My Sixties Are Turning Out Awesome

headbang8

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Just noticed: the blurb below my avatar says I joined this board in 2004. In truth, I’ve been a member for a bit longer than that.

It means that when I last introduced myself—if I ever did, I can’t recall—I would have been in my mid-forties. Maybe it’s time for a re-introduction, this time as a 62 year-old man. (My pics are current, since I still have the Hawaiian shirts)

What have I got to say for myself at 62? It’s that my sixties are turning out way better than I ever expected.

No, I haven’t retired yet. Financially, that’s still a way off. But I have started my own business, and it’s great.

My sex drive ain’t what it was in my twenties. But it’s better than it was in my forties. Shedding stupid inhibitions gave me an erotic boost. And a sexy husband helps.

Yes, age-related health issues have crept up on me. But they’re manageable. Type 2 diabetes runs in our family, but I’ve managed to keep it at bay by being careful. When my father was my age, he’d been on insulin for half a decade.

I have lived with the German healthcare system for a dozen years, and many meticulous doctors have identified and fixed long-standing health problems. Sleep apnea. Deviated septum. I always thought I was a wimp for not being able to run long distances, until my doctor said it was no wonder, since one leg is shorter than the other. Like, it’s been true all my life, and it took until now for someone to notice.

But the biggest game changer, health-wise and everything-else-wise, was being diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 58. (I credit moving to Germany with this discovery. If you want to be corrected every time you’re not paying attention, this is definitely the right place!). Medications made a dramatic difference. Reading, writing, thinking...all much easier and more productive. I’m even considering going back to law school, or to grad school.

I don’t regard myself as a wise man, but I’m much wiser than I was. What they say about not giving a fuck what other people think about you as you get older, is absolutely true. This wisdom helped me deal with plenty of family-of-origin issues. It took me until the age of 61 to actually say to myself that I wasn’t such a bad kid, in spite of my parents’ opinion. That small insight is a source of great comfort.

In the novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, by Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa, the titular scriptwriter was aging out of his talent. The first appearance of any hero in his scripts would carry the description of a man of fifty, in the prime of his life. That was meant as a running joke. But the way I feel right now, I think Vargas Llosa pitched it a little too young.

Plenty to be grateful for. And I’m happy I can talk about it in a friendly, open place like this.

Who else is happy to be sixty?
 
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Betty_Cocker

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I'm knock knock knocking on 60's door. Not there quite yet. But I'm very happy.
Went to the Dr yesterday for my physical.
High cholesterol (like, really high) and high blood pressure (and I've typically always run low.) So, my goal before 60 is to shed 35 pounds, get back to running a 5k, this summer I need to swim at least 1 mile a week (minimum) only a few short years ago I was doing 2 miles a day, so....I think I can.

If I plan on continuing the happy lifestyle I'm accustomed to it means I need to get back to taking Care of me first.

Congratulations on finding yourself in Germany.
 

BillM

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Clipart%20Welcome%20Back%2009.jpg
 

HotThroatLA

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You may be the most Senior active member we have. I will not say welcome, as that would be silly. I will just say, keep on doing what ever you are doing; because it works

Welcome back! Although I will say the most active senior here, hands down, is @basque9!
If I remember correctly, he's currently in his mid-80's!
 

basque9

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Welcome back! Although I will say the most active senior here, hands down, is @basque9!
If I remember correctly, he's currently in his mid-80's!

87 is arriving at summer's end, hot mate @ HotThroatLA.
 

headbang8

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You may be the most Senior active member we have.
There are plenty of active members who are way more senior than me. If I can be half as awesome as @basque9 in 25 years, I’ll be chuffed.

And I’m loving the word SENIOR. I’m a fucking senior, bitches! I always offer my seat on public transport to women, the injured and the elderly. A few weeks ago it dawned on me that goddamn it, I might have as much a claim to the seat as some of the others I’d been offering it to. So I started offering my seat to school students struggling with backpacks and sporting gear. I do like to see the look on their faces.

It wasn’t until last week it occurred to me that I could buy an over-60 bus ticket. I can’t wait until one of those young whippersnapper ticket inspectors comes along, and he asks me for ID because he can’t believe I qualify. And even if he takes one look at the bald greybeard before him and decides I’m convincingly senior, I’ll wear that judgement with pride! Being a senior kicks ass!
 
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Excellent thread, thanks for the re-intro, Mr. Bang.

I'll be 64 in 3 weeks. In many ways, I'm in better shape than I have ever been, though creaky knees are annoying at times.

What is especially fun for me is that a good friend from college days, another musician with whom I played a joint senior recital in 1976, has asked me to play a small private concert with him in June to celebrate his 65th birthday. We are calling it our second "senior" recital. ;)

I asked a talented friend to arrange a special version of the Beatles' "When I'm 64" for us as an homage to my considerably younger status.

I originally joined here, as ThreeLegsGood, in 2011. After a few years off, I did a stint as EE2014, recently restarting with my former handle, which I always liked.

Happy 60s and beyond, fellow old-timers!
 

headbang8

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Excellent thread, thanks for the re-intro, Mr. Bang....

I originally joined here, as ThreeLegsGood, in 2011. After a few years off, I did a stint as EE2014, recently restarting with my former handle, which I always liked.

I’ve been digging the discussion on this thread, too. Glad you’re enjoying it.

And only us old timers get the literary reference in your username, right?
 
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I expect you are correct. 1984 may still be required in high school, but Animal Farm?
 
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ronin001

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There are plenty of active members who are way more senior than me. If I can be half as awesome as @basque9 in 25 years, I’ll be chuffed.

And I’m loving the word SENIOR. I’m a fucking senior, bitches! I always offer my seat on public transport to women, the injured and the elderly. A few weeks ago it dawned on me that goddamn it, I might have as much a claim to the seat as some of the others I’d been offering it to. So I started offering my seat to school students struggling with backpacks and sporting gear. I do like to see the look on their faces.

It wasn’t until last week it occurred to me that I could buy an over-60 bus ticket. I can’t wait until one of those young whippersnapper ticket inspectors comes along, and he asks me for ID because he can’t believe I qualify. And even if he takes one look at the bald greybeard before him and decides I’m convincingly senior, I’ll wear that judgement with pride! Being a senior kicks ass!

Ha Ha actually I was referencing that you are a 2004 Member, that makes you a Sr, member to about 95% of LPSG. That and you are still active on the site :emoji_older_man: