321 Getting Still Older

I have, over the last few months, become more aware than I had been that time is passing and I am getting older.  No. I’m not going to make a big deal about this obvious fact, but I suspect that, if we live long enough, all of us eventually come to realize that “We ain’t as young as we used to was.”  I’ve touched on this earlier (post #204, I believe) shortly after I had my first knee “done.”  But, both Bonnie and I have been dealing with some health issues in the last few months (nothing which seems overly serious [knock wood]), but enough to remind me of the earlier stated situation.  So, given the fact that I’m getting still older, I thought I might take another brief look through my files related to this, frequently viewed as unpleasant, process and see what I could find to liven the spirits of anyone who is also noticing that age is creeping up on them.

​Just to make sure that we’re all on the same page, though, if you don’t understand the picture below, this post MAY not be intended for you…

Now, assuming that you understand the humor in the above picture, I’ll continue on with my (hopefully at least mildly) amusing discussion.

One of the first hints that you may well be starting to fit into the category of an “Older” may well come from someone who is obviously a good deal younger.  (No, I’m NOT referring to my students, who would never have thought of me as “an old guy,” (SARCASM INTENDED) but to someone representing the category of GRANDchild.  This sort of creature sometimes tends to make one sit up and think about getting older.)

For example, in one of my favorite cartoons strips, Pickles, an “older” man, Earl, and his, also “older,” wife, Opal, do, on occasion, seem to convince their grandson, Nelson, that they must be OLD because they talk in a language which he can’t understand.  This seems to convince him that they must be making up all those funny words and expressions.  See below:

Of course, we (actual) olders know that they are just talking in the vernacular of their day, but that Nelson, a child of “modern” times, is, quite logically, convinced that they are just making it all up.  That IS, in my opinion, why “youngers” always make up their own jargon.  This is usually just referred to as “slang,” but it’s likely that it’s, at least sometimes, made up to confuse their elders (which actually works reasonably well much of the time.)

It may well be true, however, that we “olders” are just getting paid back for OUR actions along this line when WE were the “youngers,” as this Bizarro cartoon suggests:

Actually, getting older IS perfectly normal and expected, which isn’t quite the same as saying that its side effects are desirable.  There ARE various sorts of drawbacks.  Therefore, it may be wise to be aware that there ARE symptoms which warn us that we might actually be getting older (or “Middle-Aged”) as some prefer) to label it.  Here are some possibilities:

There IS also the FACT that the notion that “OLD” is, in reality, a relative term.  In fact, as this cartoon from The Family Circus suggests, it probably varies a good deal depending on the age of the person considering it.

Still, I do NOT wish to give the impression that just because I’ve got a few years on me that that means that I am getting completely decrepit.  No, like Garfield, I may be old, but I still have a bit of a kick!

Of course, there is SOME truth in the suggestion that both Bonnie and I may not be quite as spry as we once were.  We DO tend to just sit and read for pleasure more than we used to.  (I have always read a lot, but much of it actually WAS for work.)  Still, I have NO recollection of us getting into a situation like this from Funky Winkerbean:

Which is NOT so say that this sort of thing couldn’t EVER have happened, although I don’t think it has!

Part of what keeps us going, of course, is our children and grandchildren, but while we’ve never had an experience exactly like the one shown in this cartoon (below) from The Family Circus, there HAVE been calls and/or contacts which one could say have resembled it, although more often from our children.

Before leaving this subject, however, I do NOT wish to leave any readers with the idea that I am feeling, old, depressed, run-down and tired of life.  THAT IS NOT TRUE!  I will admit that I’m not as active as I once was, but I’m having a pretty good time, in spite of some aches, pains and, generally, being aware that I AM getting older.  I will argue, however, that this image (which I took from an advertisement for a tee shirt) remains, generally, true!  I’ll admit that I didn’t buy that shirt, but I did THINK about it for a while.

Well, if I don’t get too old to turn my computer on, I expect I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to write about something else.  Maybe you’ll be back, too.  I hope so….