Commentary On Getting Old

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A Q&A web site posted the following question pertaining to getting old. Below is my response:

"QUESTION:

What is old age to you?

We have heard 40 is the new 30, but yet I think "old" seems to always stay the same distance for me. At 25 I thought 50 was old, at 35 I now think that 60 is old.  I know true age is more a matter of mind, but I would love to know how old you are and at what age you think you will be old."

MY ANSWER:

I took a fall on the ice a few winters ago in front of the Middle School and 2 dozen 5th graders. The fall didn't hurt nearly as much as the laughter and the subsequent whispers later that year, "There goes that old guy again, do you think he might fall?"   He looked just like a helicopter!

I took a nap out in the wildlife refuge in a beautiful stand of aromatic pines. When I awoke I found two huge turkey buzzards staring at me intently from their perch nearby. I had known I was getting older but had not realized I had reached the carrion stage.

I reported a pollution spill in the Vermilion River and the Minneapolis paper picked up the story. A reader commented on the web site that the Minnesota pollution control program had now been relegated to an "Old Guy" in a vets home. 

I feel fine about getting old. It's how I am perceived by others that bothers me.

Vets home resident says Rose’s claim to get money back is unfounded

When reading the story linked above, please recall the following:

As the Hastings Gazette has previously reported, there are 3 important differences between Mr. Rose and Mr. Weeks:

1. Mr. Rose was denied his citizenship by his country for a period of 4 years. His country later admitted the error and reinstated it, only after Mr. Rose acquired his file under the Freedom of Information Act on his own, located a lawyer on his own and worked on his case with legal counsel which he acquired on his own.

2. Mr. Rose is 70 years old and was denied his rightfully paid social security for a period of almost 4 years due to the government error on his citizenship status.

3. Mr. Rose has never filed for any kind of disability, worked for over 40 years in this country and paid his taxes during that period.