AARP Membership

I was first invited to join AARP when I turned 55 - or maybe even earlier. I did, but then let the membership lapse. Every year I get a request to join again around my birthday, and this year was no exception. It was funny to get a “letter” from JoAnn Jenkins, the president of AARP. She was the chief operating officer at the Library of Congress when I started working there seventeen years ago. I had to make a presentation to the operating committee about the work I was doing in the infrastructure support services about performance measures and productivity. I found her to be very down to earth and more like the people I used to work with in health care administration - not like what you typically find in government offices. Not much was ever done with recommendations for improvement at the library. So I was not surprised when JoAnn moved to AARP because of her approach to work and her likability. The other reason I am so interested in AARP now is because our daughter in law, Kim Lankford, is their Medicare specialist and writes material for the digital magazine. Kim worked for Kiplinger - the “ask Kim” column - and has done a lot of freelance work, written books, and has appeared on a lot of finance shows. And I love to promote anything she writes on LinkedIn and Facebook. So I decided to join AARP for three years without auto renew. I’m looking forward to reading her articles and spreading the word about Kim. And, although I have no intention of going, I would get first dibs on tickets to a Rolling Stones concert since AARP is their sponsor. How funny is that?