Friday, September 13, 2013

Sexagenerians and senior coffee

Soulmate called me yesterday despondent as he was offered senior coffee unsolicited. Little sympathy here as I've been offered senior discounts for the past 10 years. Even Steve was recently offered the senior discount on coffee recently which surprisingly shocked him and hurt his feelings. A lot of my friends are becoming sexagenerians this year, not so surprising as about 5 months ago, I became one too.

I guess we are shocked that others see  us as 60 i.e. OLD. Can I really be 60? I remember dating a man I thought was impossibly old because he was 30. I don't feel that old. I look at my well-muscled legs perfectly smooth and with no visible veins and think I don't really look so old though I certainly have the crepe thing going on around my neck and upper lip. My own fault for being in the sun so much. I seem to have almost as much energy as I used to though I am so much slower than I used to be. And I am fat, which isn't so much a sign of age but I wasn't so heavy before I was 53 or so.

Actually I haven't been offered any senior discounts since I started dyeing my hair. When my hair started growing back in after chemo, it was no longer straight and blondish such as the photo of me and Steve on the far right. It was white and black. I had a brain MRI done as part of a study. The technician let me look at my brain which I scanned visually for tumors. I then asked what would an Alzheimer's brain  look like. Much less folds. He then added that my brain looked pretty good for my age.
And what age would that be?
He said 60.
I was aghast as I was 56. He was very apologetic saying he was especially bad at guessing but usually the ones who thought I was Naomi's grandma or the offerers of premature senior discounts were very young or of a different race. So I arranged to have my hair dyed within that week.

As a child, I usually was in the 99%tile for height. I had been asked numerously
 how many grades I flunked. The last time I went trick or treating, a woman told me I should be ashamed of myself trick or treating when I was so old. I was 11. I was on track to become 6'6" but fortunately I suddenly stopped growing at 12. It was hard being tall when all the heroines were pretty petite princesses. Ugly mean step-sisters always had big feet.

But then I started looking young for my age. As a teacher, I went to the office to get a certain form. I was asked who my teacher was?
I am the teacher.
But I guess we shouldn't take these things so personally. Shanna and Naomi are 12 years apart and I tell people that. Still they think Naomi must be the older one as she is taller.

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