To say nothing about hair loss, arthritis, kidney stones, diabetes, cataracts, collapsing spinal discs, the looming need to replace worn out joints. Getting old is not for the weak.
Ruminations on Senior Citizenship
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To say nothing about hair loss, arthritis, kidney stones, diabetes, cataracts, collapsing spinal discs, the looming need to replace worn out joints. Getting old is not for the weak.
I am not losing my hair... it is migrating South.
via the Back roadI am not losing my hair... it is migrating South.
There's some migration going on as well.I am not losing my hair... it is migrating South.
One of the blessings of healthy (relatively speaking) old age is we know we are going to lay down to sleep no more in the not terribly distant future but we always think it’s a few more years away.
Yet sometimes the oldster gets informed of a death sentence, like my mother did when she was 80 in 2006 and was told she had advanced congestive heart failure. She called me and I drove furiously to her home and she was frying chicken in lard. She said at least she could eat well and not worry about cholesterol. She then said I always thought God might make an exception in my case but it’s not looking very promising,
She lived another four years, and died in my arms of a heart attack as I was coming to visit at noon.
I’d rather be like the old lady who was 100 years old in 1996 on Election Day and came in my office for estate planning.
She was proud to have voted in every election since 1920 and was still put out they wouldn’t let women vote in 1918.
I asked her if she’d vote again in 2000 and she said in 2000 for sure, and after that she couldn’t promise.
She voted in 2000, age 104, but absentee.
At 65 I’m a very young old man.
But when you cash in on Medicare there’s no denying you are a geezer.
Yet sometimes the oldster gets informed of a death sentence, like my mother did when she was 80 in 2006 and was told she had advanced congestive heart failure. She called me and I drove furiously to her home and she was frying chicken in lard. She said at least she could eat well and not worry about cholesterol. She then said I always thought God might make an exception in my case but it’s not looking very promising,
She lived another four years, and died in my arms of a heart attack as I was coming to visit at noon.
I’d rather be like the old lady who was 100 years old in 1996 on Election Day and came in my office for estate planning.
She was proud to have voted in every election since 1920 and was still put out they wouldn’t let women vote in 1918.
I asked her if she’d vote again in 2000 and she said in 2000 for sure, and after that she couldn’t promise.
She voted in 2000, age 104, but absentee.
At 65 I’m a very young old man.
But when you cash in on Medicare there’s no denying you are a geezer.
To all those who bemoan growing older: there is only one alternative.
Yep, and we all know what that is .
At 66 I'm still an avid Argentine Tango dancer ( close to 30 years now ) and I last up to four days in a row.
Thank god my friend does not suffer from a horrible disease named jealousy. Envy neither ; two concepts often confused, but meaning something entirely different. When 59 a wonderful, very serious and mentally very sane 23 art student from Germany fell in love me and the feeling was reciprocated. I told her I love both my friend and her to much to ruin three lives.
Yet the emotion lasted for years to come.
An impossible love is very tough to overcome.
At 66 I'm still an avid Argentine Tango dancer ( close to 30 years now ) and I last up to four days in a row.
Thank god my friend does not suffer from a horrible disease named jealousy. Envy neither ; two concepts often confused, but meaning something entirely different. When 59 a wonderful, very serious and mentally very sane 23 art student from Germany fell in love me and the feeling was reciprocated. I told her I love both my friend and her to much to ruin three lives.
Yet the emotion lasted for years to come.
An impossible love is very tough to overcome.
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Just visited my grandpa yesterday. He is almost 101 years old now. Slow moving, but Still as sharp as ever. Drove untill 99, when he himself decided it was enough.
And then you have my dad who passed in 2009 at 57, and my mom in 2012 also at 57.
If I make it to 58, I'm going to party hard!
And then you have my dad who passed in 2009 at 57, and my mom in 2012 also at 57.
If I make it to 58, I'm going to party hard!
Everyone gets to be young. Not everyone gets to be old. Every grey hair is a medal and age is a badge of honor.
I view it as an opportunity,
The trick is realizing when you get to be a cranky prick and get away with it.
The trick is realizing when you get to be a cranky prick and get away with it.
I was on my porch last night. As a stretched my head, a grey hair fell out. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.
