That would have been me Diane, making a blithe comment in a queue and being puzzled at the response. I guess ageing is such a confronting thing everyone has a different way of dealing with it. Reminds me of women complaining about feeling invisible as they age. I think what they mean is feeling invisible to men. That’s another whole issue to discuss! Love your stack!
That lady missed an opportunity for a friendly chat!
Nowadays whenever I ride the Tube, no sooner do I get in that some young person leaps to their feet to offer me their seat! My brain has to swiftly move past “Why would you possibly single me out?” to appreciate how gracious the young person’s intention is. I always chuckle at myself.
Oh, I know what you mean, Nicola!!! When I was pregnant and could barely keep my balance in the subway, almost no one offered me a seat. Now, when I pride myself on being a Third Ager with excellent balance (ha!), people are always eager to do it. Like you, I chuckle at myself while I try to appreciate the younger person's generous intention!
Growing into our elderhood seems to be an individual experience, each of us accepting or fully stepping into it in our own way and time.
I have a neighbor who talks about "everything going downhill" after he turned 90! Seventy seemed to be a major turning point for me. That's an "elder" in everyone's book, I think.
This stage is such an interesting, rich, poignant, and bittersweet time of life, yes?
And we can share, write and talk about it.... We can hold each other's hand along the way... Hopefully helping each other feel a bit less alone for a few moments in time.
That would have been me Diane, making a blithe comment in a queue and being puzzled at the response. I guess ageing is such a confronting thing everyone has a different way of dealing with it. Reminds me of women complaining about feeling invisible as they age. I think what they mean is feeling invisible to men. That’s another whole issue to discuss! Love your stack!
Hi Jan - what a great idea to delve into! Thanks for the suggestion! And thank you for the link to your interview with Autumn Widdoes. I'm so excited to have you and Autumn on my "to read" list!! Here's the link for folks following this thread! Well worth checking out!https://open.substack.com/pub/autumnwiddoes/p/nobody-can-tell-your-story-in-the?r=bt708&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Thanks Diane for the shout out! So good to connect with you here on Substack!
That lady missed an opportunity for a friendly chat!
Nowadays whenever I ride the Tube, no sooner do I get in that some young person leaps to their feet to offer me their seat! My brain has to swiftly move past “Why would you possibly single me out?” to appreciate how gracious the young person’s intention is. I always chuckle at myself.
Oh, I know what you mean, Nicola!!! When I was pregnant and could barely keep my balance in the subway, almost no one offered me a seat. Now, when I pride myself on being a Third Ager with excellent balance (ha!), people are always eager to do it. Like you, I chuckle at myself while I try to appreciate the younger person's generous intention!
Extremely thought provoking, Diane!
Thanks so much, Les!!
Great article, Diane!
Growing into our elderhood seems to be an individual experience, each of us accepting or fully stepping into it in our own way and time.
I have a neighbor who talks about "everything going downhill" after he turned 90! Seventy seemed to be a major turning point for me. That's an "elder" in everyone's book, I think.
This stage is such an interesting, rich, poignant, and bittersweet time of life, yes?
And we can share, write and talk about it.... We can hold each other's hand along the way... Hopefully helping each other feel a bit less alone for a few moments in time.
Thanks a million, Jo!!
I love that your neighbor didn't feel the downhill slope till he was 90!!!
And I also love the image of holding each other's hands on this journey!
Those of you following this blog keep an eye out for a terrific post from Jo in the next couple of weeks!!!
Yes, I agree Jo, after 70 the body certainly lets us know we are older, even if the mind doesn’t want to admit it!