You're Only as Old as...

I have come to the conclusion that age is really relative to how old you think you are. I have met very old people (physically and emotionally) that were in their mid-forties. I have also met people who were young at 80+. Working with the geriatric crowd used to really depress me. I was getting to the point that I did not want to get old and everything associated with age was horrible. Granted, in my line of work, much of what I do revolves around the elderly and there associated ailments and complaints.

A few years back I was assigned to medical standby a Master's track meet. It was one of the most encouraging, attitude changing events in my life. We were surrounded by many athletes, the youngest being about 55 years old. They were all having the time of their lives. One little guy in a hot pink suit jogged up to talk to us and while jogging in place, stated that he could see how those "old" people could do the distance events, since he felt he really could not do that any more. When we asked what event he was in, he stated, "the hurdles!"...at 88 years old! A few minutes later, we watched the hurdles and on the third jump, a very tall 74 year old man caught the hurdle and went down in a bleeding heap. As we grabbed our gear, we watched in amazement as he staggered to his feet, ignored the bleeding, and finished second.

This was a quiet shift with only two calls. Our average patient age was 95. One was old at 92, and the other was a spry young gentleman of 97. Apparently, he is sharp as a tack and works at least two crossword puzzles a day. If only we all could be that young...