how old is old

When I was passing forty I tried to decide what was old age and when it actually started? In my first job at age 16 i was friends with people who seemed much older, in retrospect they were barely 3 or 4 years older then me. Now a friend that old would feel like someone my own age.

A hundred or so years ago my present age of 53 would be quite relative to usual life expectancy, now I am not far past middle age. Has life expectancy changed the parameters. The usual groupings are young, middle age and old, there are sub categories but these are the basics. Does it depend on the group your in maybe, maybe its how you feel.?

For example in my first marriage my father in law was fairly mobile, many years after his retirement he would be doing odd jobs and going on trips. Then during one odd job he fell from a step ladder, after a brief hospital stay he became your archetypal old person almost over night. His body seemed to have told his brain "I told you we were getting on a bit, now look what's happened "

So is there a time when you should be slipper and pipe shopping, regardless of how your doing? My parents are still going and their ages are about 14 months apart. My dad still goes on trips regularly , grandchild sits and has exercise. My mum lives alone since the death of her second husband, doesn't go out unless someone else persuades her and seems 20 years older then my dad.

For me I try and forget my age, to be fair my body is fairly knackered due to a a chronic pain condition , a condition that adds brain fog to the mix for a laugh. It means that for example it took me a minute or two to remember the word chronic. I am also grey of beard and hair so can probably look older then I am. I have noticed over recent years I have become an honorary member of the old persons grouping, even if not mathematically.

The older people walking around my local area would walk around and usually ignore me, now there's at least a nod or a hello. Occasionally there's a hello or even a partial conversation. By looking older I have become more acceptable to talk to. Mybe if I dyed my hair they would be so accepting. Maybe grey hair is like a football shirt, it shows a connection .

My Dad likes to use the phrase " your only as old as the woman you feel"

My wife is 26 years younger then me so know where that leaves me?

I think it means I am young, middle age and old, all at the same time. I go to heavy metal concerts but need hand fulls of pain killer and other prescription medication to get through the day. I don't like most tv and listen to the radio, I prefer sitting and watching sport rather then any attempt to play.

Basically I think I am alive until I stop being alive. Age groupings are fairly arbitary thanks to new medications and health care options. You only fit a category if you want to be in it. Being declared older means a pension and a bus pass, otherwise it doesnt change a lot. I heard a famous radio presenter yesterday say he was starting over with a new station aged 72. One of the funniest comedians and writers about is apparently 66, about 10 years older then I would have guessed.

The other time we might consider age is when people we know or have heard of pass away. Phrases like "good innings "and" that's a good age" are wheeled out. Also" that's no age" and " I thought they were older that that"

Maybe next time you read of someone passing away consider your first thought. Does it reflect what you think about age and what's getting old. Also maybe think if your view is based on your own age, is eighty old when your young but not so much if your sixty.

So to answer my own question , "how old is old?" sorry but I am more confused then when I started, maybe its my age.