Recently at a small dinner in New York with health care researchers, someone asked why I live in Missoula, A of all places. I usually respond to such questions by talking about the beauty of Montana and about the quality of life here.
Timing is everything.
Once the chuckles subsided, I pointed out that life in the Garden City is better than the bucolic image of 1955. Missoulians are active nationally and internationally. By the time our salads arrived, the conversation had turned to our collective worry about the future of American health care. Major social and demographic trends are already resulting in a tidal wave of caregiving need. As the baby boomers age, for the first time there will be more older people than younger people on the planet.