Have you noticed the nature of old age changing?
People are living full, healthy lives for much longer. ‘85 is when old age begins!’ emblazoned a headline some months ago. In the press around the Queen’s birthday earlier this year we read about people in their 90s and even 100s still working, still running business, still living very full lives.
Ron’s long march
During Remembrance Week I spoke to an old soldier who was selling poppies in my local supermarket. Ron, 99, had survived Auschwitz and ‘the long march’ across Europe before liberation, though many in his Welsh regiment didn’t. He has been selling remembrance poppies for 40 years now to keep alive the memory of his fallen comrades. He still goes to church. Having a sense of purpose is especially important for older people and ‘Living God’s Purpose in Old Age’ is one of the seminars we are often asked to take.
