Kathy, 57 yrs

"Being old to me means stopping. Stopping living, learning, and all the things that make life enjoyable.

I’ve known people who are 30 years younger than me who are old. They are working jobs that they hate, they don’t find any kind of joy in life. And then there are people who are 45 years older than me who are very young. They are still enjoying their lives.

I view aging as the opportunity to gain more experiences. I challenge myself to do something new every year. I’ve travelled across the world alone, done an open mic night. There is so much more I want to do.

I take care of my mom and dad but also my son, so I am part of the sandwich generation. I feel the caregiver burden and it can be exhausting. However, I meet with a group of people who are in a similar position to me and we keep each other from burning out. Even though I am an older adult, I still have other people who are relying on me.

I don’t worry about wrinkles and other changes related to age. I don’t have much choice in it so I can either fight it or accept it. There is so much in our lives that is out of our control. I’d much rather put that energy into stuff that I can change. I also work with young people and that makes me feel young.

I’m thinking of starting a jewellery business when I retire. I started my hobby of beadwork when I was 30 and I still continue on to this day. I don’t want to stop working completely so this will give me a different purpose.

We need to start telling the good stuff about aging. I am forgetful now, but I was also forgetful when I was younger, it has nothing to do with aging. We’re conditioned to associate forgetfulness with aging due to the media.

Aging is something that happens to your body chronologically, not something that happens to you as a person. There are people in their 60s and 70s that are starting to run marathons. When it is not out there, then people aren’t going to know. We need to tell more of these stories.”