BEING VERY OLD

THE OLD RUSTY NAIL

AN E-JOURNAL FOR OLD PEOPLE

Russell Burton, an Old Person       

This is the first article I have written on Being Old since October of last year and now is near the end of March and I have begun to see my memory going south.  So, I am beginning to think that writing my BLOG all of those years has been useful in keeping my memory sharp. So, I am beginning to write again in hopes of saving what memory I have left and maybe getting some back.  Who knows…

But, the real question here is why did I stop writing my BLOG?  I am not a psychiatrist nor a clinical psychologist but I believe I was depressed.  I can’t think of any particular reason for this onset of depression that occurred last October.  Perhaps it is just plain old age.   

The first article I wrote for this BLOG was ‘Being Old’.  As I re-read this BLOG I noticed at the start that I struggled trying to find the best word for describing someone nearing the end of their life.  I used ‘Old’ and I have found that to be an excellent choice for it is accepted as the word to use in describing people who have become 80 years old. Now when a person lives to be 85 he/she becomes ‘Very Old’. I assume at 90 a person becomes ‘Very Very Old’.  My uncle is 95 so he must be ‘Very Very Very Old’.  At 80, I began to feel different which I soon realized was what ‘old age’ feels like.  And, each year I felt, well older. The changes were subtle but noticeable.  Not noticeable each day of course, but I suppose each month I could feel some difference.  I have found that being old and now very old is hard to describe and more difficult to live.

This feeling old beginning at 80 is interesting for I am not alone.  I have a friend who is a bit older than I am and too noticed a change related to old age beginning in his early 80s.

  

Certainly, my physical capabilities changed noticeably on a regular basis.  I walked most every day after I retired at age 68 for about 3 miles using the same route  Then the route began to shorten until now I cannot begin to even start that walk.

My balance is the other physical capability that I struggle with and bothers me the most.  I do balance exercises each day which I learned at a clinic associated with the local Medical School. Also, I go to the gym twice each week for balance/strength exercises.  Once a week, I do 4-mile aerobics at the gym on a stationary bike. So, I am trying to stabilize my physical/balance capabilities. 

Certainly I have found keeping mobile in old age requires lots of physical work.  And now not writing my BLOG for several months I found that not exercising my brain is not good either.

Several interesting things I have found in my very old age.  One is remembering things that happened when I was very young.  I guess being able to remember those things is good news.  Another thing is not doing activities which I started when I retired.  Some of those activities included volunteering at the Zoo and working at the art studio where I sold art, some of which was mine.  I use to paint water colors and acrylics.  I did many stained glass pieces including several windows for my best friend’s home in California. I have received awards for both my paintings and stain glass work. So, I did inherit some art capabilities which I am sure was from my mother.  She was an accomplished oil painter.

I guess the only recreation I do now is on a biweekly basis playing bridge with friends at our homes. I still have two women friends I see several times each week.  All of my long-time local male friends have died.  Living to be old and now very old is a recipe for being lonely.

Re death, I looked up longevity/survival rates for old people.  I found at 85 only 20 percent are alive and several percentage of those have some form of serious dementia. I write ‘serious’ because I think losing some of our mental acuity is probably normal and can’t be helped.

  

Longevity charts are interesting and become more interesting as a person becomes very old.  I was of course most interested in tables for men.  The latest ones I found on the Web were calculated in 2014 showing that at age 85 life expectancy was 5.91 years.  At my age of 86, I have 5.50 years to live or 0.41 less of a year that at 85.  At 87 it is 5.11 years left or now only 0.39 less.  So at my age of 86 I am expected to be dead when I am 91.5 years old.  Of course, the longer I live the longer I am expected live.  My uncle who is 96 years old has a life expectancy of 2.68 more years.

Another reason I think using our brain in old age is important was watching my father become seriously demented as he grew older beginning at age 80.  He retired from the federal government when he was 55 years old.  He hated his job even though he was very good at it.  For several years he worked at a liquor store and sold used cars so he kept his brain somewhat active. 

Then he moved to another town and began using his brain less which I think started his mental decline.  He realized this mental loss when driving around this small town he could not remember how to get home.  That of course really scared him.

Now I am not suggesting that old age does not affect our brains for we lose lots of neurons each day when we get old, but I think using it delays that decline.  You know use it or lose it. 

One thing I did when I retired was to write a full-length novel which I self-published.  Every day I was at my word processor by 8 in the morning writing for several hours.  I continued that for some 18 months.  Writing a novel is interesting and fun, for you imagine all of the characters and their actions.  Yes, the writer lives the lives of all of the characters and their many activities.  By the way, the novel is Mary and is for sale as an e-book for about $5. I am sure that writing this book was helpful in maintaining some mental acuity in my old age.

3/18

  

PS.  I will publish this Blog the same month that I wrote it.  I am several years of writing my Blog ahead of publishing dates of one each month.  Many times that delayed date does not matter, but when the date is important like my birthday I plan to publish it when it is written.