Living Old with Dignity

A JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE: 
Living Old with Dignity

Russell R. Burton, an old person

This journal is written for old people, not about old people.  Now, there is a huge difference here for those about old people are for the entertainment of not old people.  Unfortunately, many of them make fun of being old.  Being old is not a proper topic for poor-sick jokes or stories. My articles will be for the entertainment of old people.

Why would anyone write for old people (?) is a good question.  Well, why not?  The old people’s bloc has been forgotten and I think for one main reason.  No one knows what it is like to be old until a person is old and then why would any old person take what time he/she has left sitting for hours in front of a computer writing stuff that may not be read by anybody except a few friends and my editor. I suggest that my friends will read this for they all have assured me that they will, but I am not sure of their veracity and for the following reason.

I just published a novel on Amazon called Mary.  When I mention this tremendous accomplishment my friends all say ‘congratulations and I have a Kindle and I’m going to buy it right away’.  Well, so far I have sold four books, two of which were bought by my son and myself.  I guess friendship disappears at the $5.99 level which is the cost of my novel.

When I first began writing these articles for old people, I thought of submitting them to the AARP magazine.  But, then I read some of their articles and they are not directed toward old people and for good reason because most retired people are not old.  You can ‘join’ the AARP group when you are only 55 years old.  For me that was 25 years ago when I was a youngster and enjoying the peak of my professional career.

As I thumbed through their magazine, I could not help but notice that all semi-old people were smiling suggesting that they were having a wonderful time being old.  I got news for them, being old is much more than laughing or smiling all of the time.

Starting a BLOG is something I thought I would never do.  For two big reasons, I don’t know how and I don’t even know where to seek help.  So, I will ask my son who is kind of an expert on this kind of stuff.  I add here that my grandchildren know far more about this e-magic than I.  In a way, that is the crux of being old for isolation for us is even more pronounced than ever for we never really entered into the e-world – at least I never did.  Oh sure, I type on a computer (oh no it’s not typing it’s word processing) and I learned some other e-stuff, but I forgot most of it. 

So times have changed, goes the adage but far more than ever before. There was a time when old people gave out instructions and advice to eager young ears.  Now those ears are plugged with iPods.

I was at an airport the other day watching people as I waited to catch my flight.  Yes, I still fly and alone without a name tag hanging from me someplace. Everybody, except me of course was on a cell phone or looking intently at some small black rectangular object that they touched once in a while.  People were not talking to each other, oh no they were much too busy living in their own e-world.  I predict that society will suffer from this isolation as do to some degree old people. But our isolation was not voluntary it was forced on us by being old.

Of course, the isolation that I’m talking about is from deafness, poor eye sight, some dementia, and/or mobility.  I use the word dementia as a catch all for the onset of forgetfulness.  I have been fortune so far in that only my hearing is in question and that appears to encourage some debate as to its degree of severity.  Now, where was I? Oh yes I can always hear, but sometimes I do not understand, so don’t yell at me, just talk slower and enunciate your words with more care.  And, look at me so I can read your lips.

I think hearing is the most common malady of old people.  I go to a monthly luncheon for retired people, so by definition most of us are all old and getting older.  I write getting older because I do see changes each month in my luncheon chums that relates to increasing age.  It is amazing how I am escaping those changes.  Sometimes when I talk I know they don’t hear me or understand what I am saying to them.  So, why should I bother?  Well, see that is how isolation begins.  So, I keep talking pretending that they are hearing what I am telling them.

You must have noticed by now that I have enlarged the type to number 14 on my computer.  Usually I use 12 type size. Of course since this is electronic typing you can enlarge the type size to what works best for you.  That is if you choose to read on.

Back to writing something about what my Journal is all about.  Well, if you have forgotten, my articles are directed to old people for their entertainment. And, why shouldn’t old people have some fun and understand that old people are not alone as we go about living our lives as best as we can. 

I hope you noticed that I did not use the words ‘as we live out our lives gracefully’.  We are living not ‘living out’ our lives, a phrase strongly implying that we don’t have much time left. We all know that but what we have is life and that goes for all people who are alive no matter how young or old they are. And, as for the word ‘gracefully’ that means having beauty of form, movement, or expression.  Common on now, gracefully describes something other than living old.

In my journal, I plan to publish an article of about 1000 – 2000 words once a month about being old.  If anyone is interested in joining me in this endeavor I will consider your submissions but the writer must be at least 75 years old and that is even suspect to me for when I was that young I did not feel old.  Hey, I was not old.

So, what is being old?  That is explained in my second article with the title ‘Being Old’.

Enjoy my writing and of course I appreciate your comments – good and bad, well I like the good ones best.  So, please submit them to this blog e-address and I promise I will read them and if appropriate answer those that request some response.  I might even include some in future articles, if they have language fit to print.

Oh yes, to get back to my blog each month put it on your favorites file on your computer and remember the title ‘The Old Rusty Nail’.


http://theoldrustynail.blogspot.com/