Coping with Old Age

2026Coping1                                (Approx. 1,000 wds.)

Coping in Old Age

     Up until now I’ve written three memoirs, The View From 85, The View From 90 and The View From 95 (all available as e-books on Amazon).  If I followed this timeline the next one would be The View From 100.  This would be being a little optimistic so I’m trying a View From 96.

      One of the aims of these Views is to depict how an old guy is coping, or trying to cope, with all the travails that come with old age.  I thought it might be helpful to list these travails and then I thought such a list might be of interest and maybe even useful to some of the older readers of Storystar.   Before getting into them I have to mention that I lost my wife Beverly over three years ago.  If Beverly was still here things would be much different, and much better.

     Getting dressed:  One thing we notice as we age is that things we once did with ease or even without even thinking have become tasks or projects.  Getting dressed in the morning is an example.  I won’t attempt to describe my dressing routine; I think everyone has to find his or hers own.  I’ll just say that you might hold on to furniture or even sit if necessary---just don’t lose your balance and fall.  Let me note the depressing statistic here that every year one in four Americans over 65 fall, making falls the leading cause of injuries among this age group.

     Falling:  I must admit that in the last few years I’ve had several falls, luckily none causing anything beyond scrapes and bruises.  After one of these falls my good next-door neighbor arranged with the Roseville Fire Department to have a lockbox installed on a post on the porch of my house.  The Fire Department has the key to the lockbox and the lockbox holds the key to my house.  Last year I had another fall and the only good thing about it was that the lockbox worked.  I called 911, told the lady who answered of my arrangement, she called the Roseville Fire Department and about 15 minutes later four burly firemen arrived and without having to break down my door came to my rescue.

     Buttons:  Returning to the matter of getting dressed, buttons are the enemy of old guys (and old fingers).  This is especially true of shirts whose designers thought it was a good idea to hide the button holes  or those shirts with tiny buttons and tinier button holes.  I can still manage these most of the time but it’s getting to be a struggle so I’ve ordered some shirts that you can just pull on over your head and thus save myself the aggravation.

     Laundry:  One of the major things you had to cope with when living alone, I soon discovered, was having your laundry done.  Beverly used to take care of this and the only thing I did was tote the clothes in a basket to and from the laundry room.  Another neighbor showed me how to use the washer and dryer, which are pretty old and so, unlike the newer ones that require a computer programmer to operate, are simple enough so even I can do it.  After a while I was not comfortable toting that basket of clothes back and forth (fear of falling) so I packed the clothes in the compartment under the seat of my walker and also on the seat and transported them that way.

     Walker:  I see I’ve mentioned my walker.  I had a basic walker issued to me by Kaiser when I’d had hip replacement surgery some ten years ago.  As I progressed through my nineties I used it more and more until it dawned on me that having a more updated one would make my life easier so I ordered this one via Amazon.  Having the seat to put things on and the compartment to put things in have made things easier.  For the laundry it takes me two trips either way but using the walker makes sure I won’t fall.

     Garbage:  Another thing you have to do no matter what else is take the garbage out every week.  I’ve heard enough stories of people falling down in their garages so here again I use my walker.  I put the garbage pail and the wastebasket full of discarded mail on the seat of the walker, get the walker out to the garage and dump everything out into the big garbage can.   Again, my neighbors help me out by taking the can down to the curb and bringing it back up.

     Things Dropping to the Floor and the Grabber:  It seems to be a universal law that the older you get and so the harder it is to bend down (and straighten back up) the more things drop to the floor.  Like my basic walker, I had what I call a grabber from my hip replacement surgery.  This is a rod of about three feet long with prongs at the end so you can pick things up with it.  This implement proved invaluable and I sent away for another grabber via Amazon.  I now keep one grabber in the living room and one in the bedroom so I have one handy when (not if) something falls to the floor, which happens almost daily.

     Amazon:  I see I’ve mentioned Amazon and I’ll just note that, as most readers probably already know, you can get almost anything via Amazon, including medications and food items.  So when you’re an old person and no longer go shopping for things in stores Amazon is invaluable.

     Living Alone:  So these are some ways this oldster is coping with things that crop up in your advanced years.   The reader will gather that I live in an empty house by myself and how do you cope with this situation?   Unfortunately, you can’t get something like a walker or a grabber to help you cope with the loneliness and the quiet.  Like getting dressed, I think every oldster has to figure out his or her own way to do it.  I may have some suggestions of things that help me  but these deserve their separate piece so I’ll end this one now.