Octogenarianism

"No one grows old by living. Only by losing interest in living."

     - Marie Beyon Ray

George H. W. Bush, our 41st U.S. president, shares some of his thoughts about becoming 80 years old at the Forbes.com website. You may enjoy what he has to say, particularly if you're a senior as I am, or about to become a senior.

If you're only in your 20's, 30's or 40's perhaps you won't, but humor yourself and give it a shot anyway. Who knows? You may uncover some pearl of wisdom that will help you learn how to prepare for your own old age. At the very least, it may help you be a little more patient with the elderly people in your life who sometimes behave in ways that younger people find difficult to understand.

Update: Shortly after completing this post, I remembered another account on aging that I read about two years ago, searched my rapidly accumulating stack of books, and found John Jerome's work, On Turning Sixty-Five. Jerome has written a chronicle of the year leading up to his sixty-fifth birthday which is both entertaining and enlightening. If you're one of those people on the threshold of this stage of life, it would be a fun read for you.