October 1st has been designated as International Day of the Older Person by the UN and this year’s theme encourages countries to draw attention to and challenge negative stereotypes and misconceptions about older persons and ageing, and to enable older persons to realize their potential.

Benjamin Franklin, the second president of the United States famously said that nothing is as certain as death and taxes. Unless it takes us unawares, most of us attain death through ageing. And ageing means growing old. But according to Ms Papaya, my young granddaughter who shares her home with two grandparents 60s and one great-grandmother over 90, one only becomes old when one reaches the ripe old age of her great grandmother. Till then, one is only growing. This is probably her way of assuring herself that the Senior citizens around her ( particularly me), are going to be around for a long time still. At least till she is old enough to fly the nest.

Now that I’m 64, I look back at the Beatle’s song “When I’m 64” which painted a rather grim picture of an older person who questions his relevance at 64 and actually laugh. Yes, when you are young, 64 seems a faraway, miserable and lonely age. A time in your life when you become old, crinkled and withered. But as this poem by Fleur Adcock reproduced below shows us, growing older does have its advantages.

Mrs Baldwin
By Fleur Adcock

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Trite as it sounds, 60 is the new 40. Many people have just about retired or are ready to retire and begin their second innings at a slower less frenetic pace of work.

Speaking for myself , far from being an old person dependent on others, I can proudly say that it is not only Hubby Dear who needs me but almost my entire family looks to me, if not for assistance, at least for a laugh. Yes, older people are today more and more relevant albeit mainly as caregivers and advisers. They also provide many hilarious situations for the younger ones with their ineptitude in tackling the computer and other gadgets, their physical inadequacies like partial deafness, poor vision and agility to respond.

With shrinking populations and expensive child care options, most working parents rely on their parents, or elderly neighbours, to chip in with after-school care. I have not only looked after my grandchildren while they were infants in Pampers but even today regularly stand in for their parents at school events. And I’m thrilled that I can still crawl under the bed to find a toy that’s missing or Google facts that the Little Ones need NOW.

Skills that were once mandatory for earlier generations but are now largely forgotten are handy to repair ripped hems, darn socks, fix bulbs and do other jobs around the house that can be attended to before the ‘specialist’ comes in. The seasoned cook can rescue a flopped soufflé or make a meal out of leftovers while a mature and more experienced eye can help solve a problem that is seen from another angle. They can give advice or counsel with wisdom backing them.

Yes, older people do have less energy than their younger counterparts, they may find it difficult to adapt to changes and technology. They might plod on but they do. Unless they are infirm, they have the surprising ability to carry on regardless.

The resilience of older people was on display during the recent passing away of the Queen of England when the world saw her children marching stoically behind her coffin, attending various funeral ceremonies, publicly meeting people and acknowledging their condolences. And of course, numerous old people were spotted among the crowds that lined up to see the cortège pass by, or wait for the last glimpse of her coffin lying in State. Surely it must have been tough to travel the length and breadth of the country, walk/stand for hours and maintain a stiff upper lip in a situation that must undoubtedly be filled with deep sorrow.

Ciao, I’m off to wear my purple dress and gobble down three sausages!

Have a nice weekend.