Aging

Every so often in the library I encounter people who amaze me.  I talked to a lady last week who said something astoundingly profoundly simple, "It is wonderful to be able to get old, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."  This is true.  Our culture is obsessed with youth (and thinness, but I won't go there today).  You hear about "age-defying" products/procedures all the time: face-lifts, miracle creams, hair dye, chemical peel.  The elderly are continually mocked on television by being portrayed as senile or clueless. 

In college I took a class about the Roman empire.  The professor said that technology was changing in those days so slowly that three or four generations of people would share the same knowledge and the same fashion.  This would mean that a twenty-five year old woman and a sixty-five year old woman and a one hundred twenty-five year old woman would share basically identical language, beliefs, fashion and experiences.  There was no great generation divide like there is today.  The elder women would be revered because their extensive life experience had made them wise in the ways of the world. 

Just because grandma doesn't know how to work an Ipod or program her TV doesn't make her dumb or senile.  She still has way more experience with the world and human nature in general.  Her knowledge should be respected, even though it isn't the same technology knowledge that the young folk value.

There is no shame in getting old.  We should feel lucky to be able to get old because it means that we are experiencing the change that is life.