Are Any of U Guys Elderly ??
 

Fastfred's thread on dying reminded me of the question what makes one elderly? Is it a certain age, a state of mind, or just physical appearance ??

I've become very aware the past few years of local news broadcasts, articles in newspapers, etc. often referring to people in their early 60's as being elderly, i.e. an elderly couple, an elderly man, an elderly woman. So it appears if you are 60+ you are elderly news wise.

BS... I'm 70 and have definitely slowed down a bit but for the most part can do most anything I could do when I was 40. (maybe with a little help from my friends ;) ). I know some of you other OWG's must feel the same way.

So PPOT, when exactly does one become elderly ?

If I had to come up with a definition for Elderly, it would probably be related to a combination of mental/physical well being (do you still think and act young, are you physically falling apart and slowed way down) and age.

Elderly is usually defined as people 30 year older than the the viewer. When I was in grade school I figured my grandparents had to be old enough to have seen dinosaurs. For sure they were elderly to me. I know that right now I am older than they were when I was a kid in first grade. I ain't elderly. That is for people 20 or 30 years older than me.

IMO "elderly" right now is 80+.

My uncle is 87 and still drives his car most days. My mother is 76 and she's always busy with her friends and charity work for the church.

At 51 there's nothing I wouldn't have a go at. I hope my luck holds.

Ayup, guilty.

So how old are you Mr Stein?

I'm 51, so not elderly in most circles. I still ride dirt bikes, hit up track days, listen to loud rock music, and only look like i'm in my late 30s. Sometimes with all my health problems, I feel about 85, and have the same cranky "get off my lawn" attitude.

I would have to along with Steve's (masraum) comment on this. I have seen people in their 60's who seemed elderly and people in their 80's who weren't so much. As a person in the "elderly" range, it seems like the last ten to twenty years of peoples' lives are much more variable and represent more general change than even their first twenty years of life. As a person who was active and athletic all my life (ninth grade: broke the records for the rope climb & "agility run", set record for low hurdles & anchored the relay team for a record in HS, did a lot of mountain climbing, back packing, scuba diving, kayaking, etc. for years & still take 5 to 9 mile hikes), it's hard to look around and see people who once were very active fall by the wayside. As the saying goes, "I'm no spring chicken" and can't do lots of things I took for granted. But, I'm happy I can still put in a day of physical work or play and go out & do it again the next day - maybe not continually though. Those who can't or don't, I consider elderly.

Additionally, it's not only the physical changes that define a person as elderly. My best friend from HS is just one example. He has become very judgemental to the point of being irritating to those around him, he seems to pick at things that apparently have bothered him slightly about others and things in life for years, he has lost a decent amount of his sense of humor, he makes comments about the past that are delusional (Remember those days we hiked 28 miles?), and has become estranged from his family to a certain amount. It's hard to see things like this go on among your old friends.

It is all in the eyes. I know 50-year-olds that have elderly eyes and 80-year-olds with the eyes of a warrior.

When in difficult circumstances with other people throughout my life, from sports to kayaking, taking people down rivers, the military, I defer to the eyes for the real truth.

I will be 60 in November. My eyes aren't.

The line I've heard being used lately to keep oneself 'young-at-heart is: "Don't let the old man in". I feel this thought definitely has merit. Stay well & live long brothers & sisters

Cheers
JB

When my dad was 83 he hated the term elderly. He said it was an ageist slur.

He lived alone at home and one day did his typical routine 5hit shower shave and got dressed up to go to a dermatologist appointment. For him that meant nice slacks and shirt and shoes and his watch. He was going to wind one of the old clocks and he noticed his hand did not operate normally for him to rotate at the wrist to wind a clock. He realized something was wrong so he went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror and tried to smile. It was a very messed up smile. He realized he had had a stroke so he went to call 911. They answered and then he realized he could not speak. He said it was like in the movie Young Frankenstein at the monks house, all he could do was moan MMMMuuuunnnmmm.

The operator asked if he needed help and he just moaned again. Fortunately the policy is send the cops and the fire department paramedics. They arrived quickly and a cop came to the door and he opened it and the cop asked if everything was OK. Of course all he could do was imitate the Frankenstein monster.

