Celebrating Milestone Birthdays… and all the ones in between!
/“To me, old age is 10 years older than I am.”
We follow Melissa Kirsch’s Saturday articles in the New York Times, and her recent article entitled ‘Banner Year’ caught my attention. “Many dismiss the importance of birthdays at all: Why celebrate aging? Why make a big deal out of something that happens to everyone, every year? Who needs another... cake?” Answer? ME!
Kirsch was talking specifically about ‘milestone’ birthdays, the ones that occur at decade intervals… 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. I’ve had quite a few. I turn 76 tomorrow. It’s not a milestone-decade event, not a milestone at all —just another birthday, another year of reflection, another year to take stock of my life. It’s a time to appreciate what I’ve had, what I’ve done, what I have, what I still want to do, and to anticipate what the future might hold. Rather than shy away from birthdays, I love them. I celebrate all month. Edging into my eighth decade, however, has given me pause.
Quoting Victor Hugo, I asked AI if “40 is the old age of youth; 50 the youth of old age”, what is 76? AI’s answer: “The provided text is a philosophical statement attributed to Victor Hugo, not a riddle or a question with a single answer for 76, but rather a reflection on the perception of age and how different life stages are viewed. By this logic, if 40 is the old age of youth and 50 is the youth of old age, then 76 is the extreme old age of life itself, or the late stage of adulthood. It is the old age of old age — the dotage, the true old age.”
YIKES! Boy, that took me by surprise! Heck, I don’t feel ‘old’. What’s age anyway? It’s just a number, right? You’re only as old as you feel, right?
There's no single "official" age for becoming old. Heck, you can join AARP when you’re 55 and start enjoying all those ‘senior benefits’. In the USA, however, 65 seems like the standard measure for ‘old’. You can sign up for Medicare then, and start thinking about collecting Social Security. Actually, the World Health Organization considers 60 old, while recent research suggests people perceive old age to start in their mid-70s.
There are a zillion quotes about age. There’s Mark Twain's "Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter," and George Meredith's advice, "Don't just count your years, make your years count". Bob Hope joked that "You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake,". John Glenn waxed philosophical when he purportedly said, "There is still no cure for the common birthday".
When I was 12, 30 sounded old. When I was 30, 40 still seemed ages away. When I was 50, (I retired and went sailing) however, I started thinking that maybe 60 was getting old-er, but not really old. At 60, we were still sailing and 70 was old-ish, but certainly not ancient. Now? Hmmm… we have a couple of nonagenarian friends… they are old!
As I enter the high side of the 70s, I wonder what I’ll be thinking when I hit 80. Right now, I’m still thinking that 80 is the new 60, but I think I might need a larger cake to support all those candles.
