Geaton's right. At 62 I was newly retired, we were building a second little home in the country, I was fencing and weedwhipping one acre fenced while maintain 6 other acres in poison oak management and hedgerows for wildlife. I was hiking and camping and traveling, and falling all over the place out of oak trees, sliding on oak leaves. GREAT FUN. Hauling and chopping wood, burn piles and all that goes with it. We had 15 years in that wonderful place when it became clear at 76 and 78 that falls might actually HURT you. Who knew!
Again, to Lulu, enjoy this time. It is some of the most free time of your lifetime. I always advise people not to use it attempting to leap on the funeral pyres of their parents. Because they have their kids pretty much raised now. They are ready to soon retire. This time is for THEM.
Whatever time we are given, it is on us to use it to the best of our ability. As I said below, it's all relative. While you feel young and you have great bone density and no arthritis you feel like a kid. But there are profound changes that will naturally occur for your body between 75 and 85 that will make you take notice. That will let you know that a fall from the oak tree may result in permanent disability.
I do know some who still swim in the cold waters of the Bay at early 80s. Not for me, but some are quite hard. Ultimately, the body will begin to let one know that things are a-changin.
In response to Geaton’s post. So true about how profound an incident can be. My in laws do not understand that . They think doctors can fix everything . They are in shock whenever one of their 90+ year old friends die of pneumonia or any infection or after a broken hip . They’ve had this attitude forever .
The older one gets, the more sudden and profound a single health incident can become.
Falling, for instance. I fell plenty of times in my youth but then one year (when I was about 60) I slipped on ice and fell hard on my IT band (side of thigh). It left an indent and started a chain of related problems.
So too, the arthritis and cartilage loss in my knees. Age is speeding up that decline and its impact.
I'm truly happy for you that you don't feel like a senior. I didn't either until the aforementioned problems. My 94-yr old Mom wasn't having problems until her mid 80s. The 100-yr old Dad of my friend was still working part time at a paint shop up until he was 99 and was going fishing up into Canada with friends until he had a fall, after which things rapidly went south for him. We just can't rebound as well as we age.
Something on ‘seniors’ discount meals. Around here, pubs often provide them for lunchtime, when trade is slack, older people can get together with no driving in the dark, and they actually prefer smaller meals. It works well!
This country’s culture of trying to prove we are not old is why we have people in office with dementia . I hope I do not resist help and give my children the stress that my parents did and in laws do now to DH and I. It’s absolutely ridiculous . My grandparents were more aware of their deficits , even my very old grandmother until her dementia got really bad , and even so she was always cooperative .
This commitment to not getting old that I saw especially in my in laws is why these eldercare problems have not been addressed . And the others just assumed the children would take care of them . A couple of spoiled generations before mine . I’m a gen Xer .
My poor nephew just got told my baby boomer sister ( who made no plans and in fact spent her inheritance money from my parents on a new car that she did not need ) with probable vascular dementia per MRI and having delirium has no where to go . She does not have money for AL. The hospital told my nephew she has no medical reason for rehab or SNF . They told him to take her home and follow up as an outpatient for cognitive testing . She does need 24/7 supervision . Nephew is going to ask for permission to work from home some days . Nephew has already been giving her free room and board the last 10 years . Yours truly will be back in the caregiver saddle again driving 3 hours round trip to help nephew .
This is where we are from saying age is just a number and you are only as old as you feel .
In my mother's neighborhood I've observed lots of people going strong well into their 70s and sometimes 80s. My FIL is about to turn 90 and is still travelling the world, driving in city traffic... everything he did in the preceding decades. My friend's landlord is 100 and takes classes, goes to book club, walks every morning.
The odds worsen with age, but it's still the case that any of us can have a sudden setback--e.g., the heart attack in one's 50s.
One concern I have is that those who don't themselves feel old have trouble envisioning the day when they will indeed feel old. The absence of this imaginative leap shapes how they empathize, plan, vote... By they time they *feel* old, it's usually too late for them to participate in any kind of broad social movement to better address the needs of those who are old *and* struggling. The focus narrows to more immediate concerns, like how to get up off the floor.
For years GenXers told themselves that the boomers, that ever-present dominant demographic, would surely address the eldercare debacle before it became a GenXer problem, but no such luck. People tend to distance/disassociate themselves from the fallen. It's a bit like the Shirley Jackson story "The Lottery."
But I'm obviously addressing these remarks to the wrong audience, as people on this forum obviously get it in a way that certain "smug seniors" do not.
I was taken a bit "to task" just days ago for suggesting the the 60s is young! I plead having a 61 year old daughter and being 81; I guess everything is "relative". At 81 I am happily (and very very luckily) quite vital and can garden, go on long walks, and etc. My daughter isn't even retired yet, but is so looking forward to it as her 69 y/o hubby is now retired; they will be traveling and hiking and being exceptionally active IF THEIR LUCK HOLD. In many ways "You are as young as you feel" is key. If you are genetically lucky, have good genes, have no illnesses then well into your 70s you will likely be very active and feel very good. I will say for myself that the years between 75 and 80 saw the most changes for me. I cannot take pain meds (diverticulitis) so I don't. But I do now notice the aging joints, the neuropathy tickling its way into my daily routines.
