Dr. Ruth Westheimer.Photo: CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty
AsDr. Ruth Westheimermade plans for her 94th birthday on June 4, the famous sex therapist wasn’t going to let a little birthday celebration stop her from offering advice to others.
Dr. Ruth Westheimer in 1984.Donna Svennevik/ABC/Getty
Dr. Ruth has been an iconic public figure since she launched her WYNY radio call-in show,Sexually Speaking,in 1980; she’s since published dozens of books and been a staple in documentaries, including one about her own life,Ask Dr. Ruth.The2019 documentary profiles her journey from Holocaust orphan to well-known expert, and at the time it was released, she said she’d throw in the towel “never— next question!”
And while she does have no plans to retire, she admits that she says “no” to invites more judiciously these days, including nixing a birthday party her children Miriam and Joel planned to throw for her. (“We’ll do that next year, when I’m 95!") But, in addition to a walker she can sit in, Dr. Ruth does have one more thing she wishes for on this monumental birthday.
“Here’s my birthday wish: I would like to be the ambassador to fight loneliness for many people. Old people, young people, birthday people, anybody,” Dr. Ruth says. “The loneliness [of the pandemic] is something that is going to be with us for a long time … [I want to] give some good advice for those people who, even after the epidemic, will still have issues with relationships and issues of loneliness.”
Has Dr. Ruth (a widow since her third husband Manfred Westheimer died in 1997) experienced that loneliness herself? “I don’t dwell on it. That’s the difference. In my philosophy of life, you are not going to hear me say how terrible it is to be alone, " she said. “I try to listen to my own advice … I have to laugh myself when I say it.”
And she focuses on the good things in her life — particularly as a proud mom and grandmother (“Not only am I bragging, I’m bragging with conscience. I’m bragging with pride. And I’m bragging with reasons!” she tells the reporter of her progeny) — to keep her feeling her best.
“If you are fortunate enough to be in good health, make sure you thank God or whoever you believe in, for good health,” she says in one final piece of advice. And of course: “Close your Zoom, close your cellphone, and engage in sex!”
source: people.com
