The Big 6-5!

I have been 65 for about two weeks now. Birthdays don't really bother me much, and this one has been no exception to that, but it has brought about a few changes for us.

Mike and I turned 65 within three days of one another, with me being the elder of us---by three days! So it's always kind of a joint celebration, one we would both rather just skip over.

This year, even though we tried to fly under the radar, word seemed to get out that this was the Big 6-5! Our Fast Draw family staged a bit of a celebration the night before my birthday, making us feel very special. We spent the weekend at a shoot in Mitchell, and Facebook helped to spread the word so there were many birthday greetings and a vase of flowers from a good friend...thanks, Susan! There were invites to lunch which I enjoyed but sure didn't need the calories! Facebook was filled with birthday greetings and we got the usual shower of old-age joke cards. Even got a phone call from my favorite son and roses from daughter #2!

Our Fast Draw club treated me like a fairy princess!

All this helped to take the edge off the fact that we have now officially crossed over into senior citizenship. There's really no getting around it anymore, we are senior citizens...officially old enough for everything. The only benefit I can't cash in on yet is Social Security, unless I want to take early Social Security at a reduced rate. So I still have one milestone left to pass!

It has been said many times that getting old isn't for sissies...and I agree! I find myself moving slower all the time. What I used to accomplish in a day now takes me a week due to frequent rest stops. Things ache more every year. I am noticing that the obituaries include a lot of people who are younger than I am. And my brain just refuses to cooperate with me some days leaving me befuddled and confused.

But there are many blessings as well. So far my name hasn't been listed in the obituaries, so still alive. I am still mobile, although some days that is questionable! I am still able to work a job. And the biggest blessing of all is that Mike and I still have one another, even though we kind of joke about our "slouch on the couch" routine. (Slouch on the couch refers to being slouched down on the couch in front of the TV with a supper plate resting on our bellies!)

Another blessing of getting older is the number of family members we have accumulated. Our two people family turned into a six people family. Then the kids began to marry and have children, and now we have four kids, their four spouses, 14 grandchildren, and one grandchild has married and has two children plus one on the way. So, if everyone shows up, that makes Thanksgiving dinner 27 people deep! But what a blessing! And the blessings will continue to grow as more of the grandkids get married and have families. Many more blessings to come!!!

We are now eligible for Medicare. What says old-age like Medicare? But it is supposedly a good thing...once you get signed up and things lined out (see previous post). I can't comment on the pluses of this over the Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage we have had for the past 25 years, but I guess we will see. The rep assured us that we would be better covered under Medicare than Blue Cross, and I guess time will tell.

One thing that this past milestone birthday has done was to make me see myself as older...and I don't think this is a good thing. There is a certain temptation to make every effort to look and act younger, but that usually tends to backfire and produces the opposite effect. So no jet black or bleached blond hair, no mini-skirts or tight tops, no zip-lining, no dancing and partying into the night. But on the other hand, no old-lady dresses and clunky shoes like Grandma used to wear, no gray hair, no sitting in my rocker and waiting for time to pass until I die, no wheelchairs or walkers. There is a balance where I need to remain younger than I feel but not to a point of being ridiculous. 

With the "baby boomers" now reaching retirement age, there is a revolution taking place for senior citizens. The world should have known that this group would change the retirement scene, they have changed every stage of life up to now. I am seeing those few who are ahead of us in the over 65 group taking on a new lease on life in their retirement. They travel, they retire to warmer climates, they continue to work in their retirement, many times not at their career job but in other jobs that allow more flexibility and less commitment. They lend themselves to helping their children in their busy years with child care or whatever is needed. What I don't see are very many of them sitting around waiting for time to pass until they die. And I get it, I too am a baby boomer!

So, even though I am 65, I am not old and used up. I may be looking at new ventures and ways to spend my life, but I plan to be vital and useful for the rest of my life, how ever long that may be. I am not shopping for walkers, even though there are days when I might be tempted to use one. I have not checked on nursing homes or even assisted living arrangements, even though my mail tells me I need to get going with this! I am looking to the future trying to plot a path for those senior citizen years. Where will we travel to? What will we do with our time since we know it isn't healthy to sit and let life pass us by? Many of these things are still up in the air but for now we are content where we are doing what we are doing. 

But just so you know, we still think of ourselves as younger than we are, and we won't bat an eye if someone refers to us as "kids".