Maybe it’s the 3 year pandemic with nearly 7 million (confirmed) deaths and many people disabled by long covid, the climate crisis, having chronic illnesses or simply being in my mid forties, but I’ve been thinking about aging a lot lately.
At 75, I am healthier than I was in 1975 — the year Crohn's Disease suddenly arrived. At age 28. Fortunately, my employer — Dance Freight Lines — continued paying my complete salary for the full two months that I was hospitalized.
Crohn's then struck my brother, then his son, then my son Alan.
The suicide of my wife Jeanne — and mother of my two children — struck on 13 September 1983.
Never taking on the role of "victim" has made my life, and (I hope) the lives of each person I am honored to know, a source of great strength and resilience.
Yes, exactly! I’m in a similar place right now. I’m seeing my 45 yo face sag and it’s harder to recover from tiny injuries. Like you, I stopped dying my hair, but I think I may throw in a few lowlights so I don’t mess up my pretty grey streak. But what’s more, is the social pressure to look younger. All the fillers and Botox EVERYWHERE is very oppressive and depressing. I’m not going to puff my wrinkles. Yes, sun spots are a thing. I’m still having a hard time embracing this free spirit, while seeing my face sag, while others fill and inject their way to a creepy kind of “youth.”
If you want to know how it feels to be getting old, just wait until you get that letter from the Canada Pension people saying, "... our records show that next year you will be turning 65..." Okay, I admit that there were things happening in my mid-forties that made me realize I wasn't a kid anymore. And in truth, the first time I looked in the mirror and thought "you are getting OLD" was the day I had calculated I was technically older than my Dad ever got to be (he was killed in a MVA less than six months after he tire 58).
On the bright side, I inherited his hair colouring and its persistence. I still have a full head of hair, and it still looks - mostly- dark. Though the grey strands are becoming more significant. Any colour but bald, I say.
Battling chronic health issues, as I said last time, is an invisible burden that too many people fail to understand. Even family. Know that you have friends?allies out here in cyberspace!
At 75, I am healthier than I was in 1975 — the year Crohn's Disease suddenly arrived. At age 28. Fortunately, my employer — Dance Freight Lines — continued paying my complete salary for the full two months that I was hospitalized.
Crohn's then struck my brother, then his son, then my son Alan.
The suicide of my wife Jeanne — and mother of my two children — struck on 13 September 1983.
Never taking on the role of "victim" has made my life, and (I hope) the lives of each person I am honored to know, a source of great strength and resilience.
Yes, exactly! I’m in a similar place right now. I’m seeing my 45 yo face sag and it’s harder to recover from tiny injuries. Like you, I stopped dying my hair, but I think I may throw in a few lowlights so I don’t mess up my pretty grey streak. But what’s more, is the social pressure to look younger. All the fillers and Botox EVERYWHERE is very oppressive and depressing. I’m not going to puff my wrinkles. Yes, sun spots are a thing. I’m still having a hard time embracing this free spirit, while seeing my face sag, while others fill and inject their way to a creepy kind of “youth.”
Kids!
If you want to know how it feels to be getting old, just wait until you get that letter from the Canada Pension people saying, "... our records show that next year you will be turning 65..." Okay, I admit that there were things happening in my mid-forties that made me realize I wasn't a kid anymore. And in truth, the first time I looked in the mirror and thought "you are getting OLD" was the day I had calculated I was technically older than my Dad ever got to be (he was killed in a MVA less than six months after he tire 58).
On the bright side, I inherited his hair colouring and its persistence. I still have a full head of hair, and it still looks - mostly- dark. Though the grey strands are becoming more significant. Any colour but bald, I say.
Battling chronic health issues, as I said last time, is an invisible burden that too many people fail to understand. Even family. Know that you have friends?allies out here in cyberspace!
All the best. John