Milestones

We all have milestones in our lives.  The years depend on your culture, but they are generally when you first walk, get your first adult kiss, can drive a car, etc.  I've been through those a LONG time ago.

Today I'm 65.  I get accorded "senior status".

Whoppee...It means I get $2 off my haircuts at my usual place.

I suppose it means I'm supposed to start considering my own mortality.  But not...  Things change.  When my grandfathers were 65, they WERE old.  They looked it.  65 WAS old in their day.  They were weather-beaten, tired and wrinkled, face hanging loose under the jaws, etc.  They had harder lives.  My Dad was less "old" at 65.  He was far healthier and active.  But he still looked "older".

I've had an easier life.  As best I can tell, MY 65 is the Grampa's 45 and Dad's 55, and I might even be better off than that.  You probably recall how some guys matured early in high school.  They were the athletes, the school presidents and that sort of thing.  I wasn't one of them.

It was really irritating at the time, but I am enjoying the benefits now!   Nothing is perfect; my hair thinned out at 30 (paternal mom genes).  If you are a guy and want to know the future of your head hair, just look at your Mom's Dad, LOL! 

But otherwise, I'm the beneficiary of modern medicine and healthy food, and don't look 65 (in the terms of my ancestors).  I slipped in after good child medical care and before fast-food.  I ran (was allowed to run) wild as a child and was exposed to all the good dirt that I could get into.  If there was any microbe in the State that I didn't lick of fingers, it wasn't from lack of trying!  My immune system is outstanding.  I haven't caught the flu since I was 12 and only then because my younger brother caught it at school.  And it bothered me mildly for 2 days.  My younger more protected brother was in bed for a week.  And he is sometimes sickly to this day.

But I wasn't.  It shows.  You can't find a blue vein on my body.  I noticed a tiny wrinkle on my neck while shaving last week, but I had to look for it carefully. 

So why do I mention all this?  Because sometimes I can be really annoying LOL.  But more because I love the fact that many of us my age are literally in "middle-age at 65" and have so many years left to us.  My grandads were old at my age.  More accurately, OUR grandads were old at OUR age, and we are not.  WE are going to live to 90 in generally decent health.  And mental health matters too.  I have continued to learn all my life and learned to do new things that are challenging.  My mind might outlast my body decades from now. 

And THAT's what I am celebrating today!

Physical and mental health for decades to come... 

Mark, 65, and only 2rds through life!