DEAR ABBY: Please ask your readers to rethink hosting big parties for those celebrating the "big" birthdays -- 90, 95, 100, etc. Rather than one overwhelming afternoon (when visitors ask the honoree, "Do you know who I am?"), it makes more sense to arrange a visiting schedule over several weeks or months.
Recently a woman who turned 100 was thrown a large party with more than 100 guests. By the time they left, she was exhausted and tearful. It turns out, she rarely had visitors. Visits should be spaced out so that loved ones know they are loved all year. -- NICOLE IN CALIFORNIA
DEAR NICOLE: Hear, hear!