Ann Medlock on Public Radio
An Eldertorial
There's a rite of passage I want to warn you about—nobody talks about it; I came upon it cold, totally unprepared, a few months ago when I was paying my membership at the health club. The manager looked at the form I'd filled out and said, "Your check is for too much money. There's a senior citizen discount."
Now, I have to tell you that these words did not compute to me. These words were utterly mysterious, the non sequitur to end all non sequiturs. Who was he talking to? Was there an Old Person standing behind me? Did he really think I was 65? Was the manager, perhaps, blind? Noting my stupefacation, he quickly clarified that the club's definition of "senior" was a mere 55 and that, of course, he was amazed to discover—from the form—that I qualified and how did I manage to look so young, and so forth and so on.
Never mind the blather. It was a stunning moment.
The way I see myself, I'm just coming into my own. The kids are on their own. I've found the.work I want to do, the right partner, the right place to live. I'm at the top of my form—I am at last, in my prime. And this guy offers me a senior citizen discount.
A watershed moment in life, I tell you. A cause for deep thoughts on the passing of time and the use of one's days and the meaning of it All.
One of my thoughts is that I'm really glad I know a lot of Giraffes. Giraffes are people who stick their necks out for the common good. Out of the 600 people that the Giraffe Project has honored, there are almost a hundred senior citizens.
Because I started the Giraffe Project, I do a lot of interviews, and they always ask who my favorite Giraffe is. I won't answer that, but I do say that I treasure the older women—their lives are my antidote to personal fears of aging. All the older Giraffes keep me from sharing the growing national concern about the graying of our country. As the percentage of citizens over 65 mounts ever higher, observers fret over how people will fill the time during ever longer retirements. How are elders to maintain self-respect and identity in a society that values citizens for their productivity? And how does society "carry" such a large number of retirees? But view this population tilt from a Giraffe's eye view and it looks quite different. Elders become a vast reservoir of ability and knowledge that's no longer eaten up by the raising of families and the punching of time clocks. Instead of seeing them as a great burden on the nation, we can anticipate the gifts that they become free to give to their communities and their world. The senior Giraffes range in age from 101-year-old environmentalist Marjory Douglass to a passel of just-past-65ers. They're all working flat out on every issue and cause imaginable. They have no problem filling their time with work that they and society call valuable—and they are not lonely. Their days are rich with meaning and challenge and filled with the respect, affection and interest of their fellow citizens. Senior Giraffes are showing us all The Way to grow old wisely and well, to become the valued elders of a society that welcomes our presence, treasures our gifts. I'm glad I know them, as I ponder the meaning of this recent rite of passage. And now—I'm going to make use of my brand new, very first, senior discount and go pump some iron. |
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