What do you do when you've had a varied and fulfilled working life and raised a happy and successful family, and now you're in your 80s?
Well, if you're Maree Curtis of Bathurst, NSW, you study screen and media and host a program on the local radio station.
At 87, Maree is a dynamo who could put people half her age to shame.
Every Friday her 15-minute radio program, Senior Citizens' Updates, is broadcast on 2MCE locally on Bathurst 92.30 FM and Orange 94.7 FM, and is streamed across Australia on 2mce.org.
Maree interviews personalities from the Central West and beyond about issues of interest to older people.
While some interviews have a local focus, many touch on topics pertinent to people anywhere in Australia. Women's health, Mens Sheds, the Rural Fire Service, volunteering, retaining your licence after 85, community transport, and the University of the Third Age are just a few.
Maree began her radio career in 2017 when she volunteered to read the talking newspaper every Friday and completed two training courses.
During 2020, she studied three subjects in screen and media and went on to produce interviews for seniors and do a chat show on alternate weeks.
Since then, she has developed quite a radio following with people listening to her show on the radio and nationally online.
"I just want people to listen to a program which costs them nothing but might teach them something," Maree said.
"Because I'm also a senior, when I'm talking to people I'm not talking at them. I've had help from these services myself."
As a younger woman, Maree worked as a secretary to the Bathurst town clerk before winning a top secretary competition and deciding to expand her horizons and move to Sydney.
A successful career in Sydney followed, but then a chance encounter on a ferry sent Maree on a new direction and she became a TAFE teacher. She now also has a degree in education and a graduate diploma in law.
Her radio programs are recorded in a studio at her home. "I do it all myself," she said. "Every interview, every draft, every edit.
"The main point in life is that you are never too old to learn something new. Education goes on forever. Most people can learn just about anything at any age."
Maree is an astute real estate investor and a keen gardener, working every weekend on her son's rural property. "I do all the trees and the roses and everything I can to make it like a park. It's lovely."
She also loves to cook, particularly for family, is on the committee of the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, regularly reads in French, including the newspaper Le Monde and classic novels, and enjoys lively political discussion.