Forever Young..........At Heart, at Least

I had a milestone birthday this week.  The government considers you a senior citizen when you turn 65, but we all know you aren't old at that age. Turning 70, however, somehow makes me feel a little older.

I wanted you all to picture grandmothers from your family albums.  Not digital pictures, but real photos from long ago. Mature women used to look older than they do now, I hear.  I wanted to point out my generation isn't aging as fast.  But when I stopped to think about it, those women didn't have today's modern conveniences, and basically wore their bodies out doing things we can now push buttons to get done.

I'm going to show you pictures from my own albums.  I can't show you my own mother at my age, as she never made it this far.  My grandmothers though, both made it to about 86.

My father's mother would definitely present the picture I had in mind to show how much the aging process of women had changed since then.  The thing is, she had a stroke, and spent years in a wheelchair, in a hospital before nursing homes.  She could get up and walk behind the chair, and go play cards with other resident patients to pass the time.  Later, when moved to a home, the facilities didn't permit her to move around as much. Sitting ages your body. Not trying to move ages you faster.  Lack of interaction ages the mind.

My other grandmother had cancer, and the treatments she underwent were life changing, but she wasn't one to let that stop her.  She lived another 20 years just because, as my Mother put it, she was too stubborn to lie down.

So, as I thought of all this, I came to realize, there may have been reasons why the women looked older back then.  Hard work, illness, and lack of mobility can all manage to wear on us, and age us no matter what year we were born in.

My Mom often wondered when I'd dress my age, and I tried to tell her I was.  The way we dress has changed over the years too.  And while I would never feel comfortable wandering the streets in pajama bottoms, or leggings like some my age would, I probably wear jeans more often now than at any other point in my lifetime.

I discovered in my early 40's that who you were in your youth never really changes much as you age. You may gain weight, grow wrinkles and change hair colour (on purpose or not) but the being inside that body is still the same.  Our spirit stays young and we don't see ourselves as old as we are. We just feel the same as we always did, but we notice those around us are aging.  Have you ever gone somewhere and looked around and thought that the others there were old, only to have to face the truth that they were the same age as you were?  That sort of thing has been happening to me for the past 20 years!

I was out playing ball with my grandsons last week.  They had a couple of tires stacked in my driveway, and we were basically shooting hoops.  I know one of my grandmother's would happily have been out there with us, if it had been in her time. I guess that means we aren't really aging less quickly now, we're just healthier.

I've mentioned that I have acquired a knee problem this past year.  My mind still had me thinking  I was young enough to go on with life as I always had, but Mother Nature has a way of slowing us down, ready or not.  So, while I was happily out playing with the kids last week, a little visit to the knee specialist this week has me limping terribly at the moment, and probably looking rather decrepit to the kids. Like I said, you age when you can't move, and you age fast. Excuse me while I get up and do what I still can.  Like my grandmother, I'm not ready to lie down.  I'm going to try my best to outrun aging, even on a bum knee.

The Fun of Aging

When we are young some of us worry about making a fool of ourselves.  We sometimes avoid doing things we know we would enjoy, just because we think someone might laugh, or make fun of us later.  For instance, after moving from one coast to another, I was nervous about going to a school dance because my dancing style might be different from that of the new locality. I probably wouldn't have gone if my mother had not physically pushed me out the door. When performing in a mandatory school choir, I usually just mouthed the words, as I didn't feel I could carry a tune and didn't want to be heard.

Now I'm older and have a place to go that's full of senior citizens where I feel the freedom to just be who I am, and have fun without worrying about what others think.  It's still the only place I'll actually sing out loud though, other than the privacy of my own home or car.

The New Horizon Club meets twice a month, in Burritts Rapids,  for a wide variety of activities.  This week they held an event titled Viva Las Vegas. I wasn't sure what would transpire, but knew we would have a good time.

I got drafted to be in charge of one of the Black Jack tables. This is silly because I don't play cards. I'd been told early in life that I have NO card sense so many times that I just decided not to bother playing anymore.  As a result, I'm very awkward even handling the cards. I quickly found someone else who could deal, and decided I'd be in charge of the chips.  Neither of us were really sure of the rules, but we learned them, or adopted some of them and made up others for our particular table.  There was no money involved, as it was just for fun.  Everyone who played was given 10 chips and instructed at the beginning of the event to please leave the table if they lost them all, so that someone else could take their seat. I think, over the course of the afternoon, we only ever had two people at the table who actually knew what they were doing. But we all had a great time.

Then came the floor show.  Four of our ladies got all dressed up and performed a couple of dances for us up on the stage. Before they were finished, I know for a fact that they were all wearing red underwear. They made sure we saw that when they did the CanCan! There was nothing professional about this performance.  They expected, and got laughs, though it was meant to be more of a dance number than a comedy act. That doesn't matter as they were having as much fun trying to keep in step as we were having watching them. 

When they were finished they circulated through the crowd, flirting with the men and sometimes even planting a kiss on an unsuspecting cheek.





And what's Vegas without Elvis?  The president of this group came in, in a mainly white outfit, complete with bell bottomed trousers.  He had a wig on his head that was supposed to look like Elvis's pompadour, but in reality was a lady's long black wig that had been pinned up at the back with dozens of very visible bobby pins.  He tried to lip sync with the music, but most of the time he just posed or gyrated and broke us all up into gales of laugher.  We were even singing along at one point....me included. 

