28 and 82 years old!
When I was about 28, I was stationed in japan in the Air force. One day, at the chow hall, as I sat with my friend, he told me that he "had" to visit his aunt tonight. He is from the east coast near new York and his family was trying to get him to visit an obscure aunt who was a retired schoolteacher from Iowa,in her 80s and she was on a around the world tour. He plane had just left San Francisco and landed at Tokyo and she was staying in a Hilton Hotel downtown. Was Arranged that he would have supper with her tonight.
I will report, in a few days, my experience, he says.
Days later we sat again. He told me.
Yes the aunt. We sat in a western decorated hotel dining room and the meal was all American food. My friend was aghast! Here she was, in japan, and everything around her was "western". He told her, then, this: "everything is western, why...?!"
She replies that, "of course everything is western! Next week we all are going to New Delhi India and there will be a Hilton there too with western food. In fact, in the entire month this trip will last, everything will be American!
On the way over on the japan airplane, some of the stewardesses passed out some Japanese snacks on a tray, walking down the isle. Some of us, out of politeness, took some. I took a bite and then carefully wrapped it in a napkin to throw away later"!
Why did she even go, he tells me then! Was beyond him how she, a schoolteacher no less, could be so conservative.
[retired Iowa schoolteachers, on a 30 day around the world trip. Most were in their late 70s and 80s, even 90s.]
Well folks, one day only a few years ago, I thought about her trip. I am now nearly 77 years old and I live in a senior retirement place and I have heard that 20% of the residents are over 90 years old. Two of my meal seatmates are in their middle 90s.
I see now how It Is, for the retired school teachers on that trip!
Delicate digestion!
When one is over 80, or even before, not only that foreign foods might contain bacteria that creates bathroom "runs", but that unfamiliar food, highly spiced and made with different ingredients, one bite for a person might ruin her entire trip! Then too, seniors need more sleep and *any* unfamiliar bedroom might keep one awake. A trip of a lifetime ruined, for another teacher, due to not being able to sleep in an unfamiliar bed. Probably this way is the only way that these people could actually make this trip!
[the study of the Russian seniors who lived to be 100...110...115, the doctors discovered it was not the yogurt, it was that they had very little stress. If hail ruined their crop, it was the act of God, beyond their control. But surprise; the best predictor for a long life was that they ate at the very same time every day, went to bed, got up, at the same time and for like 90 years! Very *very* stable habit patterns!
[little wonder rock band musicians burn out at an early age! Road trips and random schedules....]
Seniors.
The words....regularity, dependability, habitually, surety, safety, security....these words and concepts are Balm to seniors! Required way to live!
Not all seniors are like this, of course. I am nearly 77 but I can feel the Drift! Why when I was young, on a long road trip I wondered why old people would check into a motel at 4 pm! Why, the day is still young, I would drive after supper until 8 or 10 pm. When I was about 50, though, on my last trip, I not only checked into a motel at 4 pm, utterly exhausted, but I slept until nearly 8 am the next morning!
Sometimes a friend takes out to Panaras coffee shop. I see all of the college students and young people On the Way Up. I can imagine them in their old age. But now, would I warn them of their fate? No! One should expand their awareness, reach out, grow, explore. Would I rain upon their picnic? No....
I know someone, here at the Oaks, who is 94 years old. He attends *every* exercise class! One day he came to four classes! Last month he flew to San Francisco for a math symposium.
So there are exceptions. The Trick is...be still young in heart and soul and spirit, even as you trundle along on your walker!
----freestone
When I was about 28, I was stationed in japan in the Air force. One day, at the chow hall, as I sat with my friend, he told me that he "had" to visit his aunt tonight. He is from the east coast near new York and his family was trying to get him to visit an obscure aunt who was a retired schoolteacher from Iowa,in her 80s and she was on a around the world tour. He plane had just left San Francisco and landed at Tokyo and she was staying in a Hilton Hotel downtown. Was Arranged that he would have supper with her tonight.
I will report, in a few days, my experience, he says.
Days later we sat again. He told me.
Yes the aunt. We sat in a western decorated hotel dining room and the meal was all American food. My friend was aghast! Here she was, in japan, and everything around her was "western". He told her, then, this: "everything is western, why...?!"
She replies that, "of course everything is western! Next week we all are going to New Delhi India and there will be a Hilton there too with western food. In fact, in the entire month this trip will last, everything will be American!
On the way over on the japan airplane, some of the stewardesses passed out some Japanese snacks on a tray, walking down the isle. Some of us, out of politeness, took some. I took a bite and then carefully wrapped it in a napkin to throw away later"!
Why did she even go, he tells me then! Was beyond him how she, a schoolteacher no less, could be so conservative.
[retired Iowa schoolteachers, on a 30 day around the world trip. Most were in their late 70s and 80s, even 90s.]
Well folks, one day only a few years ago, I thought about her trip. I am now nearly 77 years old and I live in a senior retirement place and I have heard that 20% of the residents are over 90 years old. Two of my meal seatmates are in their middle 90s.
I see now how It Is, for the retired school teachers on that trip!
Delicate digestion!
When one is over 80, or even before, not only that foreign foods might contain bacteria that creates bathroom "runs", but that unfamiliar food, highly spiced and made with different ingredients, one bite for a person might ruin her entire trip! Then too, seniors need more sleep and *any* unfamiliar bedroom might keep one awake. A trip of a lifetime ruined, for another teacher, due to not being able to sleep in an unfamiliar bed. Probably this way is the only way that these people could actually make this trip!
[the study of the Russian seniors who lived to be 100...110...115, the doctors discovered it was not the yogurt, it was that they had very little stress. If hail ruined their crop, it was the act of God, beyond their control. But surprise; the best predictor for a long life was that they ate at the very same time every day, went to bed, got up, at the same time and for like 90 years! Very *very* stable habit patterns!
[little wonder rock band musicians burn out at an early age! Road trips and random schedules....]
Seniors.
The words....regularity, dependability, habitually, surety, safety, security....these words and concepts are Balm to seniors! Required way to live!
Not all seniors are like this, of course. I am nearly 77 but I can feel the Drift! Why when I was young, on a long road trip I wondered why old people would check into a motel at 4 pm! Why, the day is still young, I would drive after supper until 8 or 10 pm. When I was about 50, though, on my last trip, I not only checked into a motel at 4 pm, utterly exhausted, but I slept until nearly 8 am the next morning!
Sometimes a friend takes out to Panaras coffee shop. I see all of the college students and young people On the Way Up. I can imagine them in their old age. But now, would I warn them of their fate? No! One should expand their awareness, reach out, grow, explore. Would I rain upon their picnic? No....
I know someone, here at the Oaks, who is 94 years old. He attends *every* exercise class! One day he came to four classes! Last month he flew to San Francisco for a math symposium.
So there are exceptions. The Trick is...be still young in heart and soul and spirit, even as you trundle along on your walker!
----freestone
This post first appeared on My Life After Near Death Experiences, please read the originial post: here