He could write his name and gave them his ID. They started to prep him for transport to the stroke center and he handed the cop his cell phone. He pointed at the dial button and it was set to call me. I get a call from dad's phone and it is a strange voice of a cop.

The cop telling me my elderly father has had a stroke and they will transport him to the stroke center and I can just go straight there. Every time the cop said the word elderly my dad would moan like the monster. He was trying to say he was not elderly.

They got the right meds into him in time and by the time I got to the hospital he was talking slowly. He was upset that all he had caused the commotion but mostly upset with the cop that kept saying into the radio that an elderly man had a stroke. The cop showed up at the hospital later and was telling me he has a new story to tell. He said he my dad moaned every time he used "that word" and he said if in the future he is in a similar situation he will not use that in the presence of the elderly person.

He had a perfect recovery in a day and I took him home the next day. He recovered completely from that and lived for over another year until a heart valve quit and he died. I still miss him.

Elderly = When women stop looking your way and you don't even care anymore.

Mentally I'm 18!! Physically 70! 55 this year.
I'm beat up! Live with PAIN constantly! No DRUGS! NO Doctors!
Rather be in PAIN, can live with that, hate that crap.
I'm crazy and surprised I'm still ALIVE!! The stuff I've done, but slowed down quite a bit.
I'm hurting bad, but I still go for it!! Just this weekend I drove to R.I. 300 miles 1 way
and swam in 10 foot waves from the hurricane. What a BLAST!! Rock&Roll!
Maybe it's my attitude keeping me alive.

Yesterday I had a patient around two years old. Turned out her mother was my patient too at the same age.
Ouch. Where is my walking stick..

At 72, I'm sure that's what the press would call me. Hopefully I'll never be in a situation that calls for press attention.

I'm still able to do stuff...so I do. But I have noticed an "every other day" schedule. Work on chores like yard work one day, take it easy the next.

Find myself wishing I had less "stuff" to care for.

Yes, there have been some physical changes over the years.

Keep breathing kids...may you live long enough to go through the same experiences.

Easy to say for an eye doctor. :D

Have to admit, I still enjoy viewing a well filled pair of yoga pants. When I was 15 I thought young women in the 19-25 age range could look incredibly hot. Now that I'm 72 that viewpoint hasn't changed.

They may have stopped looking my way, but I still appreciate callipygian beauty.

Jen (as her Eye Doc I prefer Jen to "High Beams"...she does as well, I think) understands the fact that our collective soul is given to the outside world through the eyes, in clarity and purpose, a reflection of the inner person without guile or malice; a clear and unambiguous referendum on our individual human condition.

On two occasions she has looked me, the Eye Doc to the Stars, right in the Baby Hazels and asked me my unvarnished opinion of her medical condition: The Doc in me said, "glaucoma"; my eyes blinked "Perky".

When I go out I notice how people dress. Old men with New Balance sneakers, Levis and a T or 2 button Polo. I call that the old man uniform. Now I will wear my dragon on the azz Blue Jeans, matching to the shirt shoes and a hope and change BO T. So elderly to some degree is a state of mind. Now physically the vital signs need some meds to keep in check with indicates that I am wearing out. So to that end I have dropped a cool 30 since May. Which means a lot of the cloths I bought are now too big. And some fit better. Mentally I am at the top of my game and am getting quicker and more nuanced. Mostly u boyz dont even catch it. The expression of which I consider it to be a creative art form.

Someday I could on a blackboard diagram exactly what I did, how I did it and the end result on a person on this Board who used that content in expressing his own opinion. All without realizing he had incorporated that content into his own opinion. So in that I influenced his perception of reality. Now if you can influence the elites of a society who then act upon and disseminate that information to the masses what do you have? Island noted a speech Trump made on 9/5 that sounded eerily the same as what I have been saying and wrote about as late as 9/3. The connection to Trump is through FAUX, who through volumes of circumstantial evidence have like UFO's visited this Board as Lurkers. They do it to get new ideas and perceptions to feed the media grist mill. Now put me directly in front of a mass audience and what will you have? Some will love me and some will love to hate me. Regardless it would sell newspapers.