Old enough to be a grandparent, but is that ‘old’?

I think the question is, “What’s your brand of old?” Are you a senior citizen or senior partner; geezer or golden ager? How does it look in your mirror and what does it mean to you?

As a writer I looked up synonyms hoping to find a word that might fit for me. I find ancient, elder, old folk, old-timer, oldster and pensioner — nope, not going there. Sage and seasoned have a positive ring to them, though they might better apply to a roast chicken. I’m looking for a word that means older but doesn’t make me feel “old,” decrepit, diminished or enfeebled.

So then I look up definitions. (Hey, I may be old, but I know how to Google.) The consensus seems to be that “middle age” is between 45 and 65. “Old age” generally seems to start between 65 and 70 or 71 in Europe for men and 73 for women. In the U.S., the Social Security Administration thinks anyone over the age of 65 is elderly, though in 1983, under Ronald Reagan, they raised the full retirement age to 67, and that change is still being implemented.

The nice thing about

Google is that you often get a dollop of history as a side benefit. So, I learned that Germany was the first nation in the world to adopt an old-age social insurance program in 1889. Some say that Germany adopted age 65 as the standard retirement age because that was Bismarck's age. Actually, they chose 70 as the retirement age (and Bismarck was 74). Later they changed to 65. Many in the United States and elsewhere have proposed another update to 75 or older. 

Say what you will about Boomers, but we’ve been making it up as we went along and breaking the rules about what it means to be grown-ups since miniskirts and bell bottoms were in fashion. We just aren’t cut out to fit into molds — or get moldy for that matter.

We’re known for bucking the trends and making new ones.  

For example, on the Coastside, we made our own village. Village of the Coastside is a group actively engaging the future of aging. We adopt what works and challenge what doesn’t.  

I think of us as the Advanced Guard. We’re thinking ahead, trying things out, making alliances and working to influence changes. We connect to each other and resources. If you are planning on getting old, know that we are here for you. But we are not your parents’ grandparents.  

Are we old?  I’m calculating it this way: If you are old enough to be someone’s grandparent, you might be old. Though, with that as the measuring point, I’ve decided that I’d like to be referred to as “grand.” Now that’s something to look forward to.

Deborah Harter Williams is a longtime Coastsider and a member of the Village of the Coastside. To learn more, visit villageofthecoastside.org.