Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog)

There Is No Way I Am Old Enough to Be a Baby Boomer

Posted: 27 May 2012 03:51 AM PDT

The real BBUS post can be found here… There Is No Way I Am Old Enough to Be a Baby Boomer by Joe Hauckes © Baby Boomers U. S. (The Blog) . Not on Senior Zen!

This is a Guest Post by Rachel Hardwick, freelance writer. If you would like to Guest Post for Baby Boomers US, check out our Guest Post for Us page.

I am 58. I do not feel 58. Age is supposed to be a state of mind. I don't feel any different than I did when I was a teenager. I have slowed down a bit, but what difference does that make? I can’t help but wonder where the time went and, for that matter, where it is still going so quickly.

I have noticed there are more people I know or who are my contemporaries who are dying or suffering some kind of age related illness or condition. What's with that? Does that mean they are getting old? Does that mean, I am getting old? Besides, what does it mean to get old in today’s world? There are so many tools available that negate many of the signs of aging that it is easier to ignore the process much longer than it was in the past. Living independently is no longer the challenge it used to be with cell phones, alarm systems, emergency notification systems, television remote controls and a myriad of other products that make life easier for everyone.

So I think I am going to continue to ignore the number. I am going to take my own advice and consider myself at the beginning middle age. That is what I told my grandmother when she was in her 80s and told me she was old. "No," I said, "you are just in the middle of middle age. You do not get to say you are old until you are 100." She made it to old, and I want to as well.

Now, I tell my mother the same thing. She is 80, and she is just smack-dab in the middle of middle age. At the rate she is going, I feel like I will be old before she is. She takes care of her eight year old granddaughter and eight month old grandson and, let me tell you, she gives them a run for their money.

If you think about it, "baby boomer" is just a term that designates the generation that was born after World War II. It doesn't really mean anything. I don't believe that "50 is the new 40" or junk like that. 50 is just 50. It just so happens 50 has a lot of power, and so does 60 and 70 and 80… Until you lose your head, you just keep going which is what I am trying to do.

The aches and pains are just the cost of doing business. The research is clear, the brain will stay healthy and active if you insist it does. Dementia does not have to have its way. My mother is learning mathematics at the ripe middle age of 80. Her eight year old granddaughter is teaching her, and my mother sometimes gets the right answer when her granddaughter can't.

The point is, being a baby boomer is okay. Roll with the punches and, unfortunately, there are a lot of them. Be the example for those who follow behind us. Show 'em how it's done – getting older and, remember, you can't claim to be old until you are 100!

Come to think of it, I have almost 42 years to go. Here's to getting old!

About the Author: Rachael Hardwick is a freelance writer at www.keyinsurancequotes.com and is starting in on her third childhood. She looks forward to several more and, if necessary, enjoying her old age when she finally gets there. She is practicing being eccentric.