Again, age and how you feel isn't honestly in this day and age "what it's all about". For me, it is about how long you can stay healthy, a good weight, eat a good diet, exercise, stay active and interested and challenged. That all takes WORK. It doesn't just happen.
I was an RN. I laughed when I had elders put on "BEDREST" by the MD and had them respond with "NO WAY!" They would tell me they now knew that if the didn't USE IT they would surely LOSE it, that there was no way they could afford to be inactive.
Long ago they did studies on a bunch of healthy vital early 30s men and women in the military. They put them on bedrest; it was either for two weeks or a month--I can't recall. Not only did it change them profoundly as far as muscle mass, but it affected blood chemistry and bones to the extent they claimed they would not repeat the studies. They lost balance. Some has almost to be retrained to walk.
We can all recognize that we have certain genetic predispositions. Currently the thought is that we have overactive immune responses now that are doing us no good. They are a part of our adaptation to protect us from diseases, but they have gone into overdrive causing many autoimmune reactions. Guess nature will correct that over a few million years if we can wait that long.
Interesting subject, Lulu, at least to this old RN. I will say I currently am both shocked by the mirror's insistence on my 81 years, and feeling quite lucky to be able to maneuver.
A lot of restaurants and stores now offer a "senior" discount at age 55. I mean really??? To me that's a bit ridiculous. I am a very young looking 64 and do not under any circumstances consider myself old or a senior, though next year I will be in the eyes of the government. Age is just a number and it boils down to how you look and feel I guess more than the number itself. Now that I am getting older I have rethought my definition of old as I have many friends in their 70's who are still going strong and enjoying life. So I now believe that we're not old until we hit 90. And if God willing I make it to that age, I may just have to push that "old" number up to 100.
I'm 67 and don't look it. Not being vain, just, when I am out with the grandgirls they always think I am their mom.
Aside from chronic back pain, I am in good health and active and busy as I want to be.
My granddad dies at 62 and I thought 'that is so OLD'. OMgosh---not at all!! If they had had ways to treat HBP back in the 60's he would have lived into his 90's.
What you feel like and what you are considered by "young" people are two different things. What does it matter if you are an aging senior? Don't be like those prideful old people who at 80 or 90 years old don't consider themselves old even though their bodies are practically falling apart and don't want to go into a facility filled with old people.
I felt fine all through my 60s. Lifetime back problems, nothing more. I wrote to our site friend Alva, who is half a decade older than I am, and asked her how she was going in that extra half decade. She replied that (for basically healthy people) she thought things started to go backwards in the 70s. That has also been true for me. However I enjoy several discounts, even though I feel a bit guilty as I was much harder up earlier than I am now! Enjoy your 60s!
Age 65 is when Medicare kicks in. That might be a good age to consider that one is elderly. Still, that's not elderly elderly. Age ninety is elderly elderly.
Again, to Lulu, enjoy this time. It is some of the most free time of your lifetime. I always advise people not to use it attempting to leap on the funeral pyres of their parents. Because they have their kids pretty much raised now. They are ready to soon retire. This time is for THEM.
Whatever time we are given, it is on us to use it to the best of our ability. As I said below, it's all relative. While you feel young and you have great bone density and no arthritis you feel like a kid. But there are profound changes that will naturally occur for your body between 75 and 85 that will make you take notice. That will let you know that a fall from the oak tree may result in permanent disability.
I do know some who still swim in the cold waters of the Bay at early 80s. Not for me, but some are quite hard. Ultimately, the body will begin to let one know that things are a-changin.
So true about how profound an incident can be. My in laws do not understand that . They think doctors can fix everything . They are in shock whenever one of their 90+ year old friends die of pneumonia or any infection or after a broken hip . They’ve had this attitude forever .
Falling, for instance. I fell plenty of times in my youth but then one year (when I was about 60) I slipped on ice and fell hard on my IT band (side of thigh). It left an indent and started a chain of related problems.
So too, the arthritis and cartilage loss in my knees. Age is speeding up that decline and its impact.
I'm truly happy for you that you don't feel like a senior. I didn't either until the aforementioned problems. My 94-yr old Mom wasn't having problems until her mid 80s. The 100-yr old Dad of my friend was still working part time at a paint shop up until he was 99 and was going fishing up into Canada with friends until he had a fall, after which things rapidly went south for him. We just can't rebound as well as we age.
I hope I do not resist help and give my children the stress that my parents did and in laws do now to DH and I. It’s absolutely ridiculous . My grandparents were more aware of their deficits , even my very old grandmother until her dementia got really bad , and even so she was always cooperative .
