I would add that we would never want to admit having reached that terrible state unless we’re totally incapacited! Carolyn explains a lot in
When Do We Become “Old”? that might help boomers who are facing that conversation with a parent …

a very timely article … after all the clock is ticking for all of us!

Related posts:

1. Freedom of Religion … Only Valid When it Fits?
2. Aging Well by George Vaillant, MD dispells myths about getting very old!

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“We all need models for how to live from retirement to past 80–with joy,” writes George Vaillant, M.D., director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. This groundbreaking book pulls together data from three separate longevity studies that, beginning in their teens, followed 824 individuals for more than 50 years. The subjects were male Harvard graduates; inner-city, disadvantaged males; and intellectually gifted women.

“Here you have these wonderful files, and you seem little interested in how we cope with increasing age … our adaptability, our zest for life,” one of these subjects wrote to Vaillant, a researcher, psychiatrist, and Harvard Medical School professor, about how he was using this information. Vaillant took this advice to heart. In Aging Well, he presents personal narratives about people from these studies whom he interviewed personally in their 70s and 80s. He describes their history, relationships, hardships, philosophies, and sources of joy. We learn their perspectives and what makes them want to get up in the morning.

You can read the Content page and some more pages on the Amazon page …
I think it’s a wonderfully well written book for boomers looking after old parents and also for anyone looking forward to living a very long life!

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Last Saturday afternoon I watched a special on one of my local PBS stations: KBTC, titled:
With Purpose: Going from Success to Significance in Work and Life

As a psychologist, gerontologist, documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur and best-selling author of fifteen books on aging-related issues,
Dr. Dychtwald has been exploring the implications of the longer age expectations for this boomer generation.

He spoke at length about the prospect of rethinking the meaning of success, work, relationships, adulthood and retirement.

He has explored at length various aspects of this longer living generation of boomers… how will be they handling matters of lifestyle, marketing, healthcare and workforce?

How will the expectation of probably living longer, maybe much longer than previous generations,change our thinking about goals? What is success for this new stage of our lives?

What happens to retirement?

With new aspirations regarding the potentials of a longer life and also today’s economic instability will we head off to the playing fields or perhaps try a satisfying encore career?

Dr. Dychtwald introduced some incredible men and women,the new
role models for this age-wave investment,who are providing
inspirational glimpses into the future.

How could new purpose be added to this next stage of life?

Could having new purpose contribute to continuing vigor and good health… after all how old would you be if you didn’t know how old
you are?

I thought it was a very thought provoking and inspiring show…
invigorating even!

With Purpose: Going From Success to Significance in Work and Life (3/09) is Dr. Ken Dychtwald’s newest book. In 2007, he had his debut as a documentary filmmaker and host with the highly rated PBS special “The Boomer Century. (he recently turned 60)

Related articles

• The Nuclear Family Goes Boom! (time.com)
• Ken Dychtwald Ph.D.: Long Term Care: The Solutions You Should Be Talking About Now (huffingtonpost.com)
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How many times have you read that statement? Implying that
if an older woman can do “it”… whatever “it” is must be
easy to do!

Does age determine when a person’s mind stops learning?

Never mind that a woman only gets to be a grandmother if her
son or daughter becomes a parent… and the woman who has
no children never becomes a grandmother.

So the grandma label isn’t really a true indicator of age!
I became a grandma a few days before my 37th birthday…
and the birth of my fourth child.

If my daughter had not had her first baby at age eighteen
I would still have been thirty-seven!

As people age they continue to be comfortable in the world
they are living in now…
not parked somewhere “out of the loop”!

By keeping curiosity alive as we move on through the years
we remain aware of all the progress happening around us
and we’re able to pick and choose which skills we’re
interested in, so that we’re always learning as we move
on through the years and the birthdays… sixty, seventy,
eighty, ninety even!

People learn at different speeds at every age, all through
school and adulthood and that might be tough while we’re
getting graded in school, but as adults determination
and perseverance can make up for any ability differences…

Making up excuses for ourselves doesn’t get us anywhere…

If we don’t understand the information provided, we must
assume that the information provided is not clear enough
or incomplete and ask for clarification (not “help” yet)
That might result in greater efforts by the provider to
clarify the instructions or directions for all the users!

If we know we have some problems remembering things we
can write them down…There are many, many ways to get
where we want to go without bending our true self out of
shape. Next look here for some detailed information about
setting goals.

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