Relationships can be like puzzle pieces affecting all aspects of our lives as each of us face significant transitions in our lives. Relationships with Others as We Age will be the focus of the Inn Along the Way’s Second 2022 summer “Challenging Conversation Circle” taking place at the Chapman Farm, 741 Main Street in Damariscotta, Maine on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 3 p.m. Things change over time. Certainly relationships do, especially with age. Shifts in key relationships are often inherently difficult, yet a lack of understanding and awareness can make natural and necessary changes all the more challenging. 

Some relationships change for the best, whereas others slowly become less rewarding and meaningful as the years go by. What determines whether a relationship becomes stronger or more fraught with time?  At the IAW’s Aug. 28 “Relationships with Others as We Age” interactive discussion facilitated by Laurie Worth, panelists will be invited to share the stories of how their relationships have changed as they and the people in their lives have grown older and transitioned through the pandemic. Join

• Tim Badgley – Will be discussing the benefits of having a “chosen family”
• Deborah Carroll –Will be focusing on a parent setting up care-takers for adult children with special needs.
• Lisa Steele-Maley – Will be sharing her experience of shifting familial relationships.

as they discuss how the interactive puzzle pieces such as: looking for new ways for staying connected; resetting priorities; respecting the needs of family and friends; and being open to relationships with many kinds of people have impacted the puzzle’s picture as each piece falls into place by focusing on the present while at the same time planning for the future..

Current State of Maine CDC guidelines and protocols will be followed. For the safety of all, unvaccinated participants will be asked to wear a mask. The theme for the IAW’s second summer conversation circle taking place on Sunday, Sept. 25 at 3 p.m. will be “Changing Relationships with Self.”

IAW’s mission is to create a collaborative community offering older adults, and those seeking temporary relief from the responsibilities of caregiving, an environment of support, purpose, and sustainability in a multigenerational and mutually interdependent setting (www.innalongtheway.org).

FMI: Sherry Flint (207-751-6261) sherry@innalongtheway.org.. To make a donation: https://www.innalongtheway.org/contribute or mail a check to: IAW, PO Box 1133, Damariscotta, ME 04543.

Facilitator and Panelists Overviews

Tim Badgley has been a resident of Lincoln County since 1998. His 30-year career in print production culminated in his position as Director of Commercial Print Services at Courier Publications in Rockland, producing 60 community newspapers each month across the state of Maine. Tim will speak on the benefits of having a "chosen family," sharing insights from being part of one for 35 years. The pandemic brought him and his chosen family together in new and unexpected ways.

Deborah Carroll, Ph.D. is a retired neuroscientist and Professor of Psychology, and currently teaches yoga. Debby retired 2 years ago, and lives in Bremen with her husband of 32 years, Patrick McDonnell. The proud mom of two amazing young women with autism, Debby will speak about the changing roles between parents and children that occur with aging. As a former care-taker of both her parents, Debby will speak from the point of view of the child becoming the parent figure. As the mother of two young adults with autism, she will speak from the point of view of a parent setting up care-takers for adult children with special needs.

Lisa Steele-Maley is the Dean at the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, an ordained Interfaith Minister and the author of two books, “Without a Map: A Caregiver’s Journey through the Wilderness of Heart and Mind” and “Arriving Here: Reflections from the Hearth and Trail.” She lives in Edgecomb with her husband, Thomas, a handful of animals and her teenage sons.

Lisa Steele-Maley will share her experience of shifting familial relationships. Ten years ago, when she stepped in to support her father as he declined with dementia, she was acutely aware of how her relationship with her father was changing. It was less obvious that every other family relationship was shifting as well. Lisa will share reflections of that time and observations of how relationships have continued to evolve since then.

Laurie Worth is a retired social worker ( MSW/CSW). Her career fields included working in pediatric and adult care hospitals. Laurie’s expertise was with the chronically ill/ terminally ill populations. She was later director of the social work department at The Astor Home for Children in Poughkeepsie, New York serving sexually abused children in a residential setting. Her last position was as director of foster care as well as running a shelter for homeless teenagers for the Salvation Army in Philadelphia. She recently retired from fifteen years as a volunteer with Penn Hospice in West Chester, Pennsylvania. She currently volunteers at Inn Along the Way here in Damariscotta and is very involved with her Quaker Monthly Meeting in Pennsylvania. She and her husband are summer residents in New Harbor.