On Tuesday of this week - yes, that day of ice pellets and freezing rain, I kissed the pavement while stepping out of my son's car. An embarrassing moment for sure, when one's dignity is tossed out the window. With a minor scrape on the forehead, I felt happy in the ensuing days to escape any obvious bruising. Four days later as I headed out to join our trusty walkers, I noticed some dark blue, golden yellow and even pale green tinges to my skin developing on one side of my forehead and towards one eye. Hmmmm - not so lucky after all. I am lucky in that there was no serious damage, other than to my own vanity, but it led me to think about how we "seniors" perceive ourselves, more specifically how invincible we sometimes feel. ChatGpt tells me that aging is often described as a slow accumulation of losses: strength fades, memory falters, balance becomes unreliable. Yet this framing misses a deeper truth. For most seniors, the real challenge is not decline itself, but the emotional and psychological work of adjusting to it - of redefining identity when abilities that once felt permanent quietly slip away.
My experience this week has reminded me that I ought to pay a little more attention to my real age, as opposed to my "imaginary age". I saw a birthday card recently that said "I don't know how to act my age because I have never been this old before!". Seniors are fitter now than they have ever been apparently, so we should celebrate that fact while being mindful of the pitfalls (literally, in my case!) that may lie ahead. Now I will step off my soapbox (carefully...).
