AdvicePublished: Jan. 15, 2026, 12:00 p.m.
In today’s Asking Eric column, R. Eric Thomas shares a reader’s advice about how to deal with aches and pains as you age.(Dreamstime/TCA)
Dear Eric: As a 73-year-old with plenty of aches and pains, I have a suggestion for “The Cup is Half Full”, whose friend group was overtaken by medical complaints.
My group of friends and family refer to this kind of talk with humor as the “Organ Recital.” We limit our Organ Recitals to 15 minutes per visit for the group and then move on to other topics.
– Achy Lady
Dear Lady: The Organ Recital was a very popular suggestion. Love it.
(Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.)
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R. Eric Thomas (he/him) is a national bestselling author, playwright, and screenwriter. His memoir, Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America, which Lin-Manuel Miranda hailed as “pop culture-obsessed,… more