Once again I am forced to write about the age thing. This time I have been prompted by a news story I read in an old magazine about a woman who was still going strong at the time it was published, and was past 100. The story says she was dancing in a Broadway benefit show at the age of 101. The woman who had been a dancer in the movies had danced with Al Jolson way back in the 1920s, but what made the story so great was that dance in Broadway benefit show at 101.
Stories like that make me realize what a wimp I am to complain about the little aches and pains that age visits on me from time to time. A wise man once said, “Age is a state of mind,” and I believe that is true, because as I have gotten older my perception of what constitutes an old person has changed. When I was a young boy for instance, (which no kidding feels like it was only yesterday on a good day) I thought anyone past the age of 30 had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Today that has changed however, and I see people out there running marathons, who would call me sonny. In fact I run into people all the time whose age surprises me, some in a good way-some in a bad way. The good are those who don’t let age dictate what they are still capable of doing. The bad are the professional old people, who think the calendar should decide when they should quit living. These are the people who think retirement is a matter of their birth date, no matter how young they feel. I fell into that category myself when I turned 62, and it took nearly a year before I realized I was way too young to be a professional in the retirement game.
Today we live longer thanks to advances in medicine and a lot of other factors, but I think the main reason for a lot of people is not allowing that arbitrary date on the calendar to decide what they are capable of doing.
Some of the people I work with today, who are quite a bit older than I am, did not take that year off at 62 the way I did. Thanks to them, and that 101 year old dancer, I doubt I will do that again either. I’m not suggesting we can all run a marathon, or dance on Broadway, but for those of us who are still physically able there is a lot of room between those activities and sitting in a rocking chair.
I admit I look more my age than I like, thanks to the fact that I lost my teeth at a relatively young age, and my hair is barely a plural thing anymore, but as long as I still have enough strands to do a comb over, and a little Poligrip for the other problem I’ll try to stay away from that rocking chair. That doesn’t mean I’m going to get ready for a marathon anytime soon, but as a young man just past 78 I might take up dancing, and who knows someday maybe on my 101st birthday I just might try to dance on Broadway too (The road not the stage).
