THAT OLD FEELING

Today is my little brother’s 111^th birthday. I think that’s pretty special, so I sent him a birthday greeting. It’s hard to find a card for an occasion like that, so it had to be an email. And in a few days I’ll have an opportunity to say happy 112^th. Allow me to explain.

When he was a young man, sixteen or seventeen I suppose, he sent away for his birth certificate and received a little card from Statistics Canada informing him that he’d been born on August 12. Well, my mother knew better, we all knew better, his birthday was the 17^th and always had been. Mom complained bitterly, but she soon discovered you can’t beat Stats-Can. Eventually my Aunt Eleanor, who had kept a detailed journal for years, came to the rescue and established beyond a doubt that he’d actually been born on the 12^th. O well, Mama had eight kids, so we all laughed, teased her mercilessly, cut her some slack eventually, and moved on. And my little brother became the only person I know of, besides the Queen of England, who has two birthdays every year.

Well, when he responded to my greeting he reflected a little upon the feeling and lack of feeling of ageing, and he asked me an interesting question. “How old do you feel?” My response was in two parts as follows:

OLD – I think age is a "useful" statistic that doesn't really tell us very much. It's like all the other "useful" labels: race, ethnicity, religion, orientation, etc. They tell others a lot of very "useful" stuff about us, but much of it isn't true.

FEEL – Sometimes I feel a little: stiff in the mornings, tired in the evenings, lost in restaurant conversations, nervous on skates, inspired by young people, frustrated by people my own age, sentimental about pictures of my kids when they were little, fulfilled by my grandchildren, astounded that I'm married to a grandmother, and amazed at how good she still looks after all these years. But I never feel 62. As far as I'm concerned 62 is not a feeling, condition, limitation or value. It's just a number, albeit a somewhat humbling number, as it reminds me just how long it has taken me to learn so many simple and obvious things.

Now it’s your turn.

How old do you feel?

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