When Are You Old?

Age is a sliding scale. At what age are you really old?

My cousin’s husband shared this story. At Marian Manor (a Catholic home for the aged), a bus was available on Christmas Eve to take those residents that wanted or needed to ride from the residence to the nearby church. He was offering the residents assistance up the stairs if they needed it. One lady asked him to please fetch her glasses from her room because she would need them to follow the mass. When he gave them to the lady, the 90 something told him “I don’t like to wear them normally because they make me look old.”

My youthful friend in her late 80s, laughed at me this week when I complained about getting old. She graduated from high school the year after I was born.

In my 40’s I thought that old age was glasses, gray hair and wrinkles. I now know that is the easy part and can be tolerated or compensated without a lot of hassles.

What do you consider old and why?