David Bowie. Still safely "older than me" - I've been a fan since my own teenage years, when he was still young and skinny and hot and I was even younger and also skinny and hot - but I'm definitely in the stage of my life when my idols are old enough for Social Security, if they're still alive. This is one of those, "Yes, you really ARE one of the older generation" markers that I generally disregard and just note in passing. When your husband died before his 50th birthday and then you nearly did too, it's hard to get upset over someone you saw in concert in the 70s hitting 65. Age really is just a number, and if you're lucky you get to chalk up a really high number, and that's awesome. People who bitch about getting older can bite me. I'm happy to be here, and the minor annoyances of aging are just that.
My daughter texted me the other day to ask if I could babysit in May, so they could go to a Tom Petty concert. I said I would, but pointed out that Petty is really my generation, not hers. She responded that her own generation's music mostly sucks. I cannot argue. And because it's Tom Petty (I like him, but was never a huge passionate fan), I'll babysit. This grandma thing isn't bad.
I never bitch about getting older, because when I was about 8 and battling really severe asthma (with no really useful meds available!) a specialist told my parents not to worry about my education, as I would not live long enough to need it. I only learned of this years later when I grumbled about my father being a tad over protective and Mum set me straight.
ReplyDeleteSixty eight looks really good from that perspective.....
Gae, in Callala Bay
I was a sickly wheezing child who missed the maximum days of school every year until I got out of the house and away from my father's smoking, when I could breathe for the first time. I took good health for granted from then until the brain thing, but got past that, and now, whatever comes next is just whatever. I grew up sickly, and constantly being treated for something serious and then randomly nearly died, so aging is a fun adventure right now.
ReplyDeleteIn our family it was Mum who was the smoker -- and if she had ever tried to give it up you would have had to admit us all to Bedlam!
ReplyDeleteMy lucky break came when I was examined by a Dr from the (then) School Medical Service who referred me to their Asthma Clinic.
I was taken out of school for two years (Correspondence lessons) and the link between repeated viral infections and asthma was well and truly broken. Went back into the normal system at 10. The houses we lived in those days were big and drafty, which may have mitigated the effect of second hand smoking.........sort of!
Certainly the treatment had very little to do with medications, but I did have a, ahem, er, sort of 'puffer'. It was made of Jenaer Glass, was nearly a foot tall, and was operated by a rubber bulb. Expensive to replace if broken.
Gae, in Callala Bay
It was Paul McCartney's chicken neck that brought the passage of time home to me. Aging rock stars just can't pull off that bad boy look. Or even the good boy look. "Boy" being the operative word here.
ReplyDeleteOf course, since that moment of revelation - there have been many other signs pointing to the passage of time. LOL. As you say - it's just good to be here to notice 'em.