AGEISM- What it feels like to grow old from my point of view

 Ageism is a form of discrimination and prejudice, particularly  experienced by seniors. Most seniors are mentally and physically active  regardless of age with a great deal to contribute. However, societal  norms marginalize seniors, treat them with disrespect, make them feel  unwelcome and otherwise generalize as if they were all the same.  

                    

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The one and only thing that we are definitely sure off the day that we are born, is the fact that we all have to die. 

LIVING WITH AN OLD PERSON

This is not the easiest thing I have done in my lifetime!  The average life expectancy of a human is about 70 years.  We all hope to live a long life, but that is unfortunately not destined for everyone. My grandmother have however exceeded that age limit.  She is 95 years old and still very alive and kicking and NOT going anywhere....YET. 

                     

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The last few stages of a persons' life, are not so flattering.....  My grandmother lives with us, and I can tell you from personal experience that from what I have seen during the last three years, it is a very true fact that they turn back into babies! 

                              

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I know that I am going to be punished and banned straight to hell for saying this, but living with my grandmother is a nightmare.  She is however not able to look after herself, and it is our responsibility as her grandchildren to look after her.  She has always been there for us, so now it is our turn to look after her.  

She provides us with a lot of  laughter.  So that is not such a bad thing. She lost total ability to differentiate between day and night.  She does not sleep.  She walks around in the house THE WHOLE NIGHT, and can't keep her eyes open during the day.  She also lost the ability to differentiate between being hungry and thirsty.  She is ALWAYS hungry, and constantly asks for food, even with a plate of food in front of her....and she LOVES to eat sweets.  Anytime, anywhere, and in unlimited portions. She also dresses funny but we leave her to dress any way that she wants, because that is one thing that she can still do for herself.  Nothing fits together but that doesn't really matter does it?

                                                              

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We help her to shower because we are scared that she might fall in the shower,  so you can only imagine our surprise this morning at 3 o' clock when my son went to the bathroom and found my grandmother in the shower, fully clothed with shower cap and all. Wet as a warthogs backside!  (That was not such a funny sight at that time of the morning) 

I much rather think of the days when she was still able to hold a conversation and to look after herself.  Unfortunately she has a bit of dementia and can not remember who she is half of the time, what to say us.  

Even though there are A LOT of frustrations in my house, I know that this too shall pass, and that one day when she is no longer with us, we would miss her and wish for her to be back. 

How do we know if we are getting old? 

I still feel the exact same way than I did when I was 16.  My mindset has not changed.  Although lately I have noticed that my body changed A LOT.  I am also being treated differently by younger people.  This is very disturbing to me as in my mind I am still young.  I have always had an issue with age.  For some reason I never thought about getting old, but these days I think about it A LOT.  I started exercising this week, as if that is going to give me back my youth and to make me feel better,  but ALAS I feel as if I was run over by a truck!! 

                                                   

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NEGATIVE THINGS ABOUT GETTING OLD

• My eyesight is deteriorating a little bit so I don't like driving at night anymore. 
• Sometimes when I wake up it feels like I have been partying the night before. 
• You can't do everything that you did before. 
•  I forget things. (Sometimes I feel like a jellyfish, which is a no-brainer)
• Hair turning grey ( but isn't grey the IN color these days?) 

POSITIVE THINGS ABOUT GETTING OLD

• I can see through people.  I know who to trust and who not.  
• I enjoy things more.
• I am grateful for more, like still having my own teeth :)
• I don't have to prove myself to anyone anymore.
• I don't care what people think of me anymore.
• If I forget something, it doesn't bother me so much. 
• If I don't want to do something then I don't have to.  I learned to say NO.
• I am more patient than I was when I was younger.  

Looks like the positive are totally outweighing the negatives here:)  Growing old can not be such a bad thing.  We ALL have to get there at some point.  The sooner we except this the better. 

                                       

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One day if you can't look after yourself anymore, I hope that you will too have someone to look after you.  Treat your children with respect, as one day hopefully they will look after you and not leave you to fend for yourself.    

I AM 45 GOING ON 17!

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