The Joys of 85

To be 85 years old is (to me) a big deal. I'm sure any 90 or 95 year old I ask would say it is no big deal, but to me it is. For one, I think from my family I am the only one reaching this age. My Father died at age 62, my Mom at 73 and my Grandparents in their 70s. At least this is what I remember. But what do I know? I am a senile 85 year old man.

85 is a good, respectable number. This is the age when some of us are leaving middle age and entering upper middle age! A lot of my friends are of the same vintage as I am, and most of them function pretty well. Some of them still work, some of them have good hobbies, some of them just do absolutely nothing. I, belong to this last category. I do nothing. I worked long enough before retirement, and I figured if I don't have to work, why bother.

I spend my time with my family, and my lovely wife makes it sure I don't lack for free time. I have some former colleagues of the same age as I am or a little older who still keep working. Their minds are clear, they like what they are doing, and their consciences are clear about collecting their Social Security without contributing to it. I have no problem with this. I worked long enough, contributed enough now it is my turn to collect.

Now, what are the joys of being 85? I thought about it long and hard, and really could not find anything that would fit into the plus category. But the negative column is pretty long. Without depressing anybody I will list a few of my observations. But before that here is a short note. 85 is just a number. I f one stands on his head 85 will become 58! Now, that is a good number. On to the negatives.

Our minds might not be old, but our bodies are. I look at activities and say to myself that I can do this. My mind can, but my body will not be able to. This is what is hard to accept. But we do because we have no choice. Healthwise we are a testing ground for medicine. Unknown maladies, undetermined pains and mysterious symptoms are raising their heads forcing doctors to scratch their heads in disbelief.

I found that my mobility is a little restrained. I have no problem bending down, but I do have a problem straightening back up. Maybe I will just stay bent down! Memory is another issue. I believe I have a clear mind, but I do know that some people at this age already have serious memory problems. This is scary. Is this thing lurking in the shadows? Not remembering certain things in one's life is not always a curse. Many, many bad things happened to a lot of us and not remembering some of them is no great loss. There are enough bad memories remain.

I find it frightening that most of time a known person dies that person is between 80 and 95. Being 85 does not give the secure feeling for a long and prosperous future. Actually, the current oldest person in the world is a 119 year old Japanese woman. My ideal!

You might have noticed that I omitted sex. I don't remember what that is!