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One of my gma's told me to never get old. She outlived her friends. She couldn't hear her family talking to her anymore. She couldn't physically do all the things she enjoyed anymore. Life is cruel and terrible to us regarding aging.
My grandmother used to say that, and she lived with very painful arthritis in a second story walk up. Years. I remember my mother reprimanding my older brothers for not doing enough when they stayed there.
I am 85 and my wife is 87. Both just had our annual checkups, and the doctors tell us in our present health expect to have another 10 years of good health and an active life.
We don't do some of the things we did in our 30s, but are doing a lot better than a lot of 50 year olds.
We live in a 3,700 sq. ft. luxury home on 5 acres. It is a 4 level home (no basement), so we have 3 chair lifts to access the areas with stairs. Just sit down, and 15 seconds later are at the top of the stairs. We have a housekeeper to come in 3 days a week to keep the house in good and shiny condition. Of course we did the same thing 40 years ago, so when we were home from our business we had freedom to do things rather than housework. We have someone use our tractor mower to keep the acre that is landscaped mowed, and do other outdoor maintenance. We have a blade on our tractor, and the yard man comes over and plows us out the 3 times a winter we get a deeper snow, including our 500 ft. lane back to our house.
We do not have the endurance to walk for miles doing things on vacation so we have Travel Scoot 2 wheel riding vehicles. So light easy to lift into the back of our Explorer. Run for hours and miles. We even have a spare battery so can ride all day when desired.
Going on an airline flight. Just ride it up to the plane, and let the ground crew fold it up, place it in a bag made for it, and load it on the plane. When you reach destination, you let them get out the scooter, and prepare it to go, and off you go. It is sure nice not to have to walk those long corridors to and from the plane. It has easy to use latches that let you raise and lower the handlebars, and fold it up.
If you are in good health, you can enjoy your 80s and 90s, as well as you did when you were young. Today they say your 80s are about the same as the 60s 40 years ago. Remember 65 was set as social security retirement age, as most people did not live that long back in the 30s when it was established. The 80s and older, is the fastest growing age group in this country today, and the majority will be in decent health and enjoy it.
Young people should not fear old age, it is a wonderful time for most of us. People that are heavy smokers, and others that do not take care of themselves, often end up in nursing homes. Most of us don't.
My mom took herself out by withdrawing from everything. She just laid in bed and became an invalid. Eventually she just passed in her sleep. It was her way of finally escaping my dad yelling/bullying her around 24-7.
Sad to see her go but much harder to see the hard life she had. At least she's at peace.
Get into your late 60's with physical infirmaries that make walking around almost impossible and it takes 10 minutes to wash a stinking dish.
It's even easier then.
Your priority is to somehow die before you wind up in a nursing home.
What with proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA - what nursing home?
It's ice floe economics. Except due to global warming they'll be putting us old folks out to sea on rafts of styrofoam, sculpted to LOOK LIKE ice floes.
Maybe I'll have kids one day so I'll want to stick around longer for them or wtv. But at the moment, I can't imagine living to be over 75 years old. I use to be depressed. What do you think? Is it a sign I'm still very slightly depressed, or is it weird but natural to not want to be around too long ?
Nah, you're fine. That is totally normal. I'm not depressed, never have been, and feel exactly the same way. I've watched too many people get old and die, and it is just not for me. And frankly, I think if more people were honest, you'd find its not for most people.
Just look at what people put in their Advanced Health Care Directives - they don't want to be vegetables or sitting around on life support, basically they are adamant that they do not want to live when there's no quality of life or when attempts to extend their life would ultimately be futile or useless. Me, I don't want to live to the point where I'm too weak/sick/feeble to care for myself, and then wind up even unable to kill myself. Then you are truly powerless and have no agency. What is even the point of living under those conditions? Its terrifying to me - it would be like being sentenced to be a prisoner in your own body.
The longer you live, the more likely you're going to wind up confronting that dilemma that you spent a bunch of pages in your Directive telling your trustee to avoid.
You want some interesting reading...google how medical doctors navigate their own end-of-life care. Eye opening.
So don't worry about your mental health (with regards to this issue). You're not alone.
We're blessed to have good genes in our family and I fully expect to live into my 90s. I'm working now to get and stay healthy. I know many people in their 70s and 80s that are very active. I do know some younger people that feel the way you do - they actually don't think they'll last that long but I think that's pretty normal when you're young. It's hard to imagine being old.
Maybe I'll have kids one day so I'll want to stick around longer for them or wtv. But at the moment, I can't imagine living to be over 75 years old. I use to be depressed. What do you think? Is it a sign I'm still very slightly depressed, or is it weird but natural to not want to be around too long ?
A lot of you are basing your idea of what 70 will be like on someone you know who is old and in poor health. Try looking at some 70 year olds who are having a good time. We live in a community that is not strictly retirement, but seems like an "active adult" community. Really there is no age limit, but a lot of retirees live here, probably 80% of the populations is retired. Everyone has a ton of fun. We play golf, tennis, pickleball. I play pickleball with several 80 year olds. We boat, fish, go out to dance at the outdoor parties, travel, visit historic sites. There are classes from line dancing, and yoga to kick boxing and cross-fit. We have hiking trails and a dog park. Everyone is out doing something all the time. We go to a LOT of parties. We are 58 and 63, our best friend couple is 55 and 70. The 4 of us just went to Dollywood and rode every roller coaster they have. We have season tickets there. This is not your grandpa's 70 anymore.
Last edited by TheShadow; 07-21-2017 at 09:02 AM..
Also those of you in your 20s-30s should consider the likely medical advances expected in the next 50 years and understand that being 75 in 50 years might be like being 40 or 50 today.
It's possible that in 50 years the only part of your body that can't be repaired or replaced may be your brain, and that certainly there will be new treatments for brain problems by then. I'm fairly certain that cancer will be a thing of the past in 50 years.
We are headed for some big changes including longer active lifespan, although that will also cause economic dislocations that will be difficult to predict.
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