Among Friends

[qualitygal]

That was good!!!!  I totally agree.

[Carol Diane]

The majority of the suggestions are good but I think some of them are over simplified.  What happens when a child's spouse suddenly feels marriage is too hard for them and your child has a good job and is a hard worker  but needs help to back on their feet again?  Say forget it...you're on your own?  And if there are grandchildren involved, they should "suffer" when they are innocent and had nothing to do with the situation?  I'd rather give to them now while I'm alive and they need it rather than wait until I'm gone.  Of course, I refuse to be drained of my savings but there are circumstances where a child might need help.

[MoJoV]

@house_cat  I enjoyed that list. I especially liked the reminder not to talk about "in my time." This IS my time.  Great advice.

[SunSprite]

@house_cat  #12!!! Over and over again.....

maybe I'll have a tshirt made with #12 on it 

Thanks for taking the time to share!

[this is my nic]

Well, I feel fortunate to make it into this age group!  I've outlived my dad, both grandfathers, and one grandmother.  I'm quite healthy except for a miserable painful back which makes it difficult to take even a short walk.  

The most difficult thing I've discovered about this age is that it's extremely difficult to make friends.  My two best friends moved to distant states during the past couple years and I have not met anyone who could become a friend.  One of my friends was my next door neighbor, she and her husband moved away.  The new neighbor is a wonderful person and I think we could be friends, except she stays very busy with her 100 year old mother,handicapped daughter and her grandson all who live with her, she's also involved in a civic organization that takes lots of her "spare" time.   It used to be so easy to make new friends, but for lots of reasons it becomes almost impossible as the years add up. DH is unsociable, so we aren't going to be joining any community groups.  I tried the one my neighbor is in, but couldn't contribute much time to their activities because of my aching back.  Friends have always been very important in my life, now one lives hundreds, one thousands of miles away. 

[house_cat]

@this is my nic 

Oh, how I wish we were neighbors!  I'd bring the cake and we could have coffee or tea and chat! That's my favorite thing to do and it's back friendly :-)

[this is my nic]

@house_cat 

Thank you!   I'd love that!   You might enjoy meeting my big cat, Walter! 

[vsm]

You are an inspiration, @BlueFinch .  Thanks for taking the time to give us your wisdom and insight - and most of all, your example.

[SandySparkles]

I LOVED reading this list! It obviously means different things to different people, but it reminded me of some of the little things we often take for granted. There is much to glean from the list to those who might otherwise not have considered some of these simple, but powerful concepts. Positivity is always beneficial to someone. Thanks for posting.😊

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

[JumpTheRope]

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@chrystaltree wrote:

“I thought I'd never stop reading.”     LOL    

*****(Thats what I thought while reading THIS !

Amazing how how easy it is to type a long post! 

Jk, don’t be offended!  ula)*****

 I'm sure that by the time I finished, I'd already forgot some of them.  However,  there are some things on this list that I have read elsewhere or that older friends who retired and are healthy and happy and well of financially have share.  There are also a few that just a matter of common sense.

To combine a few; we have nice incomes but we are not wealthy.  We paid for daughters to go to college,  we paid for their weddings.  We sent them to private schools and paid for dancing schools, ice skating lessons, art lessons.  We did well by them.  We have no intentions whatsoever of leaving them a single cent when we pass along.  We have insurance policies and they are the beneficiaries but our money is our money.  We save and invest and will continue working so that we can live the good life when we retire.  Not leave an inheritance for them.  Yes, indeed.  In our retirement will spend our money on ourselves.

We both work in healthcare.  Hubby has always been in excellent health, I've had my challenges.  But, thank heavens, nothing serious.  I could do better but I eat well, exersize, deal positively with stress.  Aging healthy and strong is important to me.

I am fortunate in that I married the love of my life and while have had our challenges back in the early days; we never grew apart from each other.  We have taken the same path together and our love and our marriage has grown stronger over the years.  We are close to our girls who are happy, lovely women.  We have two wonderful grandchildren.  I have friends and coworkers who have unhappy or troubled relationships with the children and I feel fortunate and blessed that we avoided that.  

Yes, I do think it's important for a person's self esteem to dress well and to take care of our skin, hair and teeth as we age.  Hubby and I both feel this way.  I think if you don't feel good about your outward appearance, you can't feel good about life.  I like that as we both age, we care less about being "in style".  We have our own individual sense of style.  

I admit, I'm not quite 60 but I find myself saying "in my time" and "back in the day" too much.  It was my 74 year old friend who told me that.

I do not believe that pain is necessarily a natural part of aging.  I do think the "machine" does break down with time and it's important to take advantage of medical practices and surgical procedures to address pain and other conditions that limit our mobility.  

It's a great list!  I agree with almost everything on it.  You can think of it as a blue print to aging happily. Although, no one can or would want to follow everything on the list.    

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 **** It is a great list. A few of those things have been on my mind lately....