70 the New 90?
Yesterday morning when I woke up after a restless sleep I had no idea of what the day would bring. I had no clue that an emergency room visit was in the works for my mom. She is fine now but we had a few scary moments with her. I am just glad that she is okay. Well, as OK as she can be.
So, I was reading an e-mail from my cousin in NY the other day and she was telling me about her parents and all the strokes, heart attacks, moves, etc..that her parents have gone through over the years and it was all bad. My other friend told me that her dad has health problems and so does her mom and again all bad. What they all have in common besides the health issues is that they are all over 70. Now, I am not looking forward to being in my 70's if I will be in the hospital for half the year off and on. I know it is different for everyone but this is not giving me any encouragement looking forward to my remaining years on earth. All the "horror" stories I am hearing are not making me want to enter the 70's in about 20 years take or give a few years. My cousin's dad remarried a few years ago and moved to Atlanta and he has been having more problems since he moved with his health. I was thinking about Atlanta, not moving there but thinking about how many people move there that I know. Atlanta is like becoming the new Florida for older people and for some younger people too since my friend I went to grammar school moved down there too a while ago. He moved with his job though. But, I know it must be strange to move to a place where you have no family and no friends and to be over 70 too. I just couldn't imagine. But, hey, you have to do what you think is best for you.
I was talking to another one of my friends from high school and she said that her dad was just in the hospital too. We both came to the conclusion that getting old can suck sometimes and that 70 must be the new 90. I remember when my step great grandmother was in her 90's back in the 80's she didn't have any heath problems except she had arthritis, bad enough to keep her at home when she turned 80 something and it got worse to where she had to have a live in care giver but she was as alert as any 20 year old and could tell you anything you wanted to know and faithfully watched the news so she could discuss it with you when you called or came by. I was thinking about her today and yesterday and even though she was home bound and bedridden for the last few years of her life she lived to be 98 years old. Sharp as a tack too. Her son, my step grandfather, he had cancer and didn't quite make it to 98 but he was in his 80's when he died and he and my grandmother died a year apart from each other. He died first and then she died a year later. They were together for over 50 years.
I don't know what was or wasn't in the "water" back in the 80's and before but it seems like people, at least the people, I know, were living longer and with less health problems. I do wonder if my dad was still alive if he would have been this unhealthy too. He died when I was 11. I often wonder too if he were still alive if my mom would be in better health. By now they would have been married for over 50 years too. But, that is something that I will never know. All I do know is what is going on today and am beginning to believe that it is true that 70 is the new 90.
So, I was reading an e-mail from my cousin in NY the other day and she was telling me about her parents and all the strokes, heart attacks, moves, etc..that her parents have gone through over the years and it was all bad. My other friend told me that her dad has health problems and so does her mom and again all bad. What they all have in common besides the health issues is that they are all over 70. Now, I am not looking forward to being in my 70's if I will be in the hospital for half the year off and on. I know it is different for everyone but this is not giving me any encouragement looking forward to my remaining years on earth. All the "horror" stories I am hearing are not making me want to enter the 70's in about 20 years take or give a few years. My cousin's dad remarried a few years ago and moved to Atlanta and he has been having more problems since he moved with his health. I was thinking about Atlanta, not moving there but thinking about how many people move there that I know. Atlanta is like becoming the new Florida for older people and for some younger people too since my friend I went to grammar school moved down there too a while ago. He moved with his job though. But, I know it must be strange to move to a place where you have no family and no friends and to be over 70 too. I just couldn't imagine. But, hey, you have to do what you think is best for you.
I was talking to another one of my friends from high school and she said that her dad was just in the hospital too. We both came to the conclusion that getting old can suck sometimes and that 70 must be the new 90. I remember when my step great grandmother was in her 90's back in the 80's she didn't have any heath problems except she had arthritis, bad enough to keep her at home when she turned 80 something and it got worse to where she had to have a live in care giver but she was as alert as any 20 year old and could tell you anything you wanted to know and faithfully watched the news so she could discuss it with you when you called or came by. I was thinking about her today and yesterday and even though she was home bound and bedridden for the last few years of her life she lived to be 98 years old. Sharp as a tack too. Her son, my step grandfather, he had cancer and didn't quite make it to 98 but he was in his 80's when he died and he and my grandmother died a year apart from each other. He died first and then she died a year later. They were together for over 50 years.
I don't know what was or wasn't in the "water" back in the 80's and before but it seems like people, at least the people, I know, were living longer and with less health problems. I do wonder if my dad was still alive if he would have been this unhealthy too. He died when I was 11. I often wonder too if he were still alive if my mom would be in better health. By now they would have been married for over 50 years too. But, that is something that I will never know. All I do know is what is going on today and am beginning to believe that it is true that 70 is the new 90.
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