Do people still use the phrase, “Act your age, not your shoe size?” Or, am I acting my age just my admitting I know it?
Recently,
a friend sent me a chain email about how our view of age changes over time. As
children and teens we love getting older, taking credit for half-years and
future ages. We say things like, I’m six and a half, I’m almost ten, I’m going
to be sixteen. Throughout adolescence, we set our sights on the Holy
Grail—becoming twenty-one.
From
there our language changes, we go over the hill at 30, push 40 and 50, reach
60, hit 70 and 80, make it to 90 and beyond.
I
followed the typical pattern, longing to be sweet sixteen, almost-adult
eighteen, and finally-legal twenty-one. In my late twenties, I fretted about
approaching the hill that was 30, but then right before that birthday, I got
engaged and we married later that year and for a long while, I stopped paying
much attention to my age.
That
is until two years ago, when I turned 60—and suddenly qualified for early
retirement. Seriously? Early retirement?
Me?
Sure,
on some level, I always knew I was getting older, but I was not acutely aware.
A fifty-something coworker summed it up when she learned I might early retire
and said, “Wow, you qualify? All these years, I thought you were my age.”
The
thing is I always thought I was her age, too!
Since
then, I’m more aware of the signposts around me that suggest I am getting old. Often,
when I am lugging and stacking firewood, or hauling and spreading a carload of
mulch, or riding my bike in traffic, I ask myself, "Should someone my age be
doing this?"
They
say that age is just a number, that we are as young as we feel and act. I say,
“Cool, that’s Totes McGotes!”
I
tweet, use an iPad, want a new bike for my birthday next week, and know how to
use Totes McGotes in a sentence.
How
old does that make me?
The perfect age!
ReplyDeleteMost days I feel that way, too :)
DeleteNo tattoo? What are you waiting for Ma'am?
ReplyDeleteFunny thing is that I always wanted a small flamingo or flip flops tat, but too chicken to get it
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DeleteAll of that just makes you an ageless Capricorn!
ReplyDeleteJulie V.
Better than an old goat :)
DeleteIt makes you 10 days older than I. :>) BTW, I never heard of the Totes McGotes expression....
ReplyDeleteI, too, am a Totes McGotes novicem but I feel younger just knowing it. Thanks Carol!
ReplyDeleteJasmine, glad I could provide a few drops of youth serum :)
ReplyDeleteLove it! You are truly as old as you feel (or in some cases, act). I can't relate to my age at all.
ReplyDeleteI lost track of my age for a while in my 20s and had a major mid-life crisis when 40 was imminent I feel younger in my 60s than I did in my 50s, but I use age as an excuse when I don't want to do the heavy lifting (figurative or literal). Someone will always help the gray-haired lady. Best of both worlds? Hope your 60s are satisfying, Carol!
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday! My funniest age story comes from one of my recent part-time jobs. I was filling out an application for a permanent dog license with my co-worker, who was, maybe, pushing 30. When we came to the section for senior citizen discounts, she coyly remarked, "Should I ask if you qualify for this?" To which I replied, "How old do you have to be?" She blurted, "65." I, feeling a bit wizened at 56, nearly fell off my chair. "How old do you think I AM???" I was laughing, though. My co-worker blushed to her roots and blubbered, "Well, Dr. ***** said you are even older than he is!" From that day on, I decided to lighten up at work...shouldn't let the senior citizen scrub those cages or tote those 50-lb bags of dog food ;-)
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