What it’s like being 81
We can’t imagine what it’s like being significantly older. When I started this column a decade ago, I promised to tell readers my experience with aging. Here’s what it’s like for me today.
I completely retired nine months ago. When I wrote about the challenge of finding myself anew, some thought I was pulling their legs. G’wan, they’d say. Retirement’s a breeze. But several non-life threatening health issues were waiting in the wings for their chances to knock me off balance.
After two electromyelographs, several x-rays, three MRIs, a cat-scan and bazillions of doctors’ appointments I’m doing fine now. After another cardioversion my heart rate and rhythm stabilized. And after I changed from the heart medication that was destroying my peripheral nerves I no longer walk or go up and down stairs like a drunken sailor.
The thrill of sharing pre-kindergarten grandchildren’s discoveries, as if for the first time, is as exhilarating as ever. Over a decade, beginning with Amalia, we’ve made four trips to Chicago. The difference now is that I’m usually walking at least a half-step behind.
Last week, with fresh snowfall and sub-zero wind chills, it was four-year old Grant’s turn for a five-day adventure. Practically every experience was new for him, from boarding the Amtrak in East Lansing to making our way through crowded Union Station and hailing a taxi. He might have felt like he left Grandpa’s house and went to a different planet.
Besides taxis, we rode packed city buses and trains that run underground and then high above ground. We bought toys, tried new foods, saw professional children’s theater (The Three Little Pigs), and museums with dinosaurs, whales, dolphins and exotic fishes.
Like the others, Grant preferred walking and staring at the tall buildings to riding. We might have set a record for going up and down “moving stairs” while waiting for the commuter train to see my daughter and family in the suburbs.
He was amazed that it doesn’t even get dark at night. Our routine, prior to a story, backrub and sleep, was turning off the lights and lying in bed staring at tall buildings and their lights.
Since retiring I’ve had time to become better acquainted with some of the latest technology. The New York Times comes automatically to my reader. We stream movies. Having a phone that allows me to check e-mail, synch grocery lists and the activity calendar with my wife’s phone is a plus. I wouldn’t want to be without the flashlight, dictionary and my medical/drug encyclopedia.
Those perks, and many more, come free with a monthly phone bill ‘merely’ 10 times what it was not that long ago.
But there’s also a dark side to wireless. Tech support is spotty. Service from Comcast has deteriorated. Recently one of our gadgets wasn’t working properly. After lots of calls, a tech came out and said we needed a new router.
With the new router we couldn’t stream movies. Ten days later, with fruitless calls to both Sony and Comcast, someone ‘opened the 15 ports’ on the router that blocked downloading movies.
I think we’re better off with new technology, but can’t decide how much. It’s great when things work. Problems can be frustrating time burners. Fortunately, my wife is persistent.
I’m reminded of a story my father told about when cars were unreliable. Once on a fifteen-mile courting trip to see my mother, he fixed 7 flat tires.
Sometime today’s technology may be as reliable as today’s cars. But new inventions will undoubtedly arise to confound matters.
Life is one darned thing after another, and still worth it.
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