A New Normal

Since I have only a few days left in Montreal before I head out to Ontario then California then Hong Kong, I've been running around saying my farewells to all the good people.  I went to say goodbye to Anne, a friend and mother of a friend, while she was coordinating an anti-ageism group. I couldn't stay long but the hour I did get to spend listening was inspiring.

One woman talked about how aging has made her feel like she's losing power and authority. That now when she talks to people, she sees they have more reasons to disregard what she says, due to their conception of her age and associated memory loss and people pay less attention to her. Then Anne talked about how elderly people see themselves as young always, that for example even after needing knee surgery and needing to ask if people remember where you put your cane and oh it's a bother but you don't see yourself as that person with the cane, and that ageism like any sexism, racism, is part internal and about how you view yourself. And then another elderly lady talked about how she gets looks from people when she says she goes to the bar for a drink and she says to them well yeah of course, I been doing that my whole life, I ain't gonna stop now and she takes the bus at 1am to go home and people say hey you can't be doing that and she says well yes I can, why not? and if you want to be treated like you're independent then you have to show you're independent and there's a whole new demographic today of people over 80, it's a new world. There has never been this in the past, hell her mother had the biggest party on her 50th birthday because that was so rare back then, I mean she's coming from the era of the horse and buggy and so today, the older generation is blazing a path for the younger generation, of how to age and how our society is going to view and treat people and see what they are capable of.