Growing Older

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

My first realization about aging came when I started to notice something Billy Crystal mentioned in a standup routine once--he said as he grew older he started noticing hair growing in odd places, like out of his ears. When I started to see that happen in my early 50's, it registered. I'm pretty active at a blue collar warehouse job and walk 4-5 miles a day inside our cavernous distribution center, but muscle tone is slowly disappearing nonetheless. The looks start to go. It seems to be a time of slowly resigning to the fact that youth is long past and the unknown of growing older becomes more of a reality as time marches on. Wisdom seeps in a little as age advances. That's one of the benefits of growing older. I think this is a topic that only interests those who are "on the back nine" as they say.

[youthathletics]

My first realization about aging came when I started to notice something Billy Crystal mentioned in a standup routine once--he said as he grew older he started noticing hair growing in odd places, like out of his ears. When I started to see that happen in my early 50's, it registered. I'm pretty active at a blue collar warehouse job and walk 4-5 miles a day inside our cavernous distribution center, but muscle tone is slowly disappearing nonetheless. The looks start to go. It seems to be a time of slowly resigning to the fact that youth is long past and the unknown of growing older becomes more of a reality as time marches on. Wisdom seeps in a little as age advances. That's one of the benefits of growing older. I think this is a topic that only interests those who are "on the back nine" as they say.

Love this post. Although, makes me wonder what you are doing posting something like this at 3:45 in the morning. An interesting point you mentioned.... 'resigning to the fact that youth is long past' that stood out, to me. I thought that even in my early early 30's as I started coaching 4 year old's in lacrosse, soccer, hoops, and football. Each year introduced another layer of growing older, so I really began investing time speaking with fathers of older kids that were teenagers and young adults. Now in my early 50's, I still coach HS and (FTMP)continues to be fun interacting with (most) of them. Almost like being a grandparent I suppose, you get the fun of youth, but can hand them back at the end of the day.

In a sense, it was not a smack in the face, that hey...you are now old, more like a decade or more of grieving the younger me, while embracing the responsibility of fatherhood/coaching and passing that wisdom on to so many...many without a father figure.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

I’m up with the birds. My days of staying up late are long gone. I hate going to work the next day feeling like dog meat. That’s where some of the wisdom has seeped in. I think there’s even something in Ecclesiastes about waking up with the birds as a sign of age.

Thank you for all the great insights.

[DMac]

Some good news for the seemingly few heterosexuals left out there is that you lose absolutely none of your appreciation for the gorgeousness and allure of women with age. Was pretty much a perfect day yesterday, high 70s, nice breeze with an occasional little drizzling of rain. Buddy thought it was a pretty good day for the porch at the favorite watering hole, throw in $1.50 PBR draughts during happy hour (1400-1600 hrs) and it sounded like a pretty idea to me too. Right across the street from the watering hole is a kind of upscale coffee shop (never been in it, never will be). A lot of people park in front of the watering hole (which does annoy me a bit) and walk across the street to get their coffee. Little hottie in her sun dress was coming across the street to get in her Subaru, coffee in hand. Needless to say, I've got a comment for her (no one is safe) and said, that's a mighty tasty looking drink you've got going on there, what is it? She said, a latte with a little bit of this and that in it (can't remember what she said) and I put a little bit of honey in it too. I said, well it looks good but I must say you look plenty sweet enough to not need to put any honey in there. Got a big smile and a thank you as she got in her car and the friendly good bye wave as she was backing out. Little sweetie.

[JoeMauer89]

Some good news for the seemingly few heterosexuals left out there is that you lose absolutely none of your appreciation for the gorgeousness and allure of women with age. Was pretty much a perfect day yesterday, high 70s, nice breeze with an occasional little drizzling of rain. Buddy thought it was a pretty good day for the porch at the favorite watering hole, throw in $1.50 PBR draughts during happy hour (1400-1600 hrs) and it sounded like a pretty idea to me too. Right across the street from the watering hole is a kind of upscale coffee shop (never been in it, never will be). A lot of people park in front of the watering hole (which does annoy me a bit) and walk across the street to get their coffee. Little hottie in her sun dress was coming across the street to get in her Subaru, coffee in hand. Needless to say, I've got a comment for her (no one is safe) and said, that's a mighty tasty looking drink you've got going on there, what is it? She said, a latte with a little bit of this and that in it (can't remember what she said) and I put a little bit of honey in it too. I said, well it looks good but I must say you look plenty sweet enough to not need to put any honey in there. Got a big smile and a thank you as she got in her car and the friendly good bye wave as she was backing out. Little sweetie.

+100

Joe

[Matnum PI]

My first realization about aging came... "on the back nine" as they say.

Love this post... passing that wisdom on to so many...many without a father figure.

