As I connect with a number of elderly Americans, I realize that old age looks different in many ways today than it did many years ago. Many people are living longer, families are often more distanced from one another, and there's many more senior living situations available.
When you're a kid, there's a number of paths you expect to travel. Many of us expected to go to school, college or trade school, perhaps grad school, work, marriage, family, and then old age. I don't think a lot of people give old age the same kind of thoughtful preparation and planning though I know that some do. I suppose that many don''t want to think about getting old as it's not as exciting as thinking about the college you'll attend, the career you'll embark on, or the marriage and family you may have.
Yet, we'll all get old, and after spending considerable time with a lot of elderly people, I think it's a good idea to make the time to talk a bit about what you want that stage to look like. Do you want to remain in your own home? Is that realistic? Do you want to live in a more social setting? Do you want to move to a different part of the country?
Another reason that we might not think a lot about getting old is that we can't predict what that will look like for us. How long you're going to live, the challenges you will face, and the ways your family and friends' lives will change are somewhat of a mystery, a greater mystery than transitions that occur in our young lives.
I'll play around with the aging and my desires for next stages of life in the days ahead. I'll make a few plans with my loved ones and let my children know about those plans. Rather than a series of uncomfortable transitions, I'd prefer a more positive, expected process at that stage--a stage that's less stressful for my children if possible. Onward.