Attitudes and Aging Health by Robert MacMillan MD Last evening, as I completed our two hours of curling in the senior mixed league, I thought about three of our players who had enjoyed playing the game but, at the same time, had other things with which they could have been preoccupied. One was in the middle of immunotherapy for cancer of the pancreas and doing very well. The second was continuing his rehabilitation following a stroke. The third was a woman who, in spite of having just celebrated her 90th birthday, had curled extremely well. I continue to marvel at the positive attitude shown by so many seniors who, often in spite of physical, social and/or mental challenges, continue to display a positive attitude in life. Instead of retreating, complaining and refraining from social and physical activities, they are continuing to maintain their positive attitudes and remain as active as they can. I contrast those individuals with several of my friends who have become quite reclusive since their retirement, having no social interaction through group activities, no physical participation, no involvement in seniors’ clubs and spending the bulk of their time at home. In several cases, their wives live a similar life of non-involvement. In addition, when I do have occasion to see them, I find that some have developed a rather negative view of life and, often, are preoccupied with their ongoing health problems. I then think about my widowed 89-year-old friend Jack, a retired surgeon who, in spite of his 95% blindness due to macular degeneration, still intends to maintain his independence. He is keeping his own apartment, cooking his own meals, getting around the city with his public transit pass, having lunch at the golf club with friends at least three times per week and continuing to sign up for cruises throughout the year. When I asked why he chose cruises when he could hardly see, he said “Well I can’t see at home either!” Until last year, with assistance he curled with us weekly and he played a couple of rounds of golf this summer. I just helped him complete his travel health insurance application as he has embarked on another cruise, this time to South America. When I comment about his attitude, his reply is, “Bob – I concentrate on what I can do, not on what I can’t.” During the last century, our life expectancy has increased by 27 years but our own attitudes about aging and the attitudes of others towards the senior population have, in many cases, not kept up. My memories of my two grandmothers who lived until I was in my teens were very positive, but I cannot remember their participation in anything other than homemaking and family. After all, when I was born, they were already past the average life expectancy. As with almost all persons reaching the age of 65 at the time, my mother (a teacher) and my father (a Bell manager) abruptly retired. The magical age of 65 was first established in Germany in 1880 and adopted in a social security law in the U.S. in 1934, when the life expectancy was 61.7 years. 38 | www.snowbirds.org
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