Age is only a number, isn’t it?
By Tom Morrow
Back in the mid-sixties, (maybe it was ’64), there was a song with words to the effect, “Will You Love Me When I’m 64?”
In those days, I wasn’t quite 30, so thirty-something years into the future seemed like a long, long time. It wasn’t.
A few months back, my wife reminded me it was my birthday — my 75th. There was a time when we got money on our birthday. On these later birthday I’ve been having, I spend money to buy the dinners.
I love the routine the late George Carlin did so many times over years as he’s got older. George observed:
“The only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we’re kids. ‘I’m four and a half!’ You’re never 36 and a half. You’re four and a half going on five!”
George pointed outs, rightly, that when we go through our teen-age years, we don’t waste time with “halves,” we jump to the next year. When you’re 15, you confidently announce you’re 16, or “nearly 16.”
Once we turn 21, the downhill rush begins. To steal a few lines from George; we “turn 30,” — we “push 40,” — we “reach 50,” — but, we “make it to 60.” When we turn 70, people start telling you it’s “good to see you.” Yeah, that’s better than being “viewed.”
You may not be surprised to know that most of my friends are living in their sixth, seventh and eighth decades. Some of the happiest and healthiest people I know are busy old folks. One lady, who turns 65 in June, but has been retired for nearly three years, is busier now that when she was working for “a living.” Today, she’s having fun helping here and there for “the living.”
The bottom line is this: age is only a number. Okay, so the number can seem a bit daunting when it’s us who are actually experiencing that number.
I’m convinced the secret to old age is happiness with lots of activity. Keep busy at what you love doing. Me? Writing, of course. Up until a few months ago music and community service kept me busy, happy, retired or not. But, you can only have so much fun.
If you worry about getting old; if you worry about whether your Social Security check will get lost in the mail, won’t stretch until the end of next month, or bounce at the bank, then you probably won’t “make it to 80.”
Relax and expect to see 90.
KID GEMS — On the first day of school, a first-grader handed his teacher a note from his mother. The note read, “The opinions expressed by this child are not necessarily those of his parents.”
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