To quote Satchel Paige: How old ould you be if you didn’t know how old you were?
When I’m 64 (having just hit that milestone) I insist I’m “25 and sticking to it.” I am very active, work six or seven days a week as a store cashier, and walk outside at least an hour every day. Keeps me in shape and focused.
I’m 64 (“will you still need me, will you still feed me”), and though I’m from a pretty long-lived family, my last grandparent died when I was just shy of 40. My father died when I was 61; I feel very lucky that he was part of my life for that long.
I’m enjoying the assorted senior discounts that kicked in at 55/60/62, including my sweet Senior Pass that gets me into every National Park in the U.S. for free (and pretty much any other Federal lands - national forests, etc. - that allow visitors). The last big batch of discounts will hit when I turn 65 early in the new year. Nice of them to do this for me while I’m so young! 
ETA:
I have fully embraced being 64 on account of the song. But when people say things like “getting old sure is a bitch,” my automatic response is, “that’s why I refuse to have anything to do with it.”
So far, so good.
ETAA: What’s really funny is when the people saying that are years younger than I am. 
Had an older student who’d hobble into class, bent over and wheezing. He played the Old Coot card every day, and he’d give up completely on any computer (which made Tech School difficult). And he’d go off on mumbled rants about how everything’s crap now that girls have tattoos and phones don’t have cords.
Then he mentioned how old he was when he got to see the last Milwaukee Braves game, and I did a spit-take: “Ed, you’re two years younger than I am!” No one would believe him til we took our Driver’s Licenses out and showed them.
40 meant nothing to me. My kids were little, each day was a racing treadmill.
50 hurt my feelings. On my actual BIRTHDAY, my doctor announced “You have Diabetes.” Talk about a kick in the head!
60 kind of pissed me off.
I’m 66 now, and I don’t care. I figure when I turn 70, I’ll tell the world to kiss my ass.
Do everything you can control to preserve and maintain your health. Make regular doctor appointments, get all the screenings recommended, take all prescriptions as directed. Eat fiber. Take care of your teeth. Walk frequently.
And for the love of all that is holy, do NOT fall!
~VOW
Seemed to hit a friend of mine pretty hard. While always given to having bouts of peevishness, turning 60 was like a switch being thrown, it was that dramatic. Seemed to leap toward grouchy curmudgeoen-ness with a fervor.
Stubborness for stubborness’ sake. At 59 and earlier, admitted his lack of eating tight was just lack of willpower. Now it’s because of age.
Bona-fide chest beater of being of the baby boom generation. Uses the word “millenial” like some would use nasty four-letter words.
He should be a poster figure for happy retirement, but alas he’s the stereotypical angry old corpulent white guy. Tough to be around now.
I will not be this person, even if it kills me.
Hate to break it to you, but classical music concerts don’t have mosh pits.
Though they might increase attendance …
My mom travels a lot. Her last trip was to Uganda, and the trip before that was Mongolia. She’s going to Uzbekistan this spring. She figures that she should do the adventurous places now, while she’s young, because she can do the boring places like Paris once she gets old.
She’s 78 now. She figures that “getting old” has to come eventually.
I’m 68. How the hell you think I feel? :rolleyes:
“Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. ‘What, grandfather!’ I exclaimed. ‘Planting an almond tree?’ And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: ‘My son, I carry on as if I should never die.’ I replied: ‘And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.’"
Think about it this way.
You’re in Stage 1 death.
Lots of time yet to go.
OP here, this time under the influence of a café mocha.
First of all, I want to thank everyone for their reply. I knew this sort of thing happens to everyone
but I thought I had another ten years or so before things would start to go south. The idea of spending
the rest of my life with pain and taking pills daily does not sound pleasant. So far I’ve been able to
avoid the pills by watching my diet and doing a bit of exercise each week. Also I’m seeing a physical
therapist for the achy knees.
Kimstu your analogy of my situation to a child that doesn’t want to stop playing and
come in when it is getting dark is a good one. Everything must come to an end at
some point in time and we must accept this. I’m just having a hard time with it.
Several people have commented about having a grandparent still alive this late in life. Most
of my grandparents passed way years ago but the last one went when I was 55 1/2. She
was an cheerful, outgoing person up to the end at over 101 years old. I find this very inspiring.
I guess ultimately life is what we make it - no matter how old we are.
In closing, I would like to wish everybody a Happy New Year. May 2019 be better than 2018 for
all of you.
