So when is a person elderly?
Last week I asked you to tell me when you believe a person should be considered “elderly.” See the chart to see the responses. I am sure that if we asked this question to a group of college students, the results would have skewed younger.
I loved some of the comments from the more than 2,500 of you who responded. Here are a few:
•”I am 59 feeling 45 except in the morning when everything aches. I have seen folks at 85 and some can run circles around me! I think you better be pushing 90 before I would call you an old timer. Most start to slow then and smell the roses.”
•“I know so many full-timers almost 90 who are still going a lot better than me at 63. Maybe elderly is a frame of mind.”
•“Elderly” is 10 years older than I am.”
•”I am 70 and used to think my father was really old when he was 60. However, my grandchildren do not think of me as being old. Good news for me. I think age is just a number. How you feel and take care of yourself will leave the impression on others whether you are old or not.”
•”I am a nurse and see mostly patients between the ages of 50 and 90. It always amazes me when I see someone who is 55 and I, too, would term them “elderly,” but only because of their health and appearance. Then again, I had a 77-year-old woman patient the other day who could have passed for 55!”
•”I am 67 and my wife is 70. We walked up to the service counter at Best Buy with a computer problem. A kid about 18 asked what was wrong. We told him and he replied, “Oh, Bill can handle that.” He turned around, took about six steps and said to Bill, “the old couple need your help.” I guess to an 18-year-old we are old – ha!”
“Old has very little to do with a calendar. It is all about mental attitude and physical condition. If you think you are old or you feel like you are old, YOU ARE.”
“The older I get, the older old gets!“