I'm enjoying middle aged right now. I like that I can still do most things. I'm not really digging how Ican only do them once or that the recovery time is so long now. I give the impression that I know what needs to be done and can still do it.
My plan now is to not get older. I had thought about it when I was younger, but the specter of old age was too far away to take seriously. But now that I'm about as close to 60 as I am 30, it's time to take a good look at stopping this aging process.
I'm enjoying middle aged right now. I like that I can still do most things. I'm not really digging how Ican only do them once or that the recovery time is so long now. I give the impression that I know what needs to be done and can still do it.
My plan now is to not get older. I had thought about it when I was younger, but the specter of old age was too far away to take seriously. But now that I'm about as close to 60 as I am 30, it's time to take a good look at stopping this aging process.
For me, as I get older, the love for my children grows more intense, the value of relationships takes on a different tone. I'm driven to explore the meaning of my life more than I ever did.
Every morning I look in the mirror and see some old man staring back. My body doesn't respond as well, doesn't move as easily but that's ok. That's the price I pay for this life.
Experiencing the loss of friends and loved ones, children leaving home to begin a new life, from diapers to watching them grow, mature, gain their independence, financial ups and downs, thinking of past lovers and where they are, etc... on and on.
Something about living 60 plus years feels both satisfying and sentimental in ways not possible in my youth. Developing the courage to live your own truth and not give a tinkers damn what anyone else thinks.
The later years of life can be filled with purpose, dignity and joy, or they can be riddled with frustration, depression and pain. A lot depends on our attitudes, values, family and support systems. But before I shuffle off this mortal coil and join the choir invisible, I'm going to remember Emersons quote, "“The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.”
Every morning I look in the mirror and see some old man staring back. My body doesn't respond as well, doesn't move as easily but that's ok. That's the price I pay for this life.
Experiencing the loss of friends and loved ones, children leaving home to begin a new life, from diapers to watching them grow, mature, gain their independence, financial ups and downs, thinking of past lovers and where they are, etc... on and on.
Something about living 60 plus years feels both satisfying and sentimental in ways not possible in my youth. Developing the courage to live your own truth and not give a tinkers damn what anyone else thinks.
The later years of life can be filled with purpose, dignity and joy, or they can be riddled with frustration, depression and pain. A lot depends on our attitudes, values, family and support systems. But before I shuffle off this mortal coil and join the choir invisible, I'm going to remember Emersons quote, "“The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.”
The 15 Most Sobering Quotes About Getting Old
Over the life course, people’s happiness tends to follow a U-shaped curve; it begins to decline around the age of 18 and hits its lowest point around age 47 or 48, at which point it starts to go back up again. Researchers aren’t sure why happiness follows this trajectory. Our personal hypothesis...
www.artofmanliness.com
Some good stuff here. ^^^
I really liked the bit about 50 being the childhood of old age (I'm 50 next bday).
I'm behind you a few years but know what you mean, particularly about loving my children more, valuing relationships, etc. Just the other day my daughter (14) was in the kitchen for a glass of milk, talking about something, just daily talk, nothing special. I realized that I was grinning ear to ear just listening to her, amazed that I get to be her dad and get to be a part of all the little daily things. I don't care about getting a big house or more stuff anymore. My job is often mere drudgery, and at this point it's just a way to pay for the things that matter. I wish I could live all over again and care about the right things the whole way through.
"Life's great tragedy is that we are old too soon and wise too late."
Ben Franklin
I had a friend who recently died at 105. She was always chipper and optimistic, and her curiosity and sociability never failed her. I suspect she was willing to go to 110 and beyond. For many years she had a pet owl. She was a librarian in a small city in N.C.
My late wife departed at 52, the same age that Shakespeare died. She too had had a remarkably intense and energetic life. A few months before she was gone, we went on a trip to Ireland and Holland which was so enjoyable I went and spent a week in Dublin after she was gone, a sort of tribute.
To life, as long as it may last.
My late wife departed at 52, the same age that Shakespeare died. She too had had a remarkably intense and energetic life. A few months before she was gone, we went on a trip to Ireland and Holland which was so enjoyable I went and spent a week in Dublin after she was gone, a sort of tribute.
To life, as long as it may last.