Free Republic

In 2000, I published a book called “Rules for Aging,” a sort of how-to guide for navigating the later years of one’s life. I was 60 at the time and thought that I knew a thing or two about being old. Twenty-five years later, I just finished a sequel, which reflects my advice for growing very, very old. (I have been doing a lot of that lately.) It took me 85 years to learn these things, but I believe they’re applicable at any age. 1. Nobody’s thinking about you. It was true 25 years ago, and it’s true today. Nobody...

Baby Boomers are having a hard time. Not just with the economy, or the health issues that crop up in your 50s and 60s, or even getting caught between taking care of our aging parents and unemployed kids. No, I’m talking about the fact that many Boomers, of which I am one, do not want to grow up. Those of us born in the Baby Boomer period, between 1946 and 1964, range in age from 47 to 65. We are either on the young side of old, or we’re just a hop, skip and hopefully not a fall into 70....

In 1984 I was a cook at the downtown deli D.B. Kaplan's, working with a revolving cast of characters that played in bands such as Safety Last, the Neglecters, Borrowed Time, Information Society, Late Night Fish Sticks, the Altared Boys, and Bwana Devil, to name a few. As we survived breakfast and lunch rushes together, we talked about what we were doing and creating at night. That summer, with my band Laughing Stock, I tried to capture the moment by writing and recording a song called "The Local Bands" that concluded: Twenty years from now At kitchen tables we'll tell...

Thomas Sowell Growing oldRandom thoughts about growing old: Despite the problems that come with aging, I would not be a teenager again for $1,000 a day plus expenses. I never really felt old until my younger brother retired. This is the period of life that Disraeli referred to as quot;anecdotage.quot; Nothing is more ridiculous than discounts for senior citizens, when people in their 60s have far more wealth than people in their 30s. These are my declining years. I decline all sorts of invitations and opportunities. People who talk about quot;earlier and simpler timesquot; are usually too young to remember...