Tag Archives: senior citizens

Senior Living: Not For the Faint of Heart

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She’s double-booked herself again! Tomorrow’s day trip was her idea, so she shouldn’t miss it, but what about Spanish class? She promised The Knockouts – her boxing partners – she wouldn’t skip a class, but water aerobics is at the same time. And now, there’s a scheduling conflict with her bible study and her writing classes. 

When you’re 91 years young with a busy schedule, it’s hard to fit everything into a day – especially when Happy Hour starts at 4 p.m.! My mom is a wonder and a force to be reckoned with. Moving into a new senior residence has given her even more pep and vitality, something we didn’t even think was possible. 

According to the International Council on Active Aging, the global population age 60 and older exceeded 1 billion for the first time in 2020, which relates to one in seven people, with higher average disposable income and more time to enjoy life than previous generations.

Seniors are trending as the fastest-growing demographic and sparking excitement as marketers rush to cater to this lucrative untapped market. There was a time when old age meant declining into inactivity. Now, these new customers don’t let age hold them back. Young at heart and in good physical health, their zest for life leads them to look for challenging experiences and embrace life to the fullest.

Mom recently returned from a family trip to Scotland and Ireland. Coming up are a San Antonio, Texas wedding and more family fun in New Mexico and Charleston. Now, she’s focused on next year’s travel plans. 

She’s been in contact with a younger friend, while also helping a new friend train to be free of her walker. My guess is she’s grooming them to be her next cruise partners. 

Every year on her birthday, she wears her silver birthday crown. She always says “If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” and now is definitely no time to stop! We joke that, with all the attention she receives, she should consider wearing it every Saturday night.

As the population around us matures, seniors bring with them a newfound determination to practice Carpe Diem – Latin for “seize the day.” They’ve demonstrated that being older is now synonymous with being wiser, that optimism can benefit you as a lifestyle choice, and that seizing the day can be accomplished with style, grace, and swagger. 

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The steward on the cruise surprised my mom with this birthday gift made of towels and rose petals. After hugs all around, she asked him not to remove it, and slept on one side of the bed the entire time!

This post is dedicated to my darling mumsy, who passed away this week at the age of 97.

My Two Seniors

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Photo My 2 Seniors

This is how I remember it happening. It was a Friday night and I couldn’t stop pacing the room. Big A* had just left me a phone message that we might be receiving a call from his Jesuit high school to report that some students were moshing at tonight’s dance. As I hurried to look up the definition of moshing (a style of dance which involves pushing or slamming into each other), JC* called to tell me she had a blind date. I quickly gave her a rundown of safety tips, but she was more interested in what dress I thought she should wear and said she would check in later.

Back when Big A was still in high school and JC was moving to Chicago to be nearer to us, their lives seemed to collide in a parallel universe for a few short months. Contrary to popular opinion, high school seniors and senior citizens seem to have more in common than most people think.

Though one goes to bed too late and one gets up too early, their main goal in life is socialization. Having completed intense research in order to track their activities during the course of one week, I discovered that these two, party animals remained neck in neck for number of hours of communal involvement.

More in-depth investigation uncovered interesting findings. While playing rugby, Big A and his teammates would scrum, which involved players packing closely together with their heads down in an attempt to gain possession of the ball. This was not too far off from a similar strategy of a group of senior women in their attempt to gain possession of 50 percent off sale items during an outlet mall visit.

Another rugby analogy presented itself in the form of the traditional sharing of food at the end of each game. The host team would stand to the side and invite the visiting team to serve themselves first, then the ravenous players would all attack the table. Again, not too distant from the sight of a group of early bird diners and an all-you-can-eat salad bar. I rest my case.

We shopped for two microwaves and settled both into their new digs; a dorm room and a senior community (which, soon gave way to a condo when JC announced that her new neighbors were too old). In my attempt to seek out some sort of a generation gap, all I actually found were grandmother and grandson shopping together at Gap Inc.

Much time has gone by, but these two still share a special bond. I can rest assured that when I am out of town, they will take care of each other, which they did recently when they enjoyed cocktails and dinner at one of the new, hot spot restaurants and took in a Gypsy Kings concert.

*Who’s who? See “Cast of Characters” on the “About” page.