Laurie Snider
Notes from the Nest
I hit a bit of a milestone on the weekend when I turned 55. According to my wisenheimer sons, both in their 20s and who adore teasing me, I’m now a senior. With great delight and amusement, they were pleased to list off all the bumps, on the dark and dreary road known as aging, that lay ahead of me. In essence things are about to start falling off, hanging off, or turning off and what’s left will become saggy and gray. Yikes!
According to findlaw.ca there’s no specific age when someone is considered a senior in Canada. When I started researching, a wide age range was offered and it varies by country, from the mid-forties to the seventies. As life expectancy rates in developed countries have risen, to beyond 80 years in some cases, the definitions have changed.
The United Nations has denoted 65 as the beginning of the later years in life. Most western countries have set a retirement age, for citizens, at 60-65 and eligibility for social programs then. In Canada, most government benefits, such as Old Age Security or Canada Pension Plan, don’t kick in until 60 or 65 and unless it’s changed, starting in 2023, it will rise to 67.
A group of Gerontologists have even come up with sub-groups about aging, young old (65-74), middle old (75-84) and oldest old (85-plus). A 2016 paper published in the journal ‘Nature,’ concluded the maximum human lifespan to be 115, with an absolute upper limit of 125! Holy moly!
Even the age for senior discounts varies widely. For instance, a few places such as Rona begin offering age related bonuses at age 50, a few more are to be had, at my new level of maturity, but many don’t start until 60 or 65.
For example, if you decide to take Via Rail to go shopping at Giant Tiger and stop at the TD Bank or Scotiabank to pick up some cash, then to get an age-related deduction, you need only have lived six decades. However, if your plans include a trip to Toronto or Ottawa, with a stop for funds at the Royal Bank or CIBC, and you plan to a visit a museum like the Hockey Hall of Fame or a stop at a Parks Canada site, then be prepared to prove you’re 65, before you’ll get a concession.
The person who has lived to be the oldest age on record, is Jeanne Calment of France, who lived to be 122 years, 164 days old! Wow! She very nearly made the upper limit! She lived from 1875-1997 and actually met Vincent van Gogh, when she was 12. My goodness, she must have had some stories to tell!
The longest living Canadian, was Marie-Louise Meilleur of Quebec, who lived to be 117, plus 230 days. She also holds the record, as the fifth oldest living person ever when she died in 1998. She was married twice, had 12 children and out-lived eight of them. She had 85 grandchildren, 80 great-grans, 57 great greats, and four greats, times three! Amazingly, she smoked until she was 102, when she quit because she caught a cold. She said the secret to a long life was, “hard work,” and in her case, apparently, smoking!
Females generally live longer, then males. On the top 100 list I checked out of supercentenarians, the top 15 were all female. In fact, only six males made the list. The country that offers the longest life expectancy, is Monaco. If it isn’t convenient for you to move there, don’t worry, Canada is 11th on the list.
Next time a less seasoned individual starts to jest about your dotage, try reminding them according to studies, older citizens are happier, less stressed, more agreeable and because of their crystalized intelligence (a real thing), they’re better at using what they’ve learned. And as the real cherry on top, sexual satisfaction improves with age! If they continue to taunt about your slow response times to questions, let them know it’s because of the enormous amount of data, older persons have stored in their brains, they need to sift through.
Senior years provide a chance to pursue all kinds of new passions and activities, further your education and even write a weekly newspaper column. Colonel Sanders didn’t found KFC until he was 65. Benjamin Franklin didn’t retire until age 82, Grandma Moses received her last art commission at age 99 and Robert Redford just decided to retire from acting at age 82. He has a movie in theatres right now.
It seems both Randy and I, are tippy-toeing into our senior years and its perfectly fine. For us age is just a number, it’s the living you do getting there that really counts!