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Dr. Ruth Gives Love, Sex Advice to Seniors at NewBridge

"Don't retire, re-wire," Dr. Ruth exclaimed to a room full of seminar attendees.

The iconic diminutive sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer stopped in Dedham Wednesday at to explain the universality of sex and touch in a sex-over-50 seminar.

Ruth, who will turn 83 this June, was introduced as a self-made woman with, “an accent only a psychologist could off.”

The German-accented Westheimer, standing less than 5 feet tall, introduced herself as “an old fashioned square.” By the time she coaxed the audience to say a sexual word in unison - so they could become comfortable with the discussion - her presence had filled the room. To encourage comfort she told everyone to start begin questions of an intimate nature with “A friend mine wants to know…”

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She explained that her husband was never allowed to come to her seminars. He would ask too many questions and tell everyone not to listen to her. She recalled that when Diane Sawyer came to interview her at their home in Manhattan, Sawyer asked Westheimer’s husband what their sex life was like and he replied, “The shoemaker’s children never have shoes.”

The mostly female audience whispered to each other in the audience that they were amazed with her virility at such an age. “She’s so amazing,” was remarked again and again.

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Westheimer punctuated each point with a joke and a smile. Stating that an education learned with humor is well remembered.

“Don’t retire,” she said, “re-wire.”

“Older people can learn new tricks,” she encouraged.

Westheimer said the alternative to getting older is “unthinkable,” so make the best with what you have. She said everyone needs to be touched and interested.

Most questions were asked to Westheimer with respect to the inquirer’s privacy. Cards were handed out at the beginning of the seminar and passed to NewBridge staff. At the end, a staff member asked the questions.

One person asked how to get over the death of a spouse and Westheimer answered as someone who lost her spouse 12 years ago, “You never get over it.”

She encourages people to go out and do what interests them, “Go out, go to lectures,” she said.

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