Getting old not for the faint of heart

So, you’ve just spotted your first gray hairs after rolling over the big ‘5-0’ aka turning 50 years of age. You’re able to get free coffee and other perks since you’re considered a senior citizen. Hey, don’t knock it. Don’t be ashamed to own up to it. You’ve earned every bit of it.

Then you start noticing other little things - like it seems the world has started moving so fast it’s passing you by, when, in reality, it’s not the world moving faster, you’re moving slower. That Air Force 12 -minute mile’ you walked when in your 30’s has now turned into a 20-minute mile. Let’s face it, age takes its toll and the old bod ain’t what it used to be.

Then it seems like your mail box keeps filling up with ads for Medicare supplement insurance plans, life insurance, and, holy mackerel, the hearing aid flyers from every known company in the area suddenly become insurmountable. After the magic number of 50, it requires some over-the-counter’ reading glasses to be able to see the fine print when reading these flyers.

Makes you wonder, how the Sam-hill’ do all these companies know we’re swiftly getting old and decrepit? Talk about scams and fraud, seems like all of our safe-guarded info on names, addresses, birth-dates and Social Security have unwittingly leaked out and ended up in the wrong hands. My word, they know more about us reaching the age of need before we’ve even thought that far off.

Much to our sorrow, the truth of our physical abilities finally hits us when we realize our visits to our trusty primary physician have increased and branched out to include other specialist: ophthalmologist for the eyes, orthopedic for the bones, and cardiologist to keep the old-ticker’ tuned up, just to name a few.

Then, when opening the cabinet to reach for our daily multi-vitamin, we realize over time that-one-bottle’ has accumulated more company in the tray it sits in with other medications of every description. Good heavens, do we spend more time and money in the pharmacy or the grocery store? It’s a toss-up.

So, go ahead and face it. Accept it gracefully after hearing complaints from your children that they’re tired of repeating everything they say with you asking, “Huh?” You know yourself the hearing is fading when you have to start reading lips and you sing off-key on the hymns at church.

Go ahead and bite-the-bullet and make that appointment for a hearing test and invest your retirement in those hearing-aides, because it won’t be long you’ll be reaching for that medical-alert’ button saying, “Help, I can’t get up!”

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 5:40 AM with the headline "Getting old not for the faint of heart."