I relate to both posts. I'm enjoying getting older. Especially that I'm being forced to become a less physical person and more intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. And as time ticks on, even less physical and even more intellectual, emotional, and spiritual.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

When my grandmother was in her late 70’s and confined to a nursing home, my mother asked her if she could go back to any time in her life, her 20’s, her 30’s, etc. – which one she would go back to. My grandmother said her 50’s. That surprised my mother. I can see the rationale now that I am almost done with that decade of years. There are certainly less emotional upheavals as one gets older, or I have found that anyway, and I do hear from others that is common with age. Maybe it’s because the level of energy just doesn’t exist to facilitate extreme emotions as much. As the body gets older and can’t engage in the physical with the same vigor, it seems logical that the emotional seat of passion would wane alongside.

[Matnum PI]

...it seems logical that the emotional seat of passion would wane alongside.

That's my experience, too. A big piece of this puzzle for me is my decrease in testosterone. Enormously helpful in my being a better human being, my better enjoying the world, my better connecting with other human beings in a real way.

Question: i understand why she wouldn't say her 70s. But why didn't she say 60s? Isn't that even better than the 50s for the same reasons she said for the 50s?

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

...it seems logical that the emotional seat of passion would wane alongside.

That's my experience, too. A big piece of this puzzle for me is my decrease in testosterone. Enormously helpful in my being a better human being, my better enjoying the world, my better connecting with other human beings in a real way.

Question: i understand why she wouldn't say her 70s. But why didn't she say 60s? Isn't that even better than the 50s for the same reasons she said for the 50s?

That's a great question, Matnum. Unfortunately it gets filed under the running tally we all keep: Things I would ask my folks if they were still here, etc. I will venture a guess that perhaps her health began to deteriorate a little bit as she entered her 60’s, but I don’t know for sure.

As for the decrease in testosterone--I'm with you there. It's a relief to not feel nearly as libido driven as I did in my teens through early 50's. The benefits you describe sound great. I'm hoping to come into that more so as the years go by.

[Matnum PI]

That's a great question, Matnum. Unfortunately it gets filed under the running tally we all keep: Things I would ask my folks if they were still here, etc. I will venture a guess that perhaps her health began to deteriorate a little bit as she entered her 60’s, but I don’t know for sure...

That'd be my guess. In theory, your physical becomes nonexistent and you become a purely spiritual, intellectual, emotional being which I believe to be the optimal state but, in reality, though I'm not there yet, I believe your physical doesn't just disappear, it starts to ache, to hurt, to become a distraction from the spiritual, intellectual, the emotional. So there's probably a sweet spot where the physical becomes lessened into the physical becomes a distraction. But I don't know this personally and everyone's different so... who knows.

[seacoaster]

That's a great question, Matnum. Unfortunately it gets filed under the running tally we all keep: Things I would ask my folks if they were still here, etc. I will venture a guess that perhaps her health began to deteriorate a little bit as she entered her 60’s, but I don’t know for sure...

That'd be my guess. In theory, your physical becomes nonexistent and you become a purely spiritual, intellectual, emotional being which I believe to be the optimal state but, in reality, though I'm not there yet, I believe your physical doesn't just disappear, it starts to ache, to hurt, to become a distraction from the spiritual, intellectual, the emotional. So there's probably a sweet spot where the physical becomes lessened into the physical becomes a distraction. But I don't know this personally and everyone's different so... who knows.

Older age is when you finally learn, if you haven’t already, that love is constancy.

[Matnum PI]

Older age is when you finally learn, if you haven’t already, that love is constancy.

con·stan·cy
/ˈkänstənsē/
noun
the quality of being faithful and dependable.
the quality of being enduring and unchanging.

[Brooklyn]

Getting older?

Well, I started to write something about it but then forgot what the hell I was gonna write!

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Getting older?

Well, I started to write something about it but then forgot what the hell I was gonna write!

Here all week, folks.

[Brooklyn]

Getting older?

Well, I started to write something about it but then forgot what the hell I was gonna write!

Here all week, folks.

It's a problem we oldsters have 24/7. No cure.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Getting older?

Well, I started to write something about it but then forgot what the hell I was gonna write!

Here all week, folks.

It's a problem we oldsters have 24/7. No cure.

I hear you. I find myself writing reminder notes more and more often...when I can remember to write them.

[Brooklyn]

I hear you. I find myself writing reminder notes more and more often...when I can remember to write them.

Agh! Have the same problem and worse: often I write notes, forget where in the h∃ll I put them, and then suddenly realize the d@mn note was in my pocket all along!

All too often, old age is a bᵢᵢᵢᵢᵢtch on wheels.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Another benefit of growing older is I find I don't need as much sleep. 6 hours is ideal. I remember hearing my folks say they only needed 4 when they were in their 70's and 80's.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

As one who turns 60 next year, this passage from John Updike's Rabbit is Rich stayed with me when I read it a few years ago, especially the last paragraph.

[Matnum PI]

As one who turns 60 next year, this passage from John Updike's Rabbit is Rich stayed with me when I read it a few years ago, especially the last paragraph.