Wow Maggie!
I love your openness/invitation to intimacy. I think it is incredibly beautiful to share the realities of experiencing aging, if we are fortunate we will all have them.

I take note based on what you have shared and what I have observed with my parents of the growth and wisdom that can continue to unfold as we 'grow' older in age which seems to have little to do with 'spirit'(i.e. the fun-loving, aliveness, and youthfulness you mention).

I too hope that there will be an effort as we make changes in healthcare to make sure that medications are available and affordable for any person that needs them.

When something really strikes you, gives you the impulse, then I am sure you'll write your political blog and meanwhile I enjoy getting to know you:)

Great post, Mom. I hope I'm still learning and growing when I reach your age.

Happy Birthday when it rolls around, Maggie. You're about 4 years ahead of me for the 70 milestone. Congratulations.

My Aunt just turned 100 a couple of weeks ago. As she was preparing for a day of partying, she fell and broke her hip. When the docs checked it out, they found she had a lot of bone left and she is healing up quite well. She remained chipper and positive through the whole ordeal. Very inspirational.

Bernard Shaw remarked when he was 75: OH TO BE A YOUNG MAN OF 55 AGAIN.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr remarked at age 90: Oh to be a young man of 75 again.

HA!

Three score and ten and you are still movin lady.
Good for you.

Maggie, darling, you Look Marvelous...

Meet you at 100!

So, so many more....

My oldest sister will be turning the big seven-oh this year as well. She still has all her teeth. ;o) I kid her about being 'old' and she kids me about being the 'baby'. Like you, she hasn't stopped growing. Do you think maybe that's the secret? Never stop learning, never stop expanding your field of vision?

Where to begin. I'll be 68 next month, a committed atheist, pass for much younger, fight off young women but am totally committed to my wife of 33 years, who is young and beautiful at 63. I've led an unusual life, hitchhiked across the country twice, lived in many cities and states, changed careers several times, finally got an MBA, consulted for companies across America. I learned to play golf late about age 22, never rode a cart unless I was forced to. In keeping with that, I exercise faithfully. If I'm not walking a golf course that day, I walk several miles in a very hilly location, climb up to 15 flights of stairs (120 steps, two at a time) and fast walk a steep hill to get back home. I've been doing this for years, eat like a pig, drink like a fish. I'm not bragging, I'm a realist who realizes that I could be dead tomorrow, but I'm not planning on it. My message? Don't let anyone tell you what you can or should be doing. You may be a couch potato (I am) but do the hard stuff. Dedicate yourself, start easy and gradually build (over months, if that what it takes) up to doing the stairs or whatever you chose to do. Lay off the beer until you get your weight down to what your doctor whould like it to be, then drink all you want knowing that if the weight starts going up in spite of the work you're doing, you're gonna lay off until the weight's down again. The earlier you start the better, but it's never too late, unless you've got some serious health problems. Your spouse will love you for it (which you will find you really appreciate about twice a week, specially if she's active also) and you'll amaze everybody.

I love your attitude and your openness. But most of all I like the way in which you surely won't ever "grow up." ;O)

If ya ever find yourself needing to explain your attitude about aging, I suggest you might wish to use this. I think it pretty well sums it up for me!

Thanks for a great post.

Maggie, have you found, as you've gotten older, that you were actually HAPPIER at various stages of your life than you realized AT THE TIME?

When my kids were growing up, we were so damned broke all the time, at least, until my books started to sell, but we struggled for sooo many years, and that's pretty much what I wrote about in my journals then. It also took me so long to break into publishing, and it was so hard and seemed so impossible. (285 rejections with magazine articles; three unsold books before I finally broke in)

But I'm so glad I also did a newspaper column, because when I read through those, about all the lovely times we had horseback riding and playing family games and watching the kids romp and play with all the animals and all the ways they entertained themselves, living so far out in the country and being unable to afford things like video games--I realize that we had a truly happy life.

Another thing I've noticed is that, in my younger years, I was so much prettier than I thought I was. All I saw in the mirror was the flaws, you know, fussing over my weight or complexion or whatever.

I wish I'd REALIZED how much better things were all around than it seemed at the time.

"I have no real complaints - no one listens to them anyway".

Oh yes we do! You just blog your heart out and you will be surprised at how many people think just like you do. Besides, us your whipper snapers could learn a thing or two from someone with obvious wisdom. I love the way you are so comfortable with recognizing your own faults. They say there are two parts to wisdom: Knowing what to say, and Knowing when not to say it! You obviously are a thinker, who knows how to formulate your own opinions and determine your own conclusions. We could use more people like you in the world.

Thanks for the post and if I don't hear from you next week, have a wonderful 70th birthday!

Just one question:

Why do you think it is the government's responsibility to do something for you? What can you do for yourself?

If you've only become interested in politics recently, this should not be a far fetched question for you.