Today a classmate from school and good friend turned 80. I rang him up to convey my greetings and best wishes for many more birthdays and he was quite nostalgic about our last meeting in 1965. Yes, I left Madras as it was then known and, now as Chennai that year but, he has continued to live there since.
Among other things that we talked about, we did discuss our current health and well being issues and wished each other well.
After a while, another friend also about my age sent this message to me in WhatsApp.
There were some more messages, all in one day, talking about and dare I say, belittling, trivialising and or giving excuses for old age. And then there was this very heart warming story in Jean’s blog which brought a smile on my life.
This got me thinking about ageing and how today’s social media is trying to talk about it in a manner totally different from what it used to be in the ‘good old days’.
Elders were admired for their longevity and hopefully, wisdom and were expected to behave like elders. Their maturity was taken for granted. They were not recycled teenagers. And, they had and continued to live and died, like I do now and will eventually.
I always enjoyed my older patients for their life experiences. Of course, these days, I’m usually the older one.
Being the older one around does make a difference to how we look at experiences and expressions.
I’ve never really thought about it, but I certainly don’t want to be a recycled teenager! Ugh. It would be great never to relive those years!
Your response does not surprise me at all. Your blog posts reflect your attitude to life which is wonderful.
I look around today and wonder how it would feel to have a grandmother with bleached blonde hair and tattoos and biker shorts! they seem to think they’re ‘cool!’ they just look rather weird to me! LOLOL. (but…. age is all in the mind they say.)
I STILL like a cozy gramma who has silver hair and a natural and comfortable face (Without Botox!!!)
and I too loved Monk’s post. Mr Adams’s answer was remarkable!
And, I enjoy being the senior around. Please read my latest blog post on a young man’s telephone call to me.
Urgh, Ramana I do hate those memes and any which portray aging and old age as something to be avoided at all costs, some of my friends/acquaintances are like that, bless’em, but it’s an effort I would never contemplate doing, as the Big Question Why comes to the forefront of my mind. I don’t even wear lipstick, lol.
XO
WWW
I actually enjoy being the elder around WWW. My latest experience with a telephone call about which I have blogged indicates this.
Well of course teenagers are all different and so are we oldies, so I hesitate to generalise about either of them. Some oldies have become very worldly-wise, others are still pretty dumb. Ditto teenagers. But like Bethany, I certainly wouldn’t want to be a teenager again. Some of my teenage years were very difficult.
If you did by some magic, what would you blog about Nick?
Seeing and hearing what some teenagers do and say today makes me glad I was a teenager back then and not now. Even with our occasional aches and pains we are truly enjoying our – how shall I put this – advanced years! 🌞😁👍
We are both in the same boat Irwin.
So true!