Slipping and Sliding into Seniorship

You  know, life is full of transitions and changes.  Always has been. Always will be.

I look at our lives and those of our friends, plus those of our children and grandchildren, and am sometimes in awe of the transitions that I see happening right before my eyes.

For us....moving into retirement and senior citizenship.

I don't feel old.  I hope I don't look that old, but sometimes there is a rude awakening when we automatically receive a senior citizens discount at a fast food restaurant or when someone treats me like I have witnessed my mother-in-law be treated in recent years.

For instance - catching the shuttle from the economy parking lot to the terminal at the Indianapolis International Airport.  As we approached the door and I was pulling my carry-on and Gary had his carry-on slung on his shoulder and was rolling the larger suitcase to check, a man hopped off and helped us move the suitcases onto the shuttle and stow them. I was thankful for that, since the two suitcases were new and we were not quite used to how they rolled and moved.  But I noticed that others who boarded the shuttle at stops as we made our way through the parking area were not offered the same service.  The women and men were hefting their suitcases onboard themselves with no help whatsoever from the kind gentleman who was just riding along, chatting with the driver.

Yes, we spent several days in Orlando last week.  It was great, warm, sunny, relaxing, fun.  But one thing we noticed was the absence of school age kids.  Most of the people we encountered during the day were people our age or older or couples with small pre-school aged children.  This was particularly obvious at the resort pool where the noise level was very low and several older guests were walking backwards around the inside perimeter of the pool or swimming laps---at 2:30 in the afternoon! 

Two more 'smack in the head' realizations happened on Friday.  Gary had his regular appointment with Dr. Hart and I had a re-check to see how my BP was doing with the change in medication and if my feet and legs were still swelling.  As I sat in the waiting area, I noticed that most of the patients were old.  All of them, as they were checking in, showed their Medicare cards since now was the time to update information.  One elderly gentleman explained that he was early for his appointment ---by two hours!  He didn't care that he would need to sit and wait, and he waved away the suggestion that perhaps he could be 'worked in' if there were a cancellation or the patients with appointments were moving quickly.  Since I always like to speculate about people and their stories, I felt sad because I could imagine him awaking in his house, eating breakfast alone, dressing and driving to the clinic, then sitting in the waiting room, chatting with other people who were waiting for appointments also, just because there was no one else at home for him to take to.  This was his social time.  This was his chance to be with people. And he was taking advantage of it.  He could sit in the waiting room and visit, observe, be warm, and maybe even read the paper.  The other thing that happened at the appointment was being asked if I were depressed.  I was shocked, and expressed my surprise to the nurse, laughing because we are far too busy with activities and grandchildren to be depressed. Plus we had just returned from a trip to Florida!  Gary said she asked him the same question, and he gave a similar response.  After checking with a few friends, I found that this is a routine question for senior citizens or those with Medicare medical coverage.  Jane, our neighbor, asked me if we had had the 'checklist' yet about throw rugs, smoke detectors, life alerts....  No. Not yet.  But good to know that one might be coming.

Finally on Friday - Three Dog Night concert.  Gary mentioned that the audience would be an 'older crowd' and he was quite correct.  Most of the people gathered at Honeywell Center in Wabash were in their 60s and had probably graduated from high school in the late 60s or early 70s.  I wouldn't call us all senior citizens though.  I didn't see too many walkers, oxygen tanks, or canes.  But the gray hair, the stocky physiques, the receding hairlines....all too common.

On the other hand there is the relief that we can watch the snowfall today and not care one iota about the accumulation or whether the roads will be slick tomorrow for my trip to Logansport or Rochester or Kokomo or wherever I would need to travel.  No reason to leave the house except to deliver a salad to church for a funeral dinner.  Other than that, I can stay home and sew all day.

Perks?  Yes.    And that is the way I want to look at it!