Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aging. Show all posts

Thursday, July 19, 2018

ON BEING EIGHTY

    A couple of months ago the micro manager turned 80. The occasion was marked quietly with a good lunch out. Life goes on.

    A few days ago I looked at the Micro Manager and for the first and only time I could see an eighty year old woman. What's been going on before this? 

    I tended to look at the Micro Manager as being a much younger person. I had an image in my head of her in her late twenties. This shouldn't be the case. We've gone through the ages and stages. We were a young couple. We had kids. Our kids left us. We worked hard and enjoyed freedom. Retirement came. Retirement goes on. All these things have happened and yet I still had the image of a younger woman in my head.

    For the most part this discrepancy doesn't matter but I got thinking about reality for a minute. Am I making the right decisions when I have an inaccurate image of age in my head? Do I expect more from the Micro Manager than I should? The Micro Manager is spunky and a hard driver. But still age has taken it's toll. She doesn't have the same energy anymore. However , she still wants to live the same old way. 

    I've heard many people say that they have an image of themselves which is much younger. The image of myself in my head is a young person who has just finished high school. 

     Now this is the first time I've noticed that I see another person as much younger than they are. 

    So I guess this is a time for me to stop and think about life. 

Sunday, June 10, 2018

THE EIGHTY YEAR MARK FLASHES

    No I haven't turned eighty!

    In my last post I told how a colleague old 55 years ago contacted me. The contact was  a surprise and she went through a few major parts of her life. Sadly she had lost here husband. She listed her three sons.

    I made a short reply and told her I had a daughter and son who are 46 and 48. I also added, "I have a wife who's eighty!" When I wrote that it suddenly hit me. Well I didn't know what to think or should I be more honest and say that I tried to deny or ignore this milestone.

    We noted the Micro Manager's eightieth birth date very quietly. The Micro Manager had been fretting over the number for some time.  Me? Well, whatever happens , happens.

    However,the other day when I jokingly referred to my wife's age, it hit me. Wow, this is getting old. I have an eighty year old wife.

    As with most things that hit me , I soon forget. But then I suddenly  realized
that I've become very elderly. I can think of the elderly people from the time when I was a boy. Eighty year olds seemed like another species. I wonder if they thought like I do that being eighty ain't bad. I still think of myself as a younger person even thought the number says something else. Eighty year olds to a young boy looked as if they constantly sat in a chair. I seem to keep moving all day. Or do others see me differently?

    Realistically I know I'm elderly. I don't dwell on it. I keep going and try to be active in life. Yesterday I lead my bird Saturday morning watching group.

    Last week somebody got a photo of me that I was unaware of. I like the photo.

Image may contain: 1 person, tree, plant, sky, child, grass, outdoor and nature

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

I Can't Recognize Myself!

     You might have guessed this would happen. I spent a good part of my winter scanning photos. I found many photos of myself and I couldn't resist putting them out there to show my aging.


     Since I was a teacher I have a school photo for almost every year. That takes me to age 57. I've been retired for 19 years.
1954
1960

1973




1988


1992


Monday, April 20, 2015

I Think I've Become Elderly

      I've lived in the same small city since 1969...46 years. The population was 24000 when I moved here. Over the 46 years the population grew to around 100 000.

     I lived here long enough to have met many people. I've participated in the community and have come to know many people. I taught about 3000 students from 1968 to 1987.

    As a result, I look at the obituaries on a daily basis.  It is not uncommon to find that some  have passed away. Just recently a former student passed away. He used a power wheelchair in his last years.was passed . His family passed his wheelchair on to a 76 year old friend who had a serious spinal cord injury.

    Now recently in staring at the photos of the deceased, I've started to notice that the ones who are my age are starting to look very elderly! Many of them have been in nursing homes. Some of them have had the dread dementia. This started me thinking about myself and my age.

    Now in my head I see myself as fairly active. I think young. I still think I'm young.  So I decided I better take a look and see if I'm in this elderly group. So off to the mirror. Sure enough. There's an elderly man staring back at me! Who can this be? Well, I had to admit that it's me. I am truly in the elderly group.

    Now I'm very aware of my age and the process of becoming elderly. Somehow , we can put this in the back of our mind. We seem to think that we are always much younger than we are. However, the obituary photos have reminded me of reality.

    How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as your actual age or younger?





Monday, December 29, 2014

I've Been Rejuvenated!

     Well, rejuvenated  could be applied to many topics but I want to relate it to my health.

     I turned 75 this year and a year ago at this time I wasn't doing very well. I was having problems with my right leg. The symptoms were general and non specific , but I was definitely in pain and the leg had become weak. I had trouble getting out of  chair. I thought this is it. I'm facing a disaster. At the best, a cane might help. I even looked at canes in the store. I also had problems getting up off the floor. It was an effort.

    Now in March last year I finally booked in for some physiotherapy. The diagnosis they gave me made sense. The prescription of stretching and exercise made sense. They sent me on my way and I was to do what I was told. So do you think I did what I was told? No! I was to do 12 reps 4 times a day. I didn't do it. Once a day but not 4 times. Guess what? I didn't have much improvement. It finally occurred to me that when she said 12 reps 4 times a day, she meant it.

   I started to do more stretches and exercise. I started  to see improvement. I worked harder. You guessed it . I improved but I was still not back to normal.

   Now I was 75 so I thought some of the problems were due to aging and they could be. But does aging have to be an excuse? I had to push myself up out of a chair. Getting up off the floor was a huge problem.

    I found some more exercises to do. Now I am proud to say I get out of any chair without using arms. I just pop up out of the chair. I also get up off the floor just using legs. No hands Ma!

   So I proved to myself that old age was not my problem. I was probably slowly sliding into this condition over a number of years. I can't remember when I started needing assistance with arms to get up or out of a chair. Yes, I know other things could come along but I am very happy I put in effort to get back into shape. Shoveling snow is much easier this winter. Skating goes better. Last year I quit walking altogether. This winter I do lots of walking and at a very brisk pace.

   I am going to keep working at this because I feel much better when I'm stronger.