, but I don't think anyone thought it would be now. For me, this is as awful as a death in my own family. Her blog was so personal, it connected me to her as if she were an IRL friend or relative.
I'm so sorry for Ronni and for all of you who read her and loved her.
Posted by: John Cumings | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 05:59 AM
John...
Thank you so much for letting us know.
Posted by: Katie | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 07:47 AM
Ronni fooled us all...I understand that she was ready to go...she had her sense of humor to the end...she pulled the "trick" on us, and she got the "treat" she had planned on all along.
I love you, Ronni.
Posted by: Joan M. | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 08:59 AM
Oh, this is sad, but not unexpected. As I watched her on the Wednesday post with her husband, I knew the end was near. She was tired. Farewell, dear Ronni. You fought a fine battle. You took us along through it all. You have left a great legacy.
Posted by: dkzody | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 10:00 AM
And she took Sean Connery with her!
Have a good ride, Ronni, and I'm selfishly (good kind?) not wanting to say good bye to all of you.
I don't care for this part of aging.
Rock the boat, Ronni....
Posted by: Simone | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 10:18 AM
Ronni and to the gang that's all here . . . We have all come a long way. Seems like only weeks when we first met online; it was 8+ years! Then after traveling 3,200 miles across the US we met again for an elegant lunch. Redstone and I promised to stay side-by-side with Ronni and with all of you till now.
Now is a sad time. Now was inevitable. Now is not eternal. Now is our time to say, "Godspeed Ronni, until we meet again! We are missing you."
Our thoughts are with Ronni's brother, newfound son, his wife, and grandchild. A special thanks for those Alex and Ronni shows. And our Sunday specials with our Australian friend Peter Tibbles.
Goodbye . . . .
To everything, there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.
(Alex: If there is any information you'd like to share with me - please contact [email protected])
Posted by: Yellowstone | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 11:50 AM
May her memory be for a blessing, as she helped us to face aging, and death as well, not to see the election, when we see the results we will know she is just as aggravated, and her vote will count even as she passed already. Thanks Alex, and Ronni too. Reading a book titled To Begin Again, which Ronni cannot do, but we can as we go forward. Naomi Levy wrote about new beginnings, comfort, strength and faith in difficult times. m
Posted by: Martha K. Backer | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 03:50 PM
The world is definitely not as bright since losing my beautiful friend and mother in-law. I never imagined the deep emptiness in my belly would be so painful. I never imagined I would be so very sad. I am grateful for this woman. She made it possible for me to find my husband (her son) and have her grandchild. She was a selfless human being and I will always have her in my heart. I am one of the lucky ones as I have a part of her with me... in my heart, home and family. God Bless you Ronni and may you fly with the angels and surround us always.
Posted by: Kathy Berez | Saturday, 31 October 2020 at 04:49 PM
Ronni's memory will forever be a blessing. I am so sad, but hopefully this has happened on her terms. Thanks for everything you gave us Ronni.
Posted by: Carol Ginsburg | Sunday, 01 November 2020 at 08:26 AM
Farewell to our wonderful beloved scribe.
I am not sad because there was no fear. Thank you for all of the years Ronni.
We send love for you from here, please send some back to us from time to time
Posted by: Yvonne | Sunday, 01 November 2020 at 09:19 AM
I will miss you Ronni Bennett. You were a gift to the world. Thank you.
Posted by: Natasha M | Monday, 02 November 2020 at 10:59 AM
I miss you. Your lovely smile.
Thank you so much.
Odette
Posted by: Odette | Wednesday, 11 November 2020 at 11:07 AM