Future Aging
The cicadas made me look at my life in 17-year jumps. I will be 63 (turning 64) the next time they come. After that, I will be 80 (turning 81). After that, I presume that I will be dead. I only have two more cicada visits in me.
We discovered this year that there are no Brood X cicadas on the eastern shore. I made Josh promise that 17 years from now, we’ll rent a place on the eastern shore for six weeks and miss them. I don’t need to see them again, though I would like to still exist the next time they come so I can snub them with a no-show.
It is weird to think of myself as 63, having everyone greet my birthday with the famous Beatles song. I will be wrinkled. My body will ache. The twins could be married. I will need to explain to new family members my dislike of cicadas and why they need to visit me by the ocean.
I read an article on a city that has a Department of Future Aging that thinks about how to make spaces more user-friendly to the elderly. It makes sense. It’s the one thing we all will (hopefully) do—age.
The information set into motion a mindset shift that fundamentally altered Arnsberg’s future. Until that point, the city’s approach to aging had been classically “deficit-oriented” — focused on what seniors could no longer do and primarily putting resources into nursing homes, rather than creating programs that capitalized on what they could still offer.
It is a place that takes care of one another, giving worth to the elderly and worth to the young at the same time. I wish every place was as forward-thinking.
5 comments
Crickets remain eternal, though. Have you thought to forbid any future partners for your children who might want reptile/amphibian pets that eat crickets?
I like the idea of senior communities combined with daycares to bring old and young together (if people choose that). We seem to see the elderly as a drain rather than a resource.
So funny because my partner is 62. I guess he does have some wrinkles and aches and pains. 🙂 but I don’t think of him as old. Our daughter keeps him young I guess. I’m 52 so between you two. Yes to forward thinking for a friendly society to elders and inclusiveness.
I often count like this. I think of something that happened 20-30 years ago that doesn’t seem like that long ago, and I think “wow, that was 26 years ago, it went by in a flash!” Then I automatically do the math and think, “ugh 26 years from now I will be 78 and it will go by in a flash”…
We didn’t get the Brood X cicadas in western NY, so you’d be safe here too! I love that you are planning a snub for the next emergence. Also, the future aging planning based on abilities is brilliant. Imagine a world where people don’t focus on deficits over accomodations.
PS my stepfather just turned 65 and he celebrated by running 30 miles and biking 35, ALL IN ONE DAY. He’s achy, but a beast. 😉
Let’s just say that I’m a LOT closer to 63 than you are. 😉 I don’t think I have THAT many wrinkles yet.
And in 17 years, I will be… oh, never mind…! :p