Yet another sign of aging

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There are many signs of aging: greying hair, wrinkles, aches and pain, noticing deaths.

Over the past little while, I have noticed that listening to deaths is becoming increasingly personal When I was younger, hearing about the death of an individual was not terribly poignant. It might be tragic in the case of a young person, but in the case of an old person, it was something that happened.

Nowadays, even the death of an older person seems more personal. I pay attention and wonder how short their life seemed.

Ruth Brown (a blues singer) died on 17-November-2006 at the age of 78.

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

Matt said…
I've never thought about it like that...that how you react to death can be a sign of aging.

Maybe there's something to it. Coincidence is boring.
November 20, 2006 8:07 PM
Mother of Invention said…
Yes, certainly we hear it more as we age, our own parents and our friends' parents, and then people our own age.

Wow, didn't hear about Ruth Brown....she was great..married to Charles, wasn't she? They sang together on one of Bonnie Raitts's albums.
November 20, 2006 11:17 PM
Barbara said…
Have you also noticed how your definition of OLD changes as you become older? There was a time when I thought someone my age was ancient.
November 21, 2006 5:52 PM
Richard said…
matt: seeing grey in my hair (not that it is noticeable), or seeing a few wrinkles, noting the loss of elasticity in my skin did not real bother me. I realized I was getting old when I found my first grey chest hair. sigh.

There are many ways in which your perceptions change as you get older. Death is no longer something that happens to people when the get old; death is something that robs living people of opportunity.

MOI: I don't know who she was married too. But she had a nice voice. I am not sure deaths are on the rise in my family (I have a very, very small family).

barbara: I still remember when I thought 20 was old.
November 21, 2006 6:06 PM
Matt said…
I've heard that your intelligence peaks in your late 20's. Then it's all downhill.

I think I was more intelligent a few years ago. No grey chest hair yet though.
November 21, 2006 7:45 PM
Richard said…
matt: intelligence is a tricky thing to measure. We can measure knowledge, but I think intelligence is one of those things that is hard to measure - probably only seen in hindsight.

I think that what we have when we are younger is more drive to achieve. As we get older and more settled, we slow down. Rather than wanting to spend 60, 80, 100 hours per week working to prove and achieve something, I feel more like sitting by the fire and reading stories to my kids.
November 23, 2006 6:10 PM
Matt said…
I also feel like sitting by the fire and reading stories to my kids instead of working to prove and achieve something. The problem is that I don't have any kids.

You sound like a really good father.
November 24, 2006 8:05 AM
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