1) I'm 67 but still think of myself as being about 35. The mind plays tricks.
2) My wife passed 10 yrs ago, but honestly she was as attractive to me the day she died (cancer) as when we met. I tell my boys that loyalty is the great attractant (of course looks, brains, grace, stamina help) and that some sort of chemical thing takes hold that makes your loved one "perfect" even in old age. I wonder if maybe only 25% of couples reach this devotional stage, and I wish it was in a bottle and more people drank it.
3) I moved w fiance to one of those retirement places. Most people older, play a lot of golf, don't seem to exercise much, some very entitled honestly (about 5 min of nice, then look out). Quiet and crime free though, actually pretty good all told. Cross section of old people seemingly wise but pretty much like high school demographic?
4) I learned to double my workout to 7 hrs per week (swim, treadmill, weights) and it really helps. I wonder how long I can keep it up?
5) Yes golf kinda silly, but what else are we gonna do at our age, motocross?
6) Yes, we might still be in the "Sean Connery/Cary Grant actually look kinda hot for 65 year olds" zone, but check back in 10-15 yrs to when their faces are thin, bodies frail (I guess we need to enjoy the moment). Many 65 yr old women similarly look good (esp ones that workout) but they'll never acknowledge
7) Jury is out on supplements (like hormones)/cosmetic surgery...shouldn't we age gracefully so as to act dignified for our grandkids? Funny how cosmetic surgery generally doesn't help after some point (65?) The successful Helen Mirren/Jane Fonda ones were done on women w great foundations? (see also S Connery/C Grant above). The rest of us should give it up at some point?
8) Note how LeBron James is still the same great basketball player at 37, but he gets injured more often, pretty soon his minutes will be limited. True also for us?
9) The kids get spooked when someone they know dies. I tell them I’ve lost so many I’ve been close to that I’m rather used to it…its like being on a battlefield, seeing your buddies to the right and left getting picked off, yet you know you’ve gotta keep going, very little time to grieve (or you might be next). Weird also that the noble ones seem to die young, the ingratiating ones survive (I understand now why WW II vets breakdown crying after 30 seconds of anecdotes…they remember that many heroes didn’t come home…survival guilt). Maybe also a chemical that fools us into thinking we’ll never die?
10) Sometimes I’ll be reading the news and an old person will kindly correct some misinformation written by a young person re: a historic event, something like “actually, the liberation of many POW and Nazi death camps took place in the Spring, not Summer of ’45…I know since I was in the 14th Armored Division” and I think “thank you, wise & diligent old person for setting us straight…I hope I can carry on in your noble tradition when I’m 95”.
