Traveling the road toward 70

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Carol, Age 64

I am 64 years old and recently retired. Since I am traveling the road to 70, I would like to share some miles with you. In the past year, besides retiring after 38 years full-time in retail, my husband and I have built a home in an adult community and my granddaughter has given birth to my second great grandson. I have gone through a roller coaster of emotions. I did not realize this time in my life would have me guestioning who I really am. Everyone wants to know what I’m going to do with all my free time. I really can’t answer this yet because I do not know yet. I do feel myself getting older every day, but I refuse to ever just be old! I plan on traveling this road to 70 with an open mind. I know the road will be bumpy at times, but reading about people that have already arrived will make it much easier for me. Reading these stories puts a smile on my face and has me looking foward to turning 70. I am now enjoying just being in the moment no matter what I am doing. I am grateful that I now have the time to work through my many emotions and now have a place to share them.

Posted in 70 from other perspectives: looking forward and looking back, About turning 70, Family matters, Looking ahead, Stories | Tagged | 4 Comments

Catching Up with Technology–Or Not

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Jane, Age 70

I just spent a dozen hours trying to catch up with my technological devices. Upgraded my iPad to a new OS at the Apple store, learned aspects of a non-intuitive health services encoding program at work, worked on blog programming and production. Remembered to charge up phone, Kindle, iPad…Yikes!

The digital world pulls us forward, in spite of our resistance. Our generation is precariously sandwiched between most of the World War II “greatest” seniors who refuse to have anything to do with the complications of the internet, and the boomers behind us who embrace everything electronic and ether-based.

We’ve witnessed an incredible swath of this evolution, as technological change has run apace. Successive generations of devices both amaze and unnerve us, with alterations in ways to gather news, read books, record ideas, contact friends and listen to music.

Each week, I scan the ads of the local mega electronics store, just to see what new devices exist, and what they’re called. Items proliferate weekly, with sometimes mysterious uses or applications, while flea markets and antique fairs display our long beloved sewing machines, desk phones, typewriters, vinyl records and radio consoles.

It won’t be long, it seems, before all screens merge into a single receptor for TV, movies, videos, music, photos, books, phone calls, social networking, web searching, world mapping and apping. Wait a minute…Has it already happened?? Can we keep up with this pace?

Posted in Stories, Technology and contemporary culture | Tagged | 2 Comments

Thickly Settled

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Carole Simpson

As a young woman in my twenties and thirties I was in pretty good shape – tall, slender, long legged and trim. There wasn’t a skirt too short nor a bikini too skimpy for me to wear. All of a sudden I am forty years older and time, gravity, and childbirth have taken their toll. I’m not fat but I’m sure not what I used to be. All of the hours I spend at the gym and walking aren’t getting me back there either. In fact, I think the best I can hope for is to maintain where I am.

Recently my husband and I were driving down a residential street on which the local municipality had erected signs that are intended to alert drivers that they need to slow down and drive cautiously in this neighborhood. The sign said ‘Thickly Settled’. The meaning, of course, is that there are lots of people, kids, dogs, etc. in the vicinity. I took one look at it and loudly said ‘that’s me – that exactly describes me’. Henceforth, forever and ever, I shall think of (and refer to) myself as ‘Thickly Settled’. A perfect description for a slightly past middle aged body.

Posted in Our bodies, our health, Stories | 1 Comment

70 in October 2010

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Stephanie, Age 69

I am not retired yet but am down to half time. I believe it has kept me feeling young, partially because I work with children. I try to exercise (treadmill or take a walk) 2-3 times a week – not a long time – 20 to 30 minutes. I find that I gain weight easier and that is troublesome, so I’m working on that.

I make a list of all the things I want and like to do – read, travel, learn Spanish, being active in my church, book club, and volunteering, etc. I enjoy taking care of grandchildren, but not full time! If I am busy, the ailments that are present, are hardly noticed. I also try to be around friends who like to be busy, which keeps me active.

Posted in About turning 70, Our bodies, our health, Stories, Work life and retirement | Leave a comment

Caring for Parents

Posted on January 2, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Anonymous, Age 69

I turn 70 next month. You talk about flourishing, while I’m feeling rather trapped instead. I’m caring for my ninety year old mother who needs help with everything. My brother is willing to contribute financially, but he says he’s not comfortable ministering to Mom’s personal needs. How are other women dealing with these issues? So many of our parents are living into their nineties and even beyond. I need advice and some help!

Posted in Family matters, Stories | Tagged | 1 Comment

Retirement?

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Blog Mavens

Suzie, Age 69

When my husband recently filled out some tax forms, I was startled when he listed my occupation as “retired.” I don’t feel anywhere near retiring. We have recently moved so I am between jobs, but I have a career that is still very much a part of my life and my identity. As I contemplate what lies ahead, I imagine involvement in my career for many years to come. Retirement? Not me. Not now. How about others out there?

Posted in Stories, Work life and retirement | Tagged | 1 Comment

At Seventy

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Blog Mavens

At Seventy

At seventy backs ache, knees creak, minds wander and smiles broaden.
Parts that used to take care of themselves need tending.
And even though we don’t want to believe it,
We are much further from the beginning than we are from the ending.

