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posts about #oldage more →
Senior Year: A Rant Appeal
| posts about #oldage more → |
Senior Year: A Rant Appeal |
10/20/09
RantAppealReally, older people are just like younger people, different personalities and likes. I don't think I'll change that much when I get older, I'll still be listening to hard rock and metal and enjoying my weird forensic science shows. Look at people like the Rolling Stones, they are in their 60s and still making music. The older people today are the rebels of the past. Take the time to talk to them. Many of them paved the way for the freedoms and progress we enjoy today. Don't ignore them and let them just sit in some kind of home. #oldage
10/19/09
RantAppeal10/19/09
RantAppealI know a lot of seniors who are kick-ass political activists, right here in my home state. Granny D (Doris Haddock) is 99. When she was 90, she walked across the country to bring attention to the need for campaign finance reform. She has emphysema, but the last time I talked to her, she was still walking 3 miles a day.
Don and Lois Booth are longtime peace activists. Don is 92 and Lois is 87. Don sat in front of the NH State House as part of a (still) ongoing peace vigil, every week day for years, after the US invaded Iraq. He's too frail to do it every day now, but he still participates when he can.
These are the kind of old people we should all aspire to be. I wish everyone had people like this in their lives. #oldage
10/19/09
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10/20/09
603 represent, as the kids say :) #oldage
10/20/09
10/19/09
RantAppealOn a side note - I literally just finished watching a little British film called 'Is anybody there?' starring Michael Caine and a wonderful cast of older folks. I cried like an idiot, partly because it reminded me of my own childhood in the north of England and partly because some of the portrayal of the elderly nursing home residents was so spot on. Beautiful little film, maybe a touch sentimental, but I highly recommend it.
10/19/09
RantAppealAnyway, I don't know what things are like in the rest of Europe or other developed countries worldwide, but coming back here, the disparity was pretty shocking. #oldage
10/19/09
10/19/09
Here, it seems like we just shove our old people into homes and hope they don't make us uncomfortable. Unless they're rapping or doing something adorable obvs!
10/19/09
RantAppeal10/19/09
RantAppealSeriously, if you do volunteer at a nursing home, you'd most likely be helping those residents without major, major health issues who were mostly mentally with it. It means so much to just have someone read them the trashy novels that they enjoyed so much or help them write letters to their grandchildren. Do it. So rewarding.
//soapbox #oldage
10/19/09
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RantAppeal10/19/09
They're such an inexpensive treat, she said. And then added --- and each one could be my last one.
lol! #oldage
10/19/09
RantAppeal10/19/09
RantAppeallife doesn't stop just because you're not cute enough to be on the cover of a magazine, y'know? it keeps going! it's not always pleasant. people retain anger. people aren't perfect and camera-ready and don't always fit into what other people term as "vital", but they wake up every morning. the more we marginalize the aged, the worse humanity becomes. #oldage
10/19/09
RantAppealI'm with you on the ghettoization/fetishization thing (it can sometimes feel a little bit like being hit over the head), but having seen my once unbelievably active grandmother succumb first to a stroke, then to depression, and then to an even deeper depression after the death of my grandfather, I'd give my eyeteeth to have her be inspired by these movies and shows. She's capable of so much, but has lost all motivation - something I think is all too common among seniors. And we're talking about woman with all the means, access and support to do anything she wants. She just doesn't...want...anything. #oldage
10/20/09
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RantAppeal10/19/09
RantAppealSenior centers, btw, can be wonderful places. During a power outage last winter, my 97 year old grandfather and his wife were able to go to the senior center 2 blocks from their house and get hot meals.
Edited to add the name of the charity was Silver Bells. It exists in multiple cities, if anyone is interested in seeking them out.
10/19/09
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Ahem.
I am feeling caustic today. #oldage
10/19/09
10/19/09
I'm at peace with the idea that the kids I mentor now may not want to visit me, and that I'll probably outlive my husband.
Getting old for us/our generation needs a different mindset. We should be learning to prepare for ourselves. #oldage
10/19/09
10/19/09
RantAppeal