When I’m 64!

When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now…

I love that song, don’t you? I love the lyrics, I love the jaunty little tune. Recently I heard Sir Paul talking about writing it on The Beatles channel. He talked about how when his dad entered his 60’s he, Paul, was still pretty young. Sixty seemed so far away. He wrote the song based on his impression of what his dad’s life was like from that young perspective. Now he looks back on his own sixties, right?

I also remember my grandmother saying, “Oh, to be 65 again.” Sixty five!!! At the time I was probably in my twenties and my grandmother was probably in her late seventies. We young things cracked up at what she had said. We couldn’t fathom being old enough to dream of going back to being that old.

Throughout my 40’s and 50’s I would often notice that many of the “untimely” deaths mentioned by family or written about in the news were people in their 60’s. The details of these deaths were often framed with, “There hadn’t been any indication…” or, “No one would have expected,” or “Took everyone who knew him or her by surprise.” This led me to develop a theory: The sixties is a tricky decade. I began to believe that when you hit your sixties you were at a precarious moment in life and you’d better watch out. If you got through the decade then you’d be ok. Your seventies would be much smoother sailing.

Well, guess what! Here I am in my sixties. I’m not at my Grandmother’s golden 65 yet, not even at the elder Mr. McCartney’s infamous 64, but I’m in THAT DECADE. And I’ve figured some things out. And they make sense to me, in my mind, so I thought I’d share. Your sixties are a turning point. You just don’t realize it yet. You see, when you hit your sixties you are still going strong. Your mind is sharp, your body is strong, your capacity for learning is great. In other words you’ve still got it! But…

And this is a big but…

Your sixties are a turning point. You need to respect your body and its needs a bit more these days than you used to. You need to tumble into bed if you feel tired. Tend to those colds by providing yourself a little more TLC. Put your feet up and rest when you come home absolutely bushed. Check in with your doctor if things just don’t feel ‘right’. I think, now, that when you get to your sixties, you just can’t run on your last ounce of steam on a regular basis. That was fine in the past, but for a healthy present you need to readjust.

In other words, going back to my theory, it’s not that the sixties are a tricky decade. It’s just that they take us by surprise. Because we are still strong and can still do so much, but we need to adjust our stride. We need to embrace a new pace rather than fight it. Because that new pace does not mean we are done. Not at all. It just means we are ready to keep on keeping on so we need to respect the number. Respect the decade. Respect ourselves.

Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine?