Althouse: "I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it."

February 21, 2013

"I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it."

"Not everybody gets there."

How will you feel when you are 80, if you are ever 80? Or have you already hit that surprising point of pride?

35 comments:

edutcher said...: I was surprised I lived to see 2000.

The year, not the age.

If I make it to 80, I'll probably be surprised, too; I've got a lot going against me.; 2/21/13, 10:14 AM
Nonapod said...: My grandfather is going to turn 100 in a few weeks. Apparently there are currently something like 470,000 people worldwide who are 100 years old or older.; 2/21/13, 10:23 AM
dreams said...: My friend and fellow GE retiree just turned 81 and when I ask him if, when he was young he ever thought he would reach 80, he replied that he didn't think he would live to be fifty. He is in good health and obviously felt good about his age. I think his comment about not ever reaching fifty is how most of us feel and however old we are we are pleased that we have made it as long as we have, at least that is how I feel.; 2/21/13, 10:26 AM
Anonymous said...: I will fell sad that I will have seen the complete decline of the US into mud-eating savagery.

but at least we'll all be equal, right, lefties?

Seig Heil, Mein Obama! And enjoy the decline, bitches!; 2/21/13, 10:27 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The way things are going now, should I see 80, it will be with a prostate the size of a lemon and no semen.; 2/21/13, 10:33 AM
traditionalguy said...: I cannot imagine getting that old, but hope for the best.

Audrey Hepburn said the secret to happiness is to be healthy and to have a short memory.

I remember when my father approached 80 we offered to put on a birthday party for him and invite his old friends. He said no, but then he put one on for himself and invited us. We met some very old, very rich people, most of them cognitively challenged. But we got to hear a lot of stories about Daddy that day.

Later his brother (my uncle) died childless in NYC and left a large estate to endow the Yale Library and establish an annual Fiction Writers prize. He left out his sole living descendant, but we are still proud of him.; 2/21/13, 10:33 AM
SteveR said...: 80 is not looking good for me either. I suppose I could still be alive technically but actually living, probably not. At this point (I'm 55) I just go one day at a time.; 2/21/13, 10:35 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Later his brother (my uncle) died childless in NYC and left a large estate to endow the Yale Library and establish an annual Fiction Writers prize. He left out his sole living descendant, but we are still proud of him."

Aw. Poor tradguy. I guess you can always read some great short stories for solace. You could even write a great novel about exactly that and win the prize. That would be ironic. Just write a great novel about a guy who has that happen, read short stories for solace, then gets the idea of writing a novel about exactly that, and ironically wins the prize.

That way, you don't have to win the prize.; 2/21/13, 10:37 AM
DADvocate said...: My mother's 88. My father made it to 83. All my kid's grandparents have made it to at least 83. My great great great grandfather lived to be over 100.

I'll feel pretty damn good if I make it to 80. If I do, I hope I'm farming somewhere.; 2/21/13, 10:46 AM
dreams said...: The thing about aging is we only have ourselves as a frame of reference, for example, a sixty or seventy year or older man who is still sexually able assumes that other men his age are too.; 2/21/13, 10:47 AM
William said...: I just recently turned seventy. Seventy is not the new fifty, but it doesn't suck. Bone spurs and frequent urination. Not the worse afflictions, but just wait a few more years.....Quite a lot of people die in their seventies. To date, old age has been a rather pleasant experience, but I'm not clever enough to think of an upside to death.; 2/21/13, 10:47 AM
DADvocate said...: a sixty or seventy year or older man who is still sexually able assumes that other men his age are too.

No they don't.; 2/21/13, 10:49 AM
mishu said...: She's being a pain in the ass blocking middle class farmers from getting natural gas money because she doesn't want the icky drills anywhere near her hobby farm in upstate New York. Meh.; 2/21/13, 10:50 AM
The Godfather said...: It's stupid to be "proud" of reaching a particular age. You deserve no credit for it. Sure, maybe you take good care of yourself, eat the right foods, don't drink booze -- but then you get cancer and you die. Or some drunken joy-riding kid crashes his car into yours and you die. Or some crazy guy shoots you in a gun-free zone and you die.

Or you eat fatty foods and drink bourbon and screw Dutch whores, and live to be 101 with interesting memories.

It's luck, fate, kismet, random chance, or the will of God; perhaps something to be thankful for, perhaps not, but nothing to be proud of.

But this is Yoko Ono we're talking about, so we shouldn't expect an intelligent comment.

I'm scheduled to turn 70 next week. So far, so good.; 2/21/13, 11:06 AM
Sam L. said...: I will be happy to be there.

Don't diss traditionalguy; I'm pretty sure you read his comment to his disadvantage. I read it differently.

I guess he can set us straight, if he cares to.; 2/21/13, 11:32 AM
Hagar said...: Later his brother (my uncle) died childless in NYC and left a large estate to endow the Yale Library and establish an annual Fiction Writers prize. He left out his sole living descendant, but we are still proud of him.; 2/21/13, 11:34 AM
ricpic said...: 80. It's the new 60!; 2/21/13, 11:35 AM
Rich B said...: Lennon's Folly.; 2/21/13, 11:42 AM
dreams said...: People are proud of their abilities which they might possess which is due to luck so why shouldn't people be proud of their health and longevity.; 2/21/13, 11:43 AM
traditionalguy said...: Hagar....Yes, childless makes me my uncles sole heir at law rather than descendant. But his skill as a writer was appreciated especially by my son who inherited that gene rather than myself.

