Who hasn’t experienced life’s painful jabs-especially those of us who have rounded the corner into middle age? Emotional family events, stress from lousy jobs, the bittersweet feelings when the kids leave home, body image issues, and turning the big 5-0 . . . it’s all covered here in Cindy Eastman’s collection of personal and insightful essays. In Flip-Flops After Fifty, Eastman tackles the … sublime and the ridiculous, the sacred and the profane, with her own brand of easy humor. From her 30th high school reunion to her daughter’s wedding to running away to a cabin in Maine to figure out what she wants to do with her life, Eastman braves the ups and downs of midlife, and she comes out of it changed-for the better. At turns wry, hilarious, and poignant, Flip-Flops After Fifty will amuse and enlighten readers, even as it inspires them to think more deeply about the topics that affect us all.
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Flip-Flops After 50 is a refreshing collection of essays written by Cindy Eastman.
Eastman’s often humorous reflections are presented with honesty and self acceptance. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each passage and will share this book with my girlfriends (over 50).
This is a super, want to dive into book, once you open it! Each chapter leads you to the next vignette that Cindy Eastman shares with us to enlighten us to our own path in “Flip-Flips after 50”…and it is stunning! It’s wild how much I connected to her story. I learned so much along the way, and will definitely take some lessons to travel further along my journey.
I love how gently everything was shared. I felt like I was in conversation with a friend.
I highly recommend this book to women. Women of any age…at least I am going into my 50th birthday warmed with this 200 page book and a pair of flip-flips. I am very grateful.
I was given a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The still waters of Cindy Eastman’s easy-going writing style won’t mask the deeper messages woven into the essays in Flip-Flops After 50 – letting go that which does not serve us at 50 and beyond, and being gentler with ourselves and those around us. This book is comfort food for a weary reader of a certain age!
Let me start with Flip Flops After Fifty by Cindy Eastman is auto-biographical and a delightful read! Each short chapter is a story unto itself and little by little, chapter by chapter Eastman reveals pieces of her life, as she helpfully drops pearls of wisdom along the way.
With gentle humor Eastman skillfully takes us through the difficult years of high school, of the tribulations of going to college only to drop out to get married and have babies, through the struggles of getting divorced and being a single mother, to getting remarried and blending families, the joys of becoming a grandmother and the courageous decision to follow your dreams. We journey with her to points across the United States going to places like the Campbell Room in Grand Central Station (a place this native New Yorker didn’t even know existed) an idyllic island in Maine, a high school reunion in Austin, as well as her beloved home and sanctuary in Connecticut.
Ultimately, this beautifully written book is a journey of coming of age (at the age of fifty), of finally shedding the mantle of the fears and insecurities of our youth and the demands ‘society’ places at our feet. And after much introspection being able to say, “You know what? I am who I am and if you don’t like me I’m OK with that, because I really like myself!” And what a gift that is.
If you’re looking for a ‘pick me up’, or a way to escape the harsh realities of the world or a gentle reminder that who you are is just fine, I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of Flip Flops After Fifty!
Whether you are staring 50 in the face or looking back, Eastman’s Flip Flops After 50 is more than anything about life, its joys and pitfalls— all seen through the prism of getting on in age and in life. It’s all there—laughter and tears, petty annoyances and great love. Through it all, the narrator assures us all will be well, and we believe her. Her wit and wisdom assure us and carry us along. A great read anytime, perfect for the beach.