Thursday, September 6, 2007

70 ain't what it used to be

Decade birthdays are always special....at 20 we celebrate no longer being a "teen" and happy to be entering the adult world. At 30 we lament that our young 20's are gone. At 40 we feel regrets that our younger days are behind us and we are approaching the "middle ground". At 50 we remember those younger days and accept the fact that we are "middle aged". At 60, a voice in the back of our mind starts telling us that, "old age is just around the corner". And at 70, this voice says, "old age is at the front door".

Recently I gave a surprise party for my wife Peggy, celebrating her 70th birthday. Many of her old friends and family attended. One would expect that at a party for someone turning 70, along with their old friends and schoolmates, you would meet a lot of "old" people. That was not the case. My wife and her (also) 70 year old close friend of 60+ years posed for this photo.






















We read about the epidemic of obesity in the US, and how so many people are "out of shape", and the physical condition of our citizens is only getting worse. I am here to tell you that many of us do stay in shape, and keep fit, maybe more than any generation before us. You should meet some of the "old guys" that attended this party, they were an exciting, energetic, and happy group. Self confident, comfortable, and perfectly happy to be "old guys"

And as you can see in this picture, "70 ain't what it used to be".