Though they take time to enjoy other pursuits, the Kettners haven't made golf or travel their top priorities. Neither have many older adults, both married and single, who say the last third of their lives now offers them opportunities to contemplate the spiritual, in whatever form of spirituality is real for them. Centers for aging and spirituality have sprung up in major cities across the country.

Some invest themselves in formal religious pursuits, while others broaden the definition of spirituality as a way of looking back on their lives and contemplating what they've accomplished, according to Nancy Stallings, director of Salt Lake County Aging Services.

One model she uses to describe aging is "peas and carrots as the younger stages of life, when you're working and providing a home for your family. Then when we get to last third of our life, it can be dessert, whether that is finding more meaning because we have more time to think about that, more time to follow some spiritual pursuits or to realize who we are.

"In the early years we seem to be so busy asserting ourselves and launching ourselves as adults and professionals and parents and homeowners. Once we get that out of the way, we're free to maybe start a new life and do the meaningful stuff," like volunteering as a foster grandparent, helping at the information desk, serving a religious congregation or taking continuing education classes.

"If you include spiritual development as becoming more of who we are and what we were meant to be, then I think it ties in."

Older people are able to share their accumulated wisdom, and most religious traditions not only welcome but encourage younger people to listen to the wisdom of their elders, she said. "When you have lived that many decades you have some perspective. Some will tell their grandchildren to pay cash rather than use the credit cards when they see them in debt. But being old-fashioned is not the worst thing that can happen to anybody."

She describes the wisdom, energy and time to volunteer that older residents have as "one of the community's greatest assets," particularly since the average life expectancy in Utah is now between 80 and 85, and "85 is the fastest-growing segment of the population."

Kathleen Fallon, director of mission services at St. Joseph Villa retirement community, works with clients in various stages of the aging process. "Spirituality is a huge component of how they cope with day-to-day losses they experience," including the loss of independence and their own homes, eyesight, hearing and mobility.