Stinky cheese, scotch, some wine and my old shed all seem to improve with age. Delightful encounters await you in your golden years, according to our elders—and they have lived long enough to know.
Fashion
No more fashion police when you’re older.
Some want to keep things looking like they did in the flower of their youth; whereas others like to see character. Elder friends say, “Stay in the game, stay in shape, but hold loosely and realize what is vanity and what is just good fun.”
Do you ‘get-it’?
Presidents and judges are all middle-aged to older. Our brains have been building up connections, we are better problem-solvers. We reach our cognitive peak between the ages of 40 and 68. All the more reason we usually make wiser choices when we are older.
But, if you get a good whack over the shoulders with a walking stick by an elderly lady, don’t question it, you probably deserved it, unless she’s 69 or older—then you better ask for clarification.
Pow-wows
The elderly’s window on the world is something to pow-wow with. While we are discovering just how complex life really is, our elders have seen most of it and lived much of it. Hold court with them, learn from them.
Serenity Now?
Heck no! Studies don’t portray old age as a time of abdication or even sleepy placidity. It can and should be a period of continued and maybe even robust and focused development. There is genuine strength in being needed and discovering the moxie it takes to grow and give.
Margaret Wachholz is the campus marketing director at Woodbury Senior Living. In her column, she shares observations and wisdom about aging and senior living in our community.