No worries, it is natural to have a hard time with it! Just keep reminding yourself that the goal is to get through the meltdown about what you’re losing so you can enjoy and appreciate what remains. Not to mention trying to make things a bit better for the younger folk that will follow you.
Well said and back very atcha!
I started playing guitar when I was 10 years old in 1960. It began when I got a guitar and a Play Along With The Ventures album. I loved to play guitar.
Not being able to play guitar anymore had left me bitter to this day.
Had my eyes examined yesterday and was told I’m just beginning to develop cataracts. Nothing
serious right now but still it was very disturbing news. Getting old is sure fun, right?
Therapy for the knees is slowly helping and I hope that I will be able to walk around with
out pain again (or at least for a few more years). I visited a psychiatrist about a month
ago and will have another visit soon. Don’t know if it will help much - it seems to me that
this really doesn’t change my situation - but I figure it can’t hurt.
Nine more days left of being 59 years old.
I live alone and have no children, nieces or nephews and no close friends. The future looks
really scary.
I’m developing cataracts and cannot wait for them to get much worse. All my life, I’ve had ridiculously poor vision. My eye doctor says there is an operation that can correct it, but it costs $10,000 and would be considered cosmetic, so insurance won’t cover it. However, she says once the cataracts get bad enough, I can have that done during my cataract operation, and insurance will then cover it. Maybe five years from now. Come on, you bad boys, get worse!
I turned 50 a couple of months ago. I hope to be the kind of senior citizen that my maternal grandparents were. They came to visit me in college when I was studying in Madrid. They were in their 70s then. My grandmother’s souvenir from that trip was a black leather miniskirt that she bought - for herself.
She wore it a lot better than I could ever manage - finally a few years later, she stopped wearing it because she had a total knee replacement and was self-conscious about the scar. So she bought herself some leather pants instead. There’s a photo of everyone at the brunch the morning after my sister’s wedding, almost 14 years ago, and my grandmother is wearing the leather pants in that photo. She would have been…oh, 89, I think? at the time. And she rocked them.
My grandfather decided in his mid-70s that he wanted to learn Spanish, so every time I visited them, he would chase me around asking me how to say things. (He had to drop out of high school in the Depression to work. But he never stopped learning things.)
My paternal grandmother? In her 70s, she also decided she wanted to learn Spanish. The adult ed class in her town was cancelled for low enrollment, so she called the school and asked if she could just sit in during the regular daytime high school classes. My cousins were students at that high school at the time, and one of them had his friends asking “hey P., is that your grandma in my Spanish class?”
60? Eh, that’s not old!
Yeah, I’m going to be like yo’ granny. I’m turning 65, but that’s on the outside. On the inside, I’m 11. I keep injuring myself by trying stupid stuff because I honestly forget I’m old.
This thread has been a good reminder to stay young, make some good long-term friends, and get healthy. I’d better get in shape and lose a few pounds… or else I’ll get old!
Maybe I’ll end up like my mom… she told everyone to meet her at Disneyworld for her 90th birthday. And when she found out she could get in a faster line if she was in a scooter, she… scooted! While drinking her Grey Goose Grand Marnier Slushies.
I turned 50 a few months ago, and took it pretty hard. I was actually still in denial that I was middle aged (which apparently is defined to start at 40 or 45). Mentally, I feel like I’m still in my 20s or 30s.
However, in the last few years, my near vision has deteriorated, and I had to get progressive lenses for my eyeglasses. I have pain in both knees and my left ankle due to past injuries and arthritis. I get frequent lower back pain.
On the other hand, I took up downhill skiing only 3 years ago, and just got back from 6 days of skiing out west (in Park City, Utah). I regularly go on hikes and canoe trips. I learned to scuba dive 3 years ago as well, and have done over 30 dives now. Skiing and scuba diving are two things that I always wanted to do, and I decided to start doing them before I got any older.
I have several ski buddies, who are all older than me, ranging in age from mid-50s to early 70s. One of my friends is 72 years old, and he skis, hikes, canoes, etc. He is also the one always out in front, whether skiing or canoeing, because few of us can keep up with him. He is an inspiration to me.
I’m hoping I can keep up my current level of activity into my 70s and even beyond.
Heh! I’m that little kid who doesn’t know when he has it good. Starting to close in on 50, working real hard at not giving a damn what people think, knees eyes, shoulders starting to go, arthritis in my neck and I’m chompin at the bit so I can give the world a big old double “may the bird of paradise fly up your nose”. All those ailments and pains are badges of success, You SURVIVED!
Lots of time I wished I didn’t. 