The fifth installment of The Process of Aging picks up where the fourth left off and follows Tacha’s husband’s cancer diagnosis. “That summer was hell,” she writes.

“I think that old age, so far, is not so bad in itself; at least it’s less of a problem than the limits it sets … How can I avoid thinking of my physical limits when my body constantly forces me to see and feel them?” Tacha openly questions how much time she indeed has left, and questions how much she can expect of this time. While in previous installments she would meticulously inventory the observable changes in her appearance and temperament, here Tacha draws attention to the myriad routines and rituals that have become part of her tempering her aging process, dealing with its symptoms and obstacles.

From our exhibition Athena Tacha, The Complete Bookworks 1970 to Present: “Tacha’s accordion-fold pocket books are “meditations on a particular aspect of life, describing ordinary acts and phenomena such as scratching dandruff from the scalp, considering which groceries to buy in the supermarket, or the appearance of wrinkles with age. Tacha’s reflections bring to light the broader implications of these seemingly commonplace events, making allusions to the ecological, sociological, and political impacts of our personal choices and emotions and visa versa. Just as often, Tacha’s reflections stay within the intimate scope of the act or object described and leave the reader to draw their own conclusions.”