Amy Bryant, Age 84
As I reflect on the posts that I contributed to 70Candles, I realize how vain I was in my 70s. I was often mistaken for fifteen years younger than my actual age, and as my mother had done, I made younger friends, many of whom were having trouble keeping up with me.
A tennis accident required having a metal bar inserted in my wrist to keep my hand from falling off my arm, but that was no big deal. I was back on the courts in record time. And oh yes, a bout with cancer slowed me down for several months, but it was a form that does not return, so after an unwelcomed season, I was back on the streets of Safety Harbor, as well as entertainment venues, dancing in Flash Mobs. Coupled with two to three days a week on the tennis courts, three days of Zumba, three days at the gym, and five days in stretch class, I was invincible. Mindful not to overdo, I took Sundays off, hanging at the tiki bar and sunning myself poolside.
My firm belief in holistic health assured me that if you eat right and exercise diligently you will maintain your youthful physicality and bypass the “ageing process.”
Wrong!
Soon after lightning 80 candles, I faced a semi-stroke-like brain episode that rearranged my sleep patterns, robbed me of the energy to pursue high-level aerobics, and my muscle tone went kaput. My body waged war on me and I lost the magical 15 years advantage. Holistic lifestyle betrayed me. Just like generations before me, I was turning old.
Indulging in self-pity I thought it was just me. As I looked at my sorority sisters on our Zoom meetings, they looked great from the crown of the head to the gentle curve of the shoulders. But as people began discussing their health more openly, I discovered that the Zoom portrait hid signs of ageing in my sisters as well. Talking with other friends who were lighting 80 candles, I learned that they, too, were experiencing unexpected, and certainly unwelcome signs of ageing. As we pondered together, we raised the question: how do we reconcile our generation’s newly defined expectations of ageing when the unwelcome realities intrude in our lives?
Herein lies the dilemma . . .