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I celebrated my 65th birthday this weekend. Only one other birthday matched it in significance. That was my 38th birthday because my dad was 38 when he passed away. When I turned 38 I had two small children and could not imagine leaving them. I knew 38 was too young when he died but not until I hit 38 did I truly realize how young that was. All other birthdays before and after have been simple uneventful events. Until Saturday when I turned 65.
I actually felt the approach of this birthday in January. At that point I started working on Medicare and my health insurance supplement. I did a lot of research to select the right plan, I went to the Medicare site many times to read about options, I visited the Social Security office a few times, met with an advisor at Kaiser Permanente (my supplement choice), I talked to friends 65 and older, and sort of immersed myself in the coming event. Along the way it sank in that how I live my life from this point forward might be the most important lifestyle management I’ll ever experience. That does not mean closing down and hibernating and protecting my senior reserves.
Currently I have friends younger than I am, some exactly my age, and some older than I am. Then I have a variety of ages in my family. After examining all of these people and how they live I have come to understand the secret of aging well: don't get sick or hurt.
Truly, the most important thing about turning 65 is the awareness that now more than ever I have to live well. I have to stay physically active, mentally alert, and maintain a positive bubble that will surround me. I have to live in the world and explore everything new. Along with all the attitude I have to make sure I at least maintain basic medical care and suggested screenings and talk to my doctor about concerns. Things happen to aging bodies and cars. At the first sign of a weird situation with our cars we run to the mechanic. We must do that with our bodies at this age more than ever.
I retired at 62 because I had so much to do. For the past three years every day has been full of projects and I even maintained a small business. For the past three years I traveled around the region I live in and set up craft exhibits at various events. I spent hours every day creating craft items to sell at these events. It took all of my time and many hours each day and then exhibits on weekends. I had planned on continuing with this business for as long as possible but with the economy and the increases in materials and event fees I decided to throw in the towel and move on to other projects. Three years was enough. I have a huge list of other things to do.
On January 1st, along with beginning all the Medicare and insurance research, I started my family photo project. I have over 100 years worth of photos and I’ve put them all on my computer and created photo books and slideshows with music. I’ve worked on this every single day since January 1st and sometimes for many hours a day. I’ve had glitches and disappointments and in fact today I’m visiting Apple to ask why I lost all of my slideshows. At the same time I started other projects on my list and each week I visit my mom who lives an hour away to see if I can help her out with anything she might need. I have a shelving unit here in my office filled with books on various languages and music books for my pathetic attempt at playing the piano. I have two dogs I walk every day and three cats. Five pets are a lot of work but worth it.
When I first wake up in the morning I admit I do move somewhat slowly for about 30 minutes. I have a variety of aches and pains when I first hit the floor and as gravity slowly pulls my spine into position I soon feel the stiffness subside and after coffee my insides are revived. I sit at the computer first thing and read the news and emails and respond to family and friends and that wakes up my brain. By that time I’m off and running. This often starts before dawn.
When I worked I was lucky to be able to live close enough to my office that I could come home for lunch. I would take my little dog for a short walk and have lunch with her while watching the noon news. Sometimes I couldn’t leave the office in time for the noon news and when I flipped on the TV to try to find news the programming had changed to soap operas and re-runs.
One old show that popped up was “Matlock.” Andy Griffith was a “senior” when he made this series and I had not watched it when it ran originally. Since it was on when I was home on my later lunch breaks I started watching it. He portrayed a vibrant curmudgeonly attorney who managed to entangle himself in a variety of scary events. I was approaching retirement when I discovered re-runs of “Matlock” and appreciated his character’s vigor and keen intelligence. It was an epiphany of sorts for me. A prophetic picture of what a senior life could and should be. I don't think anyone wants to end up in a rocking chair on a porch dribbling into a lap blanket. But to avoid that for as long as possible we must fight like hell to keep ourselves going.
When I watched these shows with my dog I never saw the final scenes and never learned how the mysteries concluded. I had to head back to the office. I looked forward to retiring so I could watch an entire episode. The first week I retired I watched an episode each day and then the re-run series ended and another old series took its place. I didn’t like the next series so that was the end of “Matlock.” Then a few weeks later I found the entire series on Netflix and finally watched it from beginning to end. It’s not that it’s the best TV series I’ve ever watched but it was simply about living each day with purpose and ignoring as many of our aches and pains as possible. Pushing through until the stiffness subsides—or even if it doesn’t. One thing about living with discomfort is it proves you are still living.
Over the years I’ve watched fun news reports about seniors dancing in wheelchairs, climbing mountains, running races at 80, and all sorts of fairly extreme activities. I’m not sure I’ll be climbing mountains but I have an interest in tango lessons and learning how to properly ride a horse. They’re on my list.
I’m going to continue to engage in living large. If my body and mind hold together I have lots of plans.
[Note: I usually post my blogs on Sundays but I was too busy celebrating with my family this weekend!]
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Dylan Thomas
www.sharonstrawhandgarner.com
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business that knows how to treat customers.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
El Coqui, Puerto Rican restaurant in Santa Rosa.
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