Post by Dalbyj on Nov 21, 2007 15:51:30 GMT 12
Which way would you rather age?
My grandparents are in their mid 70's and are more active than they have been in their lives. Grandad plays croquet for a team and has won many trophys - he is very good at it. Nana belongs to a group that goes around old peoples homes to sing - as she says, the old dears like a bit of entertainment! Their favourite hobby is cooking, and they can turn out a gourmet feast that any chef would be proud of. Both have their health problems, Grandad has a bad heart and Nana has thyroid deficiency and B12 deficiency and is constantly at the doctors for medication and jabs. Yet they still manage to live full, satisfying lives.
My mother in law has only just turned 60. A few years ago she left her husband and moved down to Chch with her teenage daughter, and expected her daughter to support her by working full time. When her daughter moved back in with her father, MIL immediately went on the sickness benefit, which I believe she is still on. She seems to spend her days sitting in her lounge reading books, or sometimes pottering around in her garden - but now that is getting 'too much for her'. She has a walking stick, a hearing aid and false teeth, and is desperate to get into an over-60s unit, but she hasn't managed to sell her house. When we went to visit her after living in Hamilton for over a year, her first words to us weren't 'hello' or 'great to see you' or 'haven't the boys grown' ... she opened the door and said 'Oh I feel so sick!' (Yes, she is a hypochondriac and yes, it drives me bananas!)
I definitely know which way I want to grow older!
My grandparents are in their mid 70's and are more active than they have been in their lives. Grandad plays croquet for a team and has won many trophys - he is very good at it. Nana belongs to a group that goes around old peoples homes to sing - as she says, the old dears like a bit of entertainment! Their favourite hobby is cooking, and they can turn out a gourmet feast that any chef would be proud of. Both have their health problems, Grandad has a bad heart and Nana has thyroid deficiency and B12 deficiency and is constantly at the doctors for medication and jabs. Yet they still manage to live full, satisfying lives.
My mother in law has only just turned 60. A few years ago she left her husband and moved down to Chch with her teenage daughter, and expected her daughter to support her by working full time. When her daughter moved back in with her father, MIL immediately went on the sickness benefit, which I believe she is still on. She seems to spend her days sitting in her lounge reading books, or sometimes pottering around in her garden - but now that is getting 'too much for her'. She has a walking stick, a hearing aid and false teeth, and is desperate to get into an over-60s unit, but she hasn't managed to sell her house. When we went to visit her after living in Hamilton for over a year, her first words to us weren't 'hello' or 'great to see you' or 'haven't the boys grown' ... she opened the door and said 'Oh I feel so sick!' (Yes, she is a hypochondriac and yes, it drives me bananas!)
I definitely know which way I want to grow older!