We all have our story, our personal legends. We are after all, survivors of years of travail, conflict and experience. And yes, we can ‘retire’ in both the financial sense and mental sense. But is that what we, the grey power, are worth - $400 a week for the rest of our lives? $400 a week for our knowledge, wealth of experience and the sheer day to day survival skills we have gathered over the years. Are we supposed to succumb to health problems now we have hit our ‘twilight years’?
Are we supposed to settle just because society says it is so? Do we just accept what is happening to our bodies as ‘old age’ expectations? Don’t we realise we still have a mind, quite often two feet and two legs, feelings of youth, and a purpose. We are not an invisible mass ignored by a society that is obsessed with youth, size 0 bodies and a tan. If youth are taught to dream doesn’t the old person have a right to ambition, feelings and a purpose? We are not here just to be the babysitters for our children’s children. We are just so organised, we generally can fit that into our schedule as well.
We have made it through some incredible years, and experienced all sorts of journeys. We have made it through the all those delusional years that the man we married was our prince, perfect in every way and that he would love us forever and bring home the bacon; that the woman we married would always be our sex goddess, size 0 and cater to our every fantasy; that love and marriage was the ultimate happy every after and that it all just going to happen. We have made it through those times of despair when our prince/princess came home and said ‘honey I have found another and I am leaving’. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could say at that moment ‘thanks dear for freeing me to follow my dream of running away with a younger model. Thank you for freeing me to follow MY ‘treasure’. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could say, ‘that’s ok if you don’t want to take responsibility