Old Age...

I am older now than I have ever been before!

So are you.

I am now...and have been for several years...the oldest living male in my family in three generations. (It could be even more generations, but since I don't do that genealogy thing, I am not certain about that fact.)

And so...when does "Old Age" begin?
And what are the symptoms of this malady?
And what comes next?

I found this:
Responses to the question, “When does old age begin?” vary by sex as well as age, with women taking the more generous view. On average, women say old age begins at age 70, according to the Pew study. Men, on average, say that old age begins at 66.

One definition of "Old Age" is that it is "the later part of normal life."

I discounted that one because by my own account...and that of others...I have not lived a normal life.

This doesn't help much either: You know you are old when you still got it, but don’t know what to do with it.

I never did have it.

When I was born:
The average new house in America sold for $4,600.
The average annual wage paid in this country was $2,400.
A portable typewriter sold for $68.37.

When I started high school:
That new house was going for $12,400.
Wages were at $5,010.
A gallon of gas sold for 25 cents.
A movie ticket cost $1.00.
A Kodak movie camera set you back $67.50.

When I moved from Indiana to California:
That house cost $13,050.
Wages came in at $6,000.
A first-class postage stamp was 5 cents.

When I moved from Los Angeles to Indianapolis:
The house was up to $14,950.
Wages had risen to $7,850.
The average new car sold here cost $2,822.
The Dow closed the year at 943.

When I began serving my first church as pastor:
That house was selling for $34,900.
Average annual wages were at $13,900.
A gallon of gas went for 55 cents.
A Samsonite business case sold for $62.00.
The inflation rate was 11.3%.

When my youngest child was born:
That house was now up to $129,300.
And wages were up to $38,100.
The average price of a new car was $17,200.
A pound of bacon was $2.53.

And when I retired:
That house...$188,900.
Those wages...$44,600.
Four years of college, on average, set you back $160,000.
A grande size latte at Starbucks cost $4.00.
A PC went for $650, and a MacBook went for $1,300.

Obviously, living to Old Age means living through incredible financial changes.

When does Old Age begin? And what are the symptoms?
For me, Old Age probably set in sometime in my late sixties.

My mental capacities weren't so much impaired as they were slowed down.
I began to have some difficulties recalling names, places, things.
Nouns...I had trouble recalling nouns. I could start a sentence with the noun in mind, but when I got to the noun, it was often gone...just gone.

Physical stuff that had been questionable for a few years, got real.
Sports that I used to enjoy participating in...softball, racquetball, basketball, distance running...weren't really fun anymore, They were more like work. And I'm certain my body no longer moved or responded in ways that it used to.
I ran my last half-marathon in 2012.
Wait, that's not true.
I ran my last half-marathon in 2011. In 2012 I finished...by jogging and walking and something akin to actual running...my last half-marathon.
Golf is still an option. And like all old golfers, I hope to shoot my age someday.
(That being the case, I have several more years to go...more than several, actually)

The hip replacement took place in 2016.

I used to think of myself as younger than I actually was.
It was a mental mirage, of course, but I thought it was mostly accurate.
Compared to many others my age, I imagined I acted younger.
Those others might have thought just the reverse.

I had said and done all I thought I could say and do in my 41-year profession.
I found that I was pretty much preaching just one or two or three sermons over and over again:
The Kingdom Is Within, Grace Trumps Everything, Times Change.
My work colleagues were gracious in allowing me to hang around at what was certainly a somewhat reduced capacity.
My long-term friends kept assuring me retirement was a good thing...and not to be feared, financially or otherwise.
When it was over, people were very kind and appreciative.
When it was over, though, it was time to go.
And I have.
Old Age will do that to ya.

What comes next? After Old Age, what is there?
Even Older Age comes next, I would think. Like I said at the beginning, I am older now than I have ever been before.
And that will be true every day hereafter...until there are no more days hereafter.
That's a "tautology."
In the discipline I studies in college...Philosophy...Logic being within that discipline...a tautology is a truth anyway you look at it.
In the profession I undertook, truth was a big deal.
And where Logic and Religion cross paths, you find this sign-post: The Truth will set you free...but first it will piss you off!
(That is also a tautology and big deal.)

I made quite a point in my final six years of sermonizing, saying (to quote Peter Putnam's poem, Detroit Jesus) that The Time on the Clock of the World is Now.

What comes next is Now, I think. And it comes until there is no more Now.

And while the transition from Old Age to The-Time-When-There-Is-No-More-Now takes place, one can enjoy each day as it comes.

Which is pretty much a good rule of thumb at any age.