HOW Old do you have to be?

[GTXVette]

     YESTERDAY Was My Birthday, I'm 66 today. No Longer Young and the Guy in the Mirror Dosn't Look 30 anymore, They have Quit asking for my ID when I buy Beer but I still Feel pretty Good,  Still Have Most of My ..Ahem.... Desires  and  Still want to Race and Play with cars, So I have to ask of the Older Farts.... Do I still need to stay on wide Open to continue this momentem which is about Half Speed  and will Kicking back make it so I can't get Back up to speed Later?.  This question has been In my head for a while now and it scares the hell out of me to think I'm UNable to get Going again.   What's your Opinion? 

[GTRS Fiero]

I think you already know the answer.  Since 40, you've been losing muscle and bone mass.  You need to be more active to keep on top of that.  If you don't use it, you lose it.  The better shape you were in, the better you can rebound.  After several years of reduced activity, my dad got into great shape in a few months, but he was a noted athlete in his youth.  I'll never regain the strength, endurance, or speed of my 30s, but I can use my head to achieve more with what I have.  Reflexes and mental acuity don't seem to come back, once they're gone.  As you age, your body tends to lose fast-twitch muscle, but you can build up slow-twitch muscle.

Watch a young child.  They fall down, bend over to the floor, and do all sorts of wide-range movements.  Sure, you could, but do you want to?

But hey, I'm younger than you, so what do I know?

[Fierofool]

I'm one of the elders in the club, approaching 73.  I'm not very active, in part due to past medical issues and nagging back problems, but I try to stay active in mild forms. 

I grew up on a farm and my Dad and I did the gammut.  Cutting, baling and tossing bales into the barn loft, plowing and planting corn and a garden.  Harvesting the crops, mending fences, and all that farm work entails.  Later as we quit farming, and as Dad retired, he had little more than a 1 acre garden to keep him physically active, and that was seasonal.  Eventually, he quit gardening and became largely sedentary.  With that, he diminished.  He lived about 10 years after that with the last 4 being bedridden. 

Stay active, surround yourself with younger people as well as people of your own age.  It helps to keep you in a younger frame of mind while the elders keep you reminded that you can't or shouldn't do what your younger friends are doing.  When I'm around the club members or other younger friends (not many are older than I), I don't have a sense of being as old as I am.  Share your years with the younger.  Don't let your knowledge and experiences depart with you. 

[Raydar]

I'm one of the elders in the club, approaching 73. 
...

You wear it well.

I just turned 60, and I can still do stuff. I just sometimes don't want to. (I always wait to drop a cradle until I have forgotten what a pain-in-the-ass it was, the last time.) Crawling around on the floor just isn't what it used to be.
I have found that I'm getting slower in getting stuff done. Not like I'm on a schedule when it comes to the Fieros, but still. Mostly, it's just comes down to motivation.
I can figure out how to do most anything, but it doesn't happen quickly. (If I were a mechanic, I'd starve, for that very reason. But I've always been that way.)

[GTRS Fiero]

My kids and I spent 2 hours today visiting with a couple who have great-grandchildren the age of my kids.  The wife can get around, and really enjoyed sitting and talking with the kids, and they with her.  She was amazed at how quick their minds were to grasp new ideas, and happily showed them all sorts of things.  He is also mobile, but losing his strength and flexibility.  He was still sleeping at 1pm.  He wanted to do all sorts of things, but he can't use the post-hole digger, can't lift his end of things, can't bend over well, gets up slowly, etc.  The mind is willing, but the body is weak.  He's still able to bench over 100 pounds, walks 2 miles daily, rides his sport quad, etc, but they're slowing down, selling their stuff, and moving to a place where someone else will care for the building and the grounds.

Their place was a secluded, gated community with a 160-acre lake (with beach), indoor and outdoor swimming pools, their own security, a full administration, gatekeeper/guard, picnic areas, counts for various sports, a golf course, etc.  They even have a small convenience store.  But they can't get into one of their big trucks, anymore.  I moved it for them, since it was in the way.

When I was a kid, I was at a jobsite while a house was being built.  My job was to collect stray nails (babysit myself).  There was an old man there who never wasted a move, and worked longer and harder than anyone else, but he always moved slowly.  Most everyone else was 20 or more years his junior.  A 20-something kid showed up wanting a job, but was getting no traction.  My dad told the kid the crew was full.  The kid said he could replace the old man.  The wager was that, if the kid could outdo the old man, the kid was hired; if not, his labor was free.  The old man never seemed to take notice, but everyone else sure did, to the point that work slowed down.  At the end of the day, the kid's tally was well below that of the old man.  The kid knew it well before the day ended, but finished the day.  My dad hired the kid for the next job, and told him nobody ever outdid that old man.  My dad assigned that kid as the old man's partner.  That kid now owns and runs a construction business.  The old man died on a job site in his 90s.  I wasn't there, but apparently he still put in a good day's work.  Originally, his excuse was that he was getting away from his wife, but after she died, he said he had nothing else to do, so he kept working.

[GTXVette]

  That's a Great Story,     Both Of them,    But Darn Depressing,   Oh Well It's 8:00 am Got to get Moving....On.

[GTRS Fiero]

Sorry.  I didn't see them as depressing.  That couple has lived a full life.  They aren't complaining.

The old man was basically spending time with his family.  He didn't die alone.  He probably knew that he was close, but didn't want anyone saying he gave up.  What an awesome way to go, on his own terms.

Years ago, my dad told me he wants to die on his feet, with his boots on.

[GTRS Fiero]

I should've answered the title question.

Well, you have to be 16 to get your license--or 14 in Arkansas

You have to be 18 or dead to vote

You have to be 21 to buy your own dwelling

You have to be 35 to become President

You have to be 58 to collect SS

It depends on how tough you are.

[GTXVette]

  Saying Depressing may not be right but a little Sad. If you only Knew what we did at 16 and 20 and30  The Places I've been and the Things I've done, I didn't think I would see 21 But All those Milestones have come and Gone, saw in another post  Paul Newman was racing at 80, Now That's something to look forward to.  Youv'e seen the Picture of the frog being Swollowed by a Stork and a grip aroung the Storks neck, That'd be me.