I wanted to write about the day in the life of an older person.
Someone who is not at the gym or jogging along some footpath listening to music. What is old?
I am nearly 91 years old.
And I still feel very much alive. How many young people today feel as alive as I do? Perhaps it is that they have not lived a life worth living?
I have had a busy morning, Change the sheets on the bed, always once a week, and this time I put the Electric blanket on . Others in Southern parts may not call 15 degrees overnight cold but to us here in Queensland it is cold. I have been putting a hottie in the bed but the elec blanket will be much more comfortable.
just in case there was some confusion..... !!!!!!
It got me thinking about how a lot of oldies , anyone in their 80's onwards perhaps think they need looking after, someone to help with the housework, someone to help with their meals. Do you know what that does, it make you feel lost . You have no routine , no special things you have to do each week, special cooking for your next meal , no favourite pudding you like . What else are you gong to do if not look after yourself.
I don't mean heavy pruning in the garden, I don't mean mowing the lawn and seeing to the edges. I don't even mean washing the windows, that could cause a fall and we certainly don't want a broken hip or leg.
I had neighbours who were both in the late 80's still doing the house work still cooking their meals still going to the local shop for their groceries. We used to go for a walk in the evenings with our dogs, and this particular time my friend who at that time was about 20 years older than I was.... said.... I don't feel the best , I replied and said perhaps no walk tonight... she replied and said.... blow the cobwebs away ….and we slowly strolled off with our two little mates. She died that night in her sleep. She always had a horror of Nursing Homes even way back 20 odd years ago. If you are stuck doing nothing and sitting around waiting to die .. how awful , so much better to die having lived a normal life. Her husband still looked after himself until he departed at 92.
My late husband was a very active ex Royal Navy sailor , loved fishing, sailing , golf , keeping the garden looking nice but as his health deteriorated he would get very upset and talk about what he couldn't do anymore. I told him he should be looking at what he could do rather than worrying about the negative side of life. He did just that.
He had a mobility scooter and he would get out on that first thing in the morning and again in the late afternoon. He would catch up with the neighbours , any tradies doing different jobs around the area. He would go down the boardwalk and talk to the different people going to the beach. Everyone had time to have a chat. That was positive action. He could still help with the dishes, Still help make his bed , he had one of those special beds that you could raise the head. No time to feel depressed. No Nursing Home for him. Short stay in hospital at the end. You can go out in the car but that is not the same as a scooter. That was fun.
It makes you realize that you have to stay independent as long as possible. Especially in this rather mixed up world today where the Oldies are rather superfluous and the Governments would rather they were less in number. Remember the Christmas dinner we saw served up from one Nursing Home. Baked beans and mashed potatoes! If not hungry , then abused in today's world. Fortunately not every Home but certainly a number of places all over the world.
So my theory and aim is to stay as long as possible looking after myself , birthday for 91 coming up in June. and hopefully be like my old friend depart for the greener pastures quietly in my sleep because I have had a busy day. How much better than waiting in an Armchair in a Care Home.
After all, why would I want to leave before President Trump is back in power and moral decency is restored?
In all my years of life, I have known one thing.
Never give up and never bow down. Because the minute you bow down, you will find that you cannot get up again.
