City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

Life after eighty, a personal perspective of living well and staying happy, Richard J. Smith, Ph.D

Life after eighty

Richard J. Smith, Ph.D

a personal perspective of living well and staying happy

COPING WITH OLD AGE. Old age might be measured by changes in physical and cognitive health rather than by birthdays. We grow old differently, but we all grow old. At some point we experience a diagnosis, an accident or an event that signals that we will never be as comfortable or safe living as we have in the past. Those who investigate and find suitable accommodations for their old age fare better than those who do not. Timely and prudent actions pay off in comfort and safety. Denial and delayed action often result in passing the unwelcome job to children--often themselves old--who do it less easily and less satisfactorily than their parents could have done it themselves had they initiated the process when they were still able to do so. In the intervening time their parents have been uncomfortable and perhaps unsafe, by unnecessarily "toughing it out" or "hanging in there." The author explains why neither is wise nor necessary