At seventy our children are grown up people
With jobs, lives, joys and troubles of their own.
Our grandchildren grow taller and smarter as we shrink and stretch.
And we all travel to places so far away
Our postcards take two weeks to deliver.
We smile as the kids tell us of their work, which we don’t understand,
Of their friends, whose names we can’t pronounce properly,
And of their aspirations which make us swell with pride and smile with memory.

At seventy we’ve grown up, but have not finished learning.
We seek simplicity and quiet joy
A walk through the park with a child in hand,
A stroll through a market in a foreign land,
Celebrations with family and friends,
A happy meeting of means and ends.
We pray for favorable test results, everyone’s good health and a winning hand,
And just once in a while something going according to plan.
As we balance those we’ve lost with those we’ve gained.

At seventy, we forget where we put our keys,
Our cars and our appointment books.
But we know by heart how to fit the pieces of life together,
How to make lemonade out of lemons
And interesting patchwork patterns out of torn pieces of cloth.

At seventy our friends say we look “young and thin” before their cataract surgery,
Our grandchildren tell us we are “old and round” before they learn to lie,
And we still seek engagement with a world that doesn’t much care what we are doing.

At seventy we can enjoy a good book, if we can find our glasses;
A good meal with our friends, if we eat early enough;
A beautiful place with those we love, if we stay out of the sun;
And our own company.

At seventy precautions are second nature.
Social Security and Medicare are old friends.
What we want of ourselves and others seems possible,
And love, laughter and time are far more precious than jewels.

At seventy,
Injustice still rankles,
Empathy heightens,
Experience matters.
And loving kindness counts the most,
At seventy.

Caroline M. Simon, September, 2010

Posted in About turning 70, HUMOR, Poetry | Tagged | 4 Comments

Turning seventy

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Blog Mavens

Anonymous-Age 70

I found the run-up to my 70th birthday quite sobering. Mild ailments that I customarily ignored seemed to portend serious conditions. Feeling sleepy suddenly seemed age-related. Thinking about purchasing clothing or household items made me wonder whether this was the last time I would be buying a new coat/blanket/tea kettle. Now that my birthday has passed, things seem to be returning to normal – thank goodness!

The emotion that I find most helpful at this age is gratitude. I am grateful for good health, for the choices I have, for my family, for my friends, and for living in a place where I feel safe and free. When one feels grateful, it is impossible to feel angry. This realization has made a huge difference in my life. I try to turn anger around to gratitude – whether it’s a disappointment, a frustration, or a sadness that is triggering the potential for anger, I try to think instead about something in that vein for which I can be grateful. Waiting in a line? I’m grateful that I have my iphone to occupy me and take my mind off the “wasted” time. Time is never wasted when you have an iphone! Disappointment that one of my kids did something of which I disapprove? I’m grateful that they are their own people, with their own lives, making their own mistakes and successes, and that they are responsible for themselves. Of course, I lapse….I am human! But this paradigm shift h as really helped me to let go of things I used to want to control, and to relax about being of an age where I am not expected to control a lot.

Of course, I sometimes feel marginalized. I feel invisible in some situations. Our generation is on the fringes now. I don’t understand a lot of today’s culture, technology, or humor. But it’s okay – I have more time to process and enjoy the people and activities that bring me pleasure or challenge me in good ways. I’m ready to let it go and seek new ways to feel productive.

Giving myself permission not to be productive every minute of every day has been a huge freedom. It’s okay to read in the middle of the day. I can spend an hour walking somewhere instead of finding the most efficient way to get from point A to point B. I can talk on the phone to a friend and not worry about what I’m not doing…….most of the time!

It’s a work in progress, this evolution to being a retired 70-year-old. But it is progress! And I’m feeling so grateful to have the opportunity to do it.

Posted in About turning 70, Gratitude and Spirituality, Stories | 1 Comment

Joys of Grandparenting

Posted on December 28, 2010 by Blog Mavens

Barbara, Age 76

It`s been six years since I tried to blow out all 70 candles. And though my neck sags, and I can`t remember my neighbor`s name, though I need hearing aids and depend upon Depends… these most recent years have brought a kind of ecstasy that make such indignities mere inconveniences. After a long delay impatiently awaiting the arrival of grandchildren, I`ve recently been blessed with two winsome grandsons who have made these years more glorious than my most extravagant imaginings.

Though I have trouble getting up after a floor game with our three year old, and I keep the shape of a chair when I rise, this phase of life has been a gathering of fruits nurtured over many years. While I anticiapted reliving the joys of raising my children through theirs, I had not foreseen the sheer joy of seeing my son as parent to his son.

A parallel process has taken place in my career. Though I am adled by the challenges of new technology, and my clinical field has changed dramatically, I enjoy the cumulative experience of many active years in the field and the pleasure of continued contact with generations of students I supervised over more that three decades.

Like so much of life, the 70s have brought challenges and losses, blessings and unexpected reward.

Posted in Family matters, Our bodies, our health, Stories, Work life and retirement | 1 Comment

The Big “O”

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Blog Mavens

I nearly jumped out of my seat when I read in a book about aging well, that the age group 70-79 is called the “old-old”!!

I have not even begun to think of myself as “old” yet. This seems an extreme designation…Maybe something attached decades ago when longitudinal study cohorts were young, and life expectancy was shorter.

When I reported this finding to my trainer, she, ever the optimist, immediately assumed it meant “used to be,” like what used to be “old” is now…what?

I did another round of chest presses and left the gym, in a slightly better mood.

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