One of Wendy Lustbader's earliest professional social work assignments was to take down the histories of elderly people in a nursing home. By doing so, she found that "the man with Alzheimers in room 410" was actually 96-year-old Ole Hatlen, a former concert pianist who unconsciously played Chopin on the arm of his wheelchair. "The woman with the stroke in room 208" became Lila Lane, who ran off to Tijuana at age sixteen to marry her first husband, and at age 75 bemoaned the fact that she could no longer wear high heels.For twenty years, Lustbader continued to ask older people for their stories, which she has gathered into Lifetimes of Living: a compilation of colorful testimonials on love, truth, grief, faith, happiness, fulfillment, and death by people in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. Collected at kitchen tables and in clinics and nursing homes, these vignettes are priceless documentation of how the members of our older generation lived, the history they saw first-hand, and the invaluable wisdom they gained through years and years of experience.The book is divided into 11 sections: On Living Well, On Faith, On People, On Marriage, On Time, On Illness, On Being Blue, On Regret, On Work, On Good Conduct, and On Later Life.