This commitment to not getting old that I saw especially in my in laws is why these eldercare problems have not been addressed . And the others just assumed the children would take care of them . A couple of spoiled generations before mine . I’m a gen Xer .
My poor nephew just got told my baby boomer sister ( who made no plans and in fact spent her inheritance money from my parents on a new car that she did not need ) with probable vascular dementia per MRI and having delirium has no where to go . She does not have money for AL. The hospital told my nephew she has no medical reason for rehab or SNF . They told him to take her home and follow up as an outpatient for cognitive testing . She does need 24/7 supervision . Nephew is going to ask for permission to work from home some days . Nephew has already been giving her free room and board the last 10 years .
Yours truly will be back in the caregiver saddle again driving 3 hours round trip to help nephew .
This is where we are from saying age is just a number and you are only as old as you feel .
The odds worsen with age, but it's still the case that any of us can have a sudden setback--e.g., the heart attack in one's 50s.
One concern I have is that those who don't themselves feel old have trouble envisioning the day when they will indeed feel old. The absence of this imaginative leap shapes how they empathize, plan, vote... By they time they *feel* old, it's usually too late for them to participate in any kind of broad social movement to better address the needs of those who are old *and* struggling. The focus narrows to more immediate concerns, like how to get up off the floor.
For years GenXers told themselves that the boomers, that ever-present dominant demographic, would surely address the eldercare debacle before it became a GenXer problem, but no such luck. People tend to distance/disassociate themselves from the fallen. It's a bit like the Shirley Jackson story "The Lottery."
But I'm obviously addressing these remarks to the wrong audience, as people on this forum obviously get it in a way that certain "smug seniors" do not.
I plead having a 61 year old daughter and being 81; I guess everything is "relative".
At 81 I am happily (and very very luckily) quite vital and can garden, go on long walks, and etc.
My daughter isn't even retired yet, but is so looking forward to it as her 69 y/o hubby is now retired; they will be traveling and hiking and being exceptionally active IF THEIR LUCK HOLD.
In many ways "You are as young as you feel" is key. If you are genetically lucky, have good genes, have no illnesses then well into your 70s you will likely be very active and feel very good.
I will say for myself that the years between 75 and 80 saw the most changes for me. I cannot take pain meds (diverticulitis) so I don't. But I do now notice the aging joints, the neuropathy tickling its way into my daily routines.
Again, age and how you feel isn't honestly in this day and age "what it's all about". For me, it is about how long you can stay healthy, a good weight, eat a good diet, exercise, stay active and interested and challenged. That all takes WORK. It doesn't just happen.
I was an RN. I laughed when I had elders put on "BEDREST" by the MD and had them respond with "NO WAY!" They would tell me they now knew that if the didn't USE IT they would surely LOSE it, that there was no way they could afford to be inactive.
Long ago they did studies on a bunch of healthy vital early 30s men and women in the military. They put them on bedrest; it was either for two weeks or a month--I can't recall.
Not only did it change them profoundly as far as muscle mass, but it affected blood chemistry and bones to the extent they claimed they would not repeat the studies. They lost balance. Some has almost to be retrained to walk.
We can all recognize that we have certain genetic predispositions. Currently the thought is that we have overactive immune responses now that are doing us no good. They are a part of our adaptation to protect us from diseases, but they have gone into overdrive causing many autoimmune reactions. Guess nature will correct that over a few million years if we can wait that long.
Interesting subject, Lulu, at least to this old RN. I will say I currently am both shocked by the mirror's insistence on my 81 years, and feeling quite lucky to be able to maneuver.
I am a very young looking 64 and do not under any circumstances consider myself old or a senior, though next year I will be in the eyes of the government.
Age is just a number and it boils down to how you look and feel I guess more than the number itself.
Now that I am getting older I have rethought my definition of old as I have many friends in their 70's who are still going strong and enjoying life.
So I now believe that we're not old until we hit 90. And if God willing I make it to that age, I may just have to push that "old" number up to 100.
Aside from chronic back pain, I am in good health and active and busy as I want to be.
My granddad dies at 62 and I thought 'that is so OLD'. OMgosh---not at all!! If they had had ways to treat HBP back in the 60's he would have lived into his 90's.
The change in care is mind boggling. As if a birthday somehow makes a healthy, active person NOT.
I'm active, have a part time job as a private caregiver for a lady with dementia. I walk at least 7000 steps a day and wear a size 2.
I will be eligible for Medicare next year. Goodie goodie. I'll go thru the process, get my extra health insurance. Doesn't mean I'm old.
Don't let numbers define you. Let your heart lead the way.
She said she preferred to use her student ID for discounts.😉
Happy Birthday Lulu.
At 60 a person has more years behind them than ahead. Not sure if that puts things in perspective for you or not.
Eat well, exercise and enjoy your life! Chances are that you will live for many more years to come.
Although some stores, restaurants, theatres etc, give discounts for 60 or 62 and over . Why not take the discount ?