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Koli 
"Striving lackadaisically for perfection."
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 Posted - 12/31/2007 : 09:55:20
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It was dispiriting for me to discover that in some statistical surveys anyone over 50 is classed as 'elderly'. Now in my book elderly is worse than old. If you're old you've experienced many summers; 'elderly' implies a degree of frailty: there must be a growing list of things you're no longer capable of doing, you clearly need help in doing other things that will shortly be added to that first list, and you are vulnerable in a way you weren't before.
I'm happy to accept the principle that 50 is the new 40, because we are generally healthier than we used to be. I hope to retire at 60 (if I can afford it) so that I can do the things that I've convinced myself I haven't the time to do while I'm in employment. It always seems very sad and unfair when someone soldiers on until they're 65 and then falls off their perch within a couple of years of embarking on the retirement they've been paying for throughout their working lives.
I must add that my 77 year old mother was very chuffed the other day when a doctor (she's currently in hospital following an asthma attack) expressed disbelief on being told her age and said she didn't look older than 58. I can picture her telling her fellow patients that I'm not her son but her younger brother... |
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Who is going to celebrate on Tuesday...
