Aging Yuck
Do you cringe when you hear a 35-year-old claim they are
getting old? I bet you do if you’re a
boomer, which means you are between 49 and 67.
If you’re in the boomer age zone, how did you feel about age when you
were 35? 45? Now?
I ‘collect’ people who are role models for creative aging,
with the hope of learning from them. It
could be people who do what they love regardless of expectations related to
their age, including people I don’t know (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Diane
Sawyer) and people I do know (a former radio talk show host acquaintance who last
time I saw her was still hosting a show and teaching two college courses at age
90). My mother and her older sister each
also defied aging expectations and were great role models for getting older
(and their brother married his second wife in his 80s).
I hope to be viewed as such a person one day, but on this
day I am feeling old. I have a doctor
appointment this morning to discuss a new recent pain around a twenty-three
year old leg injury. Today I feel great
and almost cancelled the appointment, which I just made yesterday. On Tuesday I experienced a sudden sharp pain
at the injury site as I stood up to leave work, nearly fell over at my first
step and continued to limp for the rest of the evening. There was still some pain Wednesday and a
little bit yesterday, when I finally cut through the annoying voice answering
system at the doc’s office to convince them I needed the appointment today and
not next Wednesday. Today there is no
pain but I am concerned that something might be wrong where the metal pin that
is still connected to my leg bone after all these years.
Last time I saw this doctor in January for my cataract
surgery pre-op exam (just saying that makes me feel old – I am actually young
for cataract surgery but I’ve had it in both eyes now), the doctor, who I
estimate to be in his 40s, said from this point forward I’ll be making friends
with many doctors. The element of truth
in his attempt at humor is actually a little depressing. My normally healthy, positive attitude
combined with an incredible family history leads me to believe I have thirty to
forty years ahead of me, maybe more. But
many people I know, from a 33-year-old friend who thinks she’s old to a
48-year-old friend who thought her 62-year-old ex-husband was old to a
68-year-old co-worker who thinks he’s old to a 70-year-old neighbor who thinks
she’s old, whine about getting old.
And now I’m doing it here in this blog, which began as a
writing vehicle for observations about creative aging.
I really should be shining a spotlight on people who are
healthy, vibrant and doing what they love, including musicians I mentioned a
few paragraphs ago. Paul McCartney is 70,
Mick Jagger is 69, Bruce Springsteen is 63, Tom Petty 62, George Strait is 60, Bono
from U2 is 52. Willie Nelson celebrated
his 80th birthday this week.
Each of them is touring now or has toured in the past three years. I don’t hear them whining about aging. I don’t know that any of them have ever been
hospitalized. George Strait rides horses
and Harleys and Jagger’s recent concerts look like commercials for cardio
exercise plans.
Three years ago the only doctors
I had were a dentist and an eye doc. I
had stopped having annual physicals several years prior because I didn’t like
the primary care physician I had at the time.
Two years ago I decided to find a regular doctor again and less than a
year later I had skin cancer surgery, eye surgery and a still-unexplained
neurological episode that lasted four months last year. Soon I will add a psychologist to the
list. I still have a positive attitude
and an even healthier lifestyle, with better diet and exercise and less
stress. But a twenty-three year old
injury is knocking at my door. This part
of aging sucks.
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On a brighter note, check out this clip with Jagger.
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