At 65, the man is a legend. He’s also a pensioner. He’s what a teenager would classify as ‘an old man’. Next month, on 25th March, it will be the turn of Elton John to blow out 65 candles on his birthday cake. Another old man.
Have we forgotten Bowie and John because of their senior years? Do we disregard them as being at the end of their productive life? Not one tiny little bit. We love them probably more than we did when they were at the height of their careers. Many of their fans weren’t even born when, in 1972, David Bowie first sang ‘Life on Mars’ and Elton John chirruped ‘Rocket Man’. Both of them could fill the O2 stadium today within minutes of tickets going on sale. We know their history, have followed their public and private stories and respect them for their talent, creativity and energy.
Image courtesy of Imdb.com
If we can celebrate the lives of old rockers, why can’t we celebrate the lives of anyone who’s made it to mature years? Why are older people considered as a drain on society and a burden on the NHS? What can we do to help ourselves to age well and stick two fingers up at an unsympathetic youth-filled culture? What are the secrets of living a happy, meaningful older age?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asking celebrities and non-celebrities who’ve made it past 50. Over the past two years, I’ve been learning what it is that makes them as enthusiastic about life now as they were in their twenties. Celebrities like Zandra Rhodes, Max Clifford and Lynda Bellingham have contributed to my book, ‘How to Age Magnificently’, yet to be completed but it’s getting there.
My research has made me more aware of the senior faces I see around Brighton. What are their stories? Was that lady waiting for a bus, a midwife for 40 years at the Royal Sussex Hospital? Maybe that old man in a cap, shuffling along St Georges Road, was a diplomat in Russia years ago? Has that couple in their 70s holding hands, fallen in love recently or have they been together for 50 years?
Our local Co-op is one of those odd little corner shops that are really too small to serve a population that has grown over the last 20 years. Consequently it can be difficult to navigate at any age. Manoeuvring around stacked boxes, sidling past other customers to reach the fresh bread, finding the end of the queue isn’t where you thought it was, but round the corner and past the wine, shopping at the corner Co-op on a busy Friday can be the equivalent of doing a slalom ski run. It’s enough to try anyone’s patience.
A young man become impatient as he queued behind an elderly lady who was trying to balance her stick, her shopping bag and find change in her purse. Audibly huffing and puffing, to him she was a nuisance. She was not quick enough. She was holding him up. He bristled with all the suppressed hi-energy of arrogant youth. She became flustered. He huffed and puffed even more.
I wanted to say, please don’t be mean. Each older person is a hero. If you’ve made it to 60, 70 or above, you will have experienced your fair share of excitement, tragedy and happiness. I wanted to share her story with him so he would understand. I wanted to say to him: ‘if you’re lucky, you too will live a life long enough to understand, that doing the things you found easy when you were young are now not quite as simple. Maybe you will remember when rapping was a transient music fad and wandering around the streets with strings hanging from your ears and your trousers at half mast, is a look you really don’t want to be reminded of.’ I wanted to say to him, let’s celebrate and respect maturity and wisdom whether someone is as famous as David Bowie or is buying a few bits and pieces in the Co-op for the week-end.
