I turned 60 in July of 2018. I have to say, it makes you think. I have no plans to retire, and that is not one of my goals, in and of itself. I can't afford to retire at this point, so it's a good thing that I like my work. I expect to work for at least another 10 years, but since I don't know what the future will bring, who knows?
As I mentioned in another thread, the older I get the heavier the music I like. For instance, I had to travel this morning to a city about 50 miles from my home to see a business associate, and i listened to Periphery on the way up and back. Could have been Static-X, or Devin Townsend, or Pantera, but this time it was Periphery. Not sure if this music is typically popular with 60-year-olds, but probably more that you would imagine.
While I wouldn't mind dying tomorrow, for reasons that I can't go into since they would violate board rules, I also have a lot to live for. I'm currently working on learning the guitar, after playing it some in my twenties, and having been a bass player for nearly 40 years. I'm also learning Spanish, and I'm determined to become fluent. The Mexicans (actually Mexican Americans, or even Americans of Mexican descent), think it's cool that I want to learn Spanish, and they are a lot of help. I also have a family that I don't want to leave yet, having been married to the same woman for almost 37 years, and adult children that I enjoy interacting with.
My mother lived until she was 81, my dad almost made it to 86. Not sure I want to live that long. While I'm not afraid of dying, I am somewhat afraid of getting old. I'm hoping that my musical pursuits along with learning Spanish, will help me avoid the sort of dementia that my dad had. His memory was already not that great when he was my age, but the dementia didn't really get rolling until a year or two before he died. During the last months of his life, he didn't know who he was, let alone who I was. He did know that I was someone important in his life, just not exactly who. He didn't forget everything, though - he used to lead sing-a-longs with his ukulele for the other people in his memory care facility until a couple of weeks before his passing. Also read his Bible every day.
I don't heal as quickly as I used to. I did something to my back about two months ago while I was working on my truck. I had to hire a guy I know to put the valve covers back on, since it was too painful to try. I'll be getting physical therapy soon, but the chiropractor has done me a great deal of good. Still somewhat stiff, though.
A coworker of mine who is a few years younger has already had open heart surgery to replace a heart valve, and he is afflicted with gout, and really bad allergies. I'm very thankful that I have so far not experienced these things. My mother also had arthritis as far back as I can remember, and also was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (she did have a lot of aches and pains), and I have also been fortunate to mostly not experience these things so far. Sure, I have aches and pains, but so does everyone.
So what's it like to turn 60? I can't really tell you, as we are all individuals. A fair number of people don't even make it this far. For me, it was a celebration. I found it exciting, for reasons that I can't really articulate. We rented a cabin up by a local lake the weekend of my birthday, and my local kids came by and we fished and hung out and whatnot. A very fond memory.
As I mentioned in another thread, the older I get the heavier the music I like. For instance, I had to travel this morning to a city about 50 miles from my home to see a business associate, and i listened to Periphery on the way up and back. Could have been Static-X, or Devin Townsend, or Pantera, but this time it was Periphery. Not sure if this music is typically popular with 60-year-olds, but probably more that you would imagine.
While I wouldn't mind dying tomorrow, for reasons that I can't go into since they would violate board rules, I also have a lot to live for. I'm currently working on learning the guitar, after playing it some in my twenties, and having been a bass player for nearly 40 years. I'm also learning Spanish, and I'm determined to become fluent. The Mexicans (actually Mexican Americans, or even Americans of Mexican descent), think it's cool that I want to learn Spanish, and they are a lot of help. I also have a family that I don't want to leave yet, having been married to the same woman for almost 37 years, and adult children that I enjoy interacting with.
My mother lived until she was 81, my dad almost made it to 86. Not sure I want to live that long. While I'm not afraid of dying, I am somewhat afraid of getting old. I'm hoping that my musical pursuits along with learning Spanish, will help me avoid the sort of dementia that my dad had. His memory was already not that great when he was my age, but the dementia didn't really get rolling until a year or two before he died. During the last months of his life, he didn't know who he was, let alone who I was. He did know that I was someone important in his life, just not exactly who. He didn't forget everything, though - he used to lead sing-a-longs with his ukulele for the other people in his memory care facility until a couple of weeks before his passing. Also read his Bible every day.
I don't heal as quickly as I used to. I did something to my back about two months ago while I was working on my truck. I had to hire a guy I know to put the valve covers back on, since it was too painful to try. I'll be getting physical therapy soon, but the chiropractor has done me a great deal of good. Still somewhat stiff, though.
A coworker of mine who is a few years younger has already had open heart surgery to replace a heart valve, and he is afflicted with gout, and really bad allergies. I'm very thankful that I have so far not experienced these things. My mother also had arthritis as far back as I can remember, and also was diagnosed with fibromyalgia (she did have a lot of aches and pains), and I have also been fortunate to mostly not experience these things so far. Sure, I have aches and pains, but so does everyone.
So what's it like to turn 60? I can't really tell you, as we are all individuals. A fair number of people don't even make it this far. For me, it was a celebration. I found it exciting, for reasons that I can't really articulate. We rented a cabin up by a local lake the weekend of my birthday, and my local kids came by and we fished and hung out and whatnot. A very fond memory.