But I will pass the Professor's word on to Ben to publish something more than legal briefs.; 2/21/13, 11:44 AM
JAL said...: My mother turned 96 last month. She lives with us.

All of my relatives on that side lived to their 90s -- or late 80s. Even my father lived to 90 and would have had a couple more years except for some medical missteps ... though he was looking and feeling like "butter spread too thin on toast." (Bilbo)

In October my mother fell and developed a large subdural hematoma. The words of one of the neurosurgeons was "catastrophic." I have the scans. Catastrophic.

She declined the full craniotomy where they remove the skull etc. But opted for burr holes. While we were waiting for some necessary changes in the clot (she came home) she deteriorated and it was done on an emergency basis. Then 3 weeks in rehab.

She is home 2 1/2 months now. Has had in home PT, OT and speech. Speech "fired" her last week. ;-)

Her cognitive ability (she was sharp, no demnentia pre-fall) is back probably 90-95%. Her mobility is by wheelchair with some ongoing progress with walker. She smiles and plays with the 9 month old great grandbaby when he tries to climb up her chair. Now reading the Washington TImes more regularly these days. Her sense of humor definitely is intact.

She would be put on an ice flow under Obamacare.

I will live into my 90s short of an accidental death. (Statistics, not arrogance.) I am more active than my mother. I take no meds.

Good genes. And for some reason, one of those God gives many days to.

It would be nice to have Ono's $$ at 80 or 90.

But I'll take view of my hayfield pretty much any day.; 2/21/13, 11:47 AM
dbp said...: I am happy and amazed to have made it to 50. Not due to genetic heritage--both of my parents are still among the living and healthy.

It is just that on many occasions, mostly a long while ago, I did very risky things.; 2/21/13, 11:54 AM
Anonymous said...: A friend of a friend just renewed his driver's license and bought a new car -- at the age of 103!

Take care of yourself, moderation in all things, etc., and healthy and active at 80 should be only a minor milestone,; 2/21/13, 12:23 PM
Anonymous said...: A friend of a friend just renewed his driver's license and bought a new car -- at the age of 103!

Take care of yourself, moderation in all things, etc., and healthy and active at 80 should be only a minor milestone,; 2/21/13, 12:26 PM
Kensington said...: My mom died at 71. My dad is still alive at 80, but he's in pretty lousy shape (largely wheelchair bound, half blind, hard of hearing, prone to chronic urinary tract infections and simply not sharp of mind).

I can't imagine I'll make it to 80. And even if I do, I won't be able to afford it.; 2/21/13, 12:39 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: I would have said seventy-five or eighty a few years ago. Now I'll go with sixty.

I thought my father would live to be at least 100 based on health factors including Longevity Syndrome, but he died at 59. Naturally I wonder if I'll share that fate, so sixty it is.; 2/21/13, 12:44 PM
sakredkow said...: Personally I think you have to have a "It's a good day to die" attitude.; 2/21/13, 12:55 PM
Anthony said...: If I'm still not hitting the gym every day when I'm 80 I will be pissed.

If I don't hit 80 with my lifestyle, I will also be pissed.; 2/21/13, 1:32 PM
Carol said...: My band plays for a lot of elderly dancers - yeah, we got the beat!

There are a few 90 and over who will dance nearly every dance. They tend to be very thin. And they don't talk much. I think they tend to run out of words by that time, but still have energy.

There is some pride in being upright and still walking around any time past 60. Sucks to be crippled and on a dozen meds by that time.; 2/21/13, 4:36 PM
ribock said...: A few years ago some friends threw an 80th party for me, and an amazing number of people from the previous 40 years or more turned up to help me mark the moment.

And now, only 6 weeks have to go until my 85th whistles past. But not so fast this time, and a few bits and pieces have fallen off so it's very unlikely I'll see my 90th. Hey, it's been a roller-coaster trip and i wouldn't have missed it for all the money in my piggy bank.; 2/21/13, 5:17 PM
wildswan said...: I have a great-aunt who went skydiving at 84 and I have sworn I will do it too. So that when I exercise I have this goal in mind.; 2/21/13, 5:27 PM
Deb said...: I"m surprised so many people feel they will not make it to 80. I certainly hope to. My mom was 83, and one of here sisters made it to 94. The years go by so quickly and I still have a lot to do.; 2/21/13, 5:44 PM
JAL said...: I'll bet Freeman makes 80.

Takers?; 2/22/13, 12:11 AM
Unknown said...: She's only 6 years younger than my mother!; 2/22/13, 1:23 AM
Badger Pundit said...: Ann,

Here's a funny/sad postscript regarding the rich uncle who left money for a Yale fiction prize, but not for his relatives. It seems that in 2010 Yale started siphoning off much of the income from such bequests, away from the actual prize winners, whose awards are now capped at $1,000. Some info here:
http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2010/03/25/student-prizes-capped-at-1k

http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2010/03/29/details-of-prizes-cap-still-evolving

Example: the rich uncle may well have been Elmore A. Willets, whose bequest for a fiction prize for English majors generated more than $20,000 in income in 2010. Previously the prize winner got all the income; now, he or she gets only $1,000, and the rest goes to financial aid. I wonder what the passed-over relatives think about that!; 2/22/13, 11:31 AM