Dear George,
I remember thirty years ago when Katja and I met with our financial advisor to plot out our remaining years. He said that our financial plan was based on a life expectancy of ninety. At the time, that seemed ridiculous. Who lives that long? Now, with my eighty-fifth birthday having arrived today, it doesn’t seem so preposterous. Since two-thirds of my 1937 age cohort are no longer with us, I consider us fortunate. I’ve no idea how I’ve stayed healthy this long, but I guess I’ll continue doing the same things. I think solving Wordle each morning helps.
When I was young I viewed old age with trepidation. My only direct experiences were with my grandparents in their final years, and that was depressing. My grandmother had a major stroke and was bedridden for several years before she finally passed away, and my grandfather became very frail and unable to carry out most everyday functions. Years later my mother had severe circulatory problems and couldn’t walk toward the end of her life, while my father developed Alzheimer’s.
My experience of aging nowadays is very different, mainly because of attending classes at OLLI (the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute). Most of my fellow students are in their seventies and eighties, and they are a robust group — bright, articulate, active, engaged. Every now and then it dawns on me that this isn’t a representative sample — clearly drawing from a healthiest and well-educated subgroup of elders. However, it does leave me with a positive, nonstereotypic experience of “old age”.
Eighty-five is a big point of transition since gerontologists consider this the beginning of the “Oldest Old” category (85 and over). I’m not convinced about that. Aside from moderate hearing loss, I feel pretty much the same way that I did two or three decades ago. True that lots of people at 85 show serious signs of aging, but there’s also lots of variation. According to my doctor, I don’t look 85 and I don’t act 85 (although he’s careful to remind me that I actually am 85).
I had planned to go to the Warren County fair with Katja to celebrate my birthday. That was my choice because county fairs were the most exciting events of my childhood and adolescence. Unfortunately today’s 90+ heat advisory put a crimp in that plan. I attended my poetry group this morning, and we will go to a good seafood restaurant for dinner tonight. All in all, a perfect way to start my year number eighty-six.
Love,
Dave
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