I love the freedom of aging and feeling more comfortable in your own skin.  You are only here once and should enjoy the ride. Too bad we have to wait so many years before we realize that.

She Nailed It

Once upon a time I had good strong finger nails. They could grow to great lengths and were easy to file and shape.  Then, about 2 or 3 years ago, I suddenly started to have some trouble. I kept breaking them off, for one thing. That was most unusual as I was definitely not abusing them as much as I used to.  Another thing that was happening was that I would get a little divot in them, in the very middle, at the tip of the nail. Then, when I'd try to file them, they would feather.

I tried Biotin.  No luck.  So, when I went for an annual physical, I mentioned this new nail problem to the doctor.  They usually check your nails, right?  Nails are supposed to be a good indicator of certain health problems.  She made it clear to me that, as difficult as it might be to hear, I was just getting older.  I asked her what it was my older body was lacking and causing my nails to be like this.  Apparently it is common and it just happens. At least, that's the answer I got.

Well, a young neighbour became an esthetician and when she heard the problems I was having she said that my nails had just dried out and that they needed to be moisturized .  I'm always using hand cream but I didn't necessarily make sure that I rub it into my nails.  I tend to use Yves Rocher products a lot, so I basically switched from the regular Arnica Essentiel Daily Moisturizing Hand Cream to their 2 in 1 Beautifying Hand & Nail Cream and made sure I rubbed it into the nails as well.

If I think about it, we had switched our heating system from oil to gas shortly before this problem began.  Gas heat is definitely dryer than oil heat, so now I use hand creams more often.  I paid attention and made sure to massage this new cream not only into my hands, but my nails also.  It wasn't long before I noticed a definite improvement.  Nails stopped breaking, and the little divots also stopped.  I still had to file gently and in one direction only, or I'd end up with feathering, but I was quite happy to see an improvement.

Now that the winter is over, and the heat isn't on (as much), my hands are not as dry as they had been during the winter months and I'm not using the hand cream as often as I was.  And guess what.....I've had divots out of the ends again, and the feathering has gotten worse. So, you see, the doctor was wrong to blame this problem on aging alone.  There is something you can do about it.  Moisturize those nails!  My young friend hit the nail on the head with her idea of how to treat the problem.

Inspiration to Carry On

Looking at those around me, I see that age is really just a number.  You are only as old as you feel.  Right now, I'm feeling down right decrepit.

I have two young friends, sisters both in their 40's, each with serious health issues.  They carry on as best they can, but over the past couple of months their families and I can't help but worry about them.  I have other friends with various ailments, not quite so serious, but still bad enough to disrupt their lives, and they also do the best they can to carry on.  What else can you do, after all?

At my age it's inevitable to have friends of assorted ages with hip and knee problems.  Some have taken steps to get those fixed, and some of those are, as far as I can see, not in much better shape than they were before the operation. Less pain perhaps, but not necessarily more mobile.  Carry on seems to be the motto no matter what your age or health throws at you. 

Recently we celebrated the birthday of a lady who is now 90 years young. She is more mobile, and has more energy than just about anyone I know.  I hope to have her energy when I'm just 70.....or even tomorrow!  As it is, I've got a terrible cold and no energy at all. I'm feeling ancient and useless.  But I have years to go before I'm done, so I'll just carry on, like all those good folks around me.  An inspiration, every one of them.  My problem is not so bad, after all, and I'm already starting to feel better now that I'm talked it out.

Coming of Age

While cleaning out the apartment of my 86 year old aunt, years ago when she moved into a nursing home, I was struck by the number of creams and lotions she had accumulated.  It was even more of a surprise because I had never thought of her as an overly feminine woman. She wore mainly trousers, before it became fashionable to do so. Her hair was parted on one side, and cut to chin level in a simple style. She never coloured it or fussed with it.  And I don't believe I ever saw her wear makeup of any kind. Perhaps with age, she felt her skin was dry and itchy and in need of some extra moisture. That might explain the creams and lotions, but certainly not the number of them.

Years later, I noticed my mother-in-law also seemed to have an over abundance of such products in her bedroom and bathroom too.  I think I even saw a bottle or tube in the kitchen and living room from time to time. I started to think of this as an old lady trait.  Since my mother-in-law was also in her eighties by then, I wondered if it wasn't so much a dryness thing as a possible memory problem.  Did they simply forget they already had the necessary creams and lotions at home?

Today the cosmetic companies keep coming up with some miraculous new cream or lotion.  I myself, being quite a fluffy female, find it hard to resist trying these marvelous new concoctions.  If a company offers free samples, I jump at the chance to try it.  If  they put products I already use and like on sale, I stock up.  If they introduce some new amazing idea I.....oh wait.....I tell myself, I have enough creams and lotion.  I don't need anymore right now.  I'm already confused as to which to use up first, with several varieties available in the bathroom, a couple more in the bedroom, not to mention the stacks of unopened samples contained neatly in a box or basket.

Perhaps this is an old lady trait after all, no matter what our justification is.  I have, after all, just been approved for both my Old Age and Canada Pensions.