60
on Up—Yep, That's Me
I
needed a nonfiction book for a column. I like to go
to the library and look at the new stuff. Saw a book
Changing Places. It's about what kids go through
when divorce happens. Was going to use that one until
I saw 60
ON Up. I said that's me. The opening sentences
were very encouraging: Getting old sucks! It always
has, it always will. Not my words folks. Comes right
on the first line of the first chapter. The book has
to get better as it goes along. Will let you know. Anyway,
I have the first paragraph of my column. I love it when
a good plan comes together. To read that first page,
go to Amazon.com and bring up the book and then click
on see inside the book.
The subtitle to the book is The Truth about Aging in
America. It isn't pretty folks. The author Lilian B.
Rubin, a sociologist and psychotherapist, wrote the
book when she was in her 80's so I would assume the
woman knows what she talking about. I think her take
on the book could be summed up in one of George Jones'
songs: “The Cold Hard Truth” which has these
lovely little lines: Let me introduce my self/I'm the
cold hard truth.
As for being the golden years, she suggest the only
thing golden about it is the color of our underwear
after a day's use. Now she admits there are the Jack
Lanne's of the world, but reminds us to look around
us and see how the problems pile up with each rung on
the age ladder.
With the added years that science has added to our
lives, many people in their 70's are now taking care
of parents in their 90's, and it is wearing them out.
In many cases these are the same people who had to raise
their grandchildren---a double whammy—not fair.
The author mentioned in passing that after 75 for most
of us sex was a bygone event. I said, “Bite your
tongue.” She had anticipated that line and said,
“Well, if it helps, you can sing “Precious
Memories.
This living longer than (what the author suggests) than
we should affects the next generation down. All that
money we were going to give to them (in the trillions),
we are now spending on health care to keep us alive
to a life that we are not all that thrilled with.
No, folks it looks rather bleak but Scarlett O'Hara
and I are going to worry about that tomorrow, and I
am going to get a second opinion by reading such books
as Aging
with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us about
Leading Longer, Healthier and More Meaningful Lives
and The
Curious Upside of Growing Older (And the 7
Keys That Active Seniors Embrace for the Best Life,
Including the Best Food, Exercise, Sleep and Memory)
by Caroline Anaya. That should help.
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