Jimzee
New Member
I am joining because I turn 72 next month and I guess that qualifies me as a "senior." Although there's a competition going on between my mother and me to determine who is most qualified for that title. It's really sort of embarrassing but I'm glad it is! (She still insists on driving and so far so good. She had her license renewed this year, just as her mother--and her mother's mother--did at the exact same age.
My son is now 39 and my mother treats him like her baby. My father passed away several years ago, nearly hitting the big 100. Mercifully, he went in his sleep. In excellent health, a daily swimmer. My younger siblings are far healthier than I am (asthma, allergies, numerous nuisances) but what I fear most is missing out on the family gene pool (on both sides) and somehow coming down with dementia because in the 60s and 70s I used A LOT--A LOT--of illicit drugs, mainly pot and LSD. And I smoked 2.5 packs of cigarettes a day. That was followed up by fifteen years of heavy drinking and partying (which is how I ended up with a child).
All of my friends are still alive, well and older than me so I suppose I'm glad I didn't turn into Brian Jones or Jim Morrison or my beloved Janis. But how does a child of our era supposed to COPE with being perceived as "aging" or even "old"???? It never once fgured in my playbook--I never thought I would live this long. Psychotherapy hasn't worked.
My son is now 39 and my mother treats him like her baby. My father passed away several years ago, nearly hitting the big 100. Mercifully, he went in his sleep. In excellent health, a daily swimmer. My younger siblings are far healthier than I am (asthma, allergies, numerous nuisances) but what I fear most is missing out on the family gene pool (on both sides) and somehow coming down with dementia because in the 60s and 70s I used A LOT--A LOT--of illicit drugs, mainly pot and LSD. And I smoked 2.5 packs of cigarettes a day. That was followed up by fifteen years of heavy drinking and partying (which is how I ended up with a child).
All of my friends are still alive, well and older than me so I suppose I'm glad I didn't turn into Brian Jones or Jim Morrison or my beloved Janis. But how does a child of our era supposed to COPE with being perceived as "aging" or even "old"???? It never once fgured in my playbook--I never thought I would live this long. Psychotherapy hasn't worked.
