October 15, 2019 —
By Frances Kolarek —
My friend Marion recently celebrated her 90th birthday — a big deal, a big day with two separate parties — one with family, one with friends. Ninety has been a landmark birthday here at Collington for a generation, earning a certificate from our Residents Association testifying that the owner is a member of the Nineties Club.
So what about the 80s? No big deal? As for the 70s, my neighbors in this age bracket look positively youthful to me. I remember joining Collington when I was around 72 and having neighbors jokingly remark that I was “too young.” And the amount of energy I invested in closing my former home, sorting possessions to give away, sell and bring was huge. Packing, moving, getting settled, the thought of it today gives me the fantods, the willies. (Note to prospective residents: Come while you still have the energy to move, adapt and to enjoy this place.)
The 70s, years of unlimited energy, follow the 60s, now the property of Baby Boomers who face the future with mixed emotions. Joy at retirement. Dismay at the aging process.
And now that AARP has included our children in their 50s in the society of the retired (read “aged”), my 58-year-old daughter reminds me (with an atypical lack of tact) that I am pushing the century mark. I am an antique!! Let’s not go there.
My point in these ramblings of a really, really OLD woman is this: We lump together teenagers, 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds and 40-year-olds into one category, the Young, with the tacit understanding that the differences between the generations are enormous.
Shoving the 60s into a category called OLD is as inept as equating teenagers with 30-year-olds. And yet, no differentiation occurs; there is no tacit appreciation of the fact that the 60s are as different from the 90s in as many ways, as the 20s are from the 60s.
Once upon a time, sociologists divided us up into the “old” and the “old old!” How creative. What I am edging into here is this: as the Baby Boomers integrate themselves into the society of the retired, I suspect they will find that they need to devise new categories, new designations, for 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and the 100s who will be cluttering the landscape within another 10 years.
Just as we have abandoned “second childhood” for those who slip into dementia and related illnesses, like Alzheimer’s, new designations are bound to arise for the able, energetic old and those of us who get around on devices like scooters and mechanical chairs.
We are fortunate today to realize that we can slow, if not stave off, decline though mental and physical exercise and cultivating an active social life. And learn how to use the wisdom that comes with enhanced insights to enrich our lives.
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