On Getting Older.

When do you realize you’ve crossed the age barrier? What I mean is when do you realize that you identify more with the gray haired people you see on TV, movies or elsewhere than with the 30 or 20 something’s. When do you get to the point that you think those kids on TV look outrageous, do they ever comb their hair and the clothes they wear? I’ve caught myself thinking these things, and I had to remember what it was like when I was younger.

I never thought I would make it this far, age wise. When I was a teenager, I thought I would probably be gone before I was twenty-five. I hit that milestone and figured OK, thirty. I didn’t worry too much about it because I was too busy making a living and just trying to get by. Thirty came and I was pleasantly surprised, but instead of five-year increments, I went to ten-year increments. No way I would ever make it to forty. Anyway, forty was middle age and I just couldn’t see myself there. Forty came and with that bifocals. I figured OK; it’s downhill from here.

So now I’m nearing right smack dab in the middle of my fifties, and I’m still wondering how I got this far. But it keeps going back to identifying with my age group or older. I’m stuck in my eras. Although the memories aren’t as sharp, my eras were the seventies and eighties. Yes I like the music from back then, a lot of great TV shows I used to love. For some reason I can’t stand to watch them in re-runs now, but they were great back then. I look at the clothes back then, the hair and everything, and I think it’s funny now, but then it was just cool.

Then I think of people my age who try and stay in the pop/youth culture and act and dress like they’re in their twenties. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I just couldn’t see myself wearing a pair of baggy pants with my underwear hanging out and a spiked mohawk. I guess I’m comfortable with my age and my era. I keep thinking does every age group go through thinking the newest era/kids will never be as great as when they were young. I know Fmom thinks the best music in the world was the big band music when she was young. My father fought in WWII and they were/are known as the greatest generation.

So my question is still the same. When do you cross that age barrier to where you remember your era was the best, and the culture and kids now of days are hard to understand? I don’t know the answer, but I think I’ve already crossed that barrier.