It's Tuesday and I want to write and post and read other's writing and leave comments. It is almost March and I am gearing up for the March writing challenge, yet it is 6:24pm and I am just now getting to sit down to write.
What to write....???
I glance at today's Washington Post and the headline below the fold reads " 'I won't put you in a nursing home': A vow that sometimes can't be kept. " (Can read whole story here)
My mind thinks back to the many Grey's Anatomy episodes I have been binge-watching lately. The season I am in now has the chief taking his wife with Alzheimers to live at a nursing home after she left the burner on in the kitchen.
My mind then thinks of my own dear friend who is also showing symptoms of this disease. I wrote about her becoming a grandmother last March here. She is still living at home with her family but I wonder about her future.
I start to read the article and read this sentence: By 2050, the number of people 85 and older is projected to triple.
My mind then thinks about how this is good news for my husband's architecture firm which has a large Senior Living Division.
My mind then thinks about my current 3rd graders and how I should teach them about the field of geriatrics, apparently a growing field for future jobs.
Then I reread the sentence: By 2050, the number of people 85 and older is projected to triple and think. Just to be sure, I open the calculator on my iPhone and type in 2-0-5-0, hit the minus sign, then type in 1-9-6-3 and hit the equal sign.
87 stares at me.
I reread the sentence a third time: By 2050, the number of people 85 and older is projected to triple.
And it sinks in. I will be one of the reasons for the tripling.
I wonder where I will be living in 2050??
As an aging member of the Baby Boomers myself, I too contemplate growing older. I shared some insights into my limited point-of-view w/ my AP Lit and Comp class today. I don't "get" pop culture the way I did even a few years ago. My ability to keep up w/ changes in language, particularly in music, has slowed. If I do live to be 92, my 2050 age, I hope I have mobility and purpose. 2050 really is just around the corner.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I'm not even capable of thinking of where I'll be living 20 years from now! Lots to think about, Sally.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, I'm not even capable of thinking of where I'll be living 20 years from now! Lots to think about, Sally.
ReplyDeleteWow. I get it. I have been thinking about that lately. Just this morning I thought to myself that I want to be deliberate in the next 45 years so that I might be able to eat, keep warm, and pay for my medical care. In 2050 I will be 80 and another one of those numbers. I do not want to live in a facility and be dependent on the poorly paid staff to do the hard work of caring for elderly sweet people. I read an article the other day about a nursing facility that used music therapy to connect with patients... I want to be there. Or in the Senior Living Division your husband is designing. How many teachers will be able to afford good care?
ReplyDeleteYour post connected with me on many levels. I too am just watching Grey's for the first time but I hadn't seen the chief's wife's Alzheimer episode yet. I need to get back to binging. Thank you for sharing this post!
Wow. I get it. I have been thinking about that lately. Just this morning I thought to myself that I want to be deliberate in the next 45 years so that I might be able to eat, keep warm, and pay for my medical care. In 2050 I will be 80 and another one of those numbers. I do not want to live in a facility and be dependent on the poorly paid staff to do the hard work of caring for elderly sweet people. I read an article the other day about a nursing facility that used music therapy to connect with patients... I want to be there. Or in the Senior Living Division your husband is designing. How many teachers will be able to afford good care?
ReplyDeleteYour post connected with me on many levels. I too am just watching Grey's for the first time but I hadn't seen the chief's wife's Alzheimer episode yet. I need to get back to binging. Thank you for sharing this post!
I am way past that, Sally, and wonder how it will all work out. My husband passed two years ago from dementia connected to Parkinson's. He was in a wonderful nursing facility in the last year & a half of his life, & I am grateful that we could afford it, but it wasn't inexpensive. Since I've been connected to this area, one issue that I've read about isn't just the numbers of older people, it's that there will also be a shortage of caregivers/health workers. I hope that our country will plan well for the coming seniors, like you & so many. Wow, what a figure you've shared.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about that a lot lately as well. Scary in a way - but all we can do is live each day as best we can.
ReplyDeleteIn 2050 my daughter will be 78, and I hope I will be long gone -- don't think I want to be 108 in that future. I like how you worked your way from that one sentence through the thoughts it prompted, until you put yourself into that thought. A nice buildup.
ReplyDeleteWow. That's very interesting. The world has changed so much in the 51 years I've been alive, I'm curious what the next 49 will be like. I plan on living until I'm 100. :) Great post! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow. That's very interesting. The world has changed so much in the 51 years I've been alive, I'm curious what the next 49 will be like. I plan on living until I'm 100. :) Great post! Thanks for sharing!
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