Some say age is just a number. Usually this trite expression alludes to some form of an elder accomplishing something surprising, given their numerical age, or perhaps a celebratory greeting card with less than subtle overtones.
Certainly, most often it is stated without malevolence, meaning it to be some form of a tribute or dark humor. However, the more I see it stated, the more I find it irksome. At the peril of over analyzing a hackneyed phrase, it discounts the accumulation of living a life, where experiences of journeying through this incarnation are not merely linear.
Five years ago, a few weeks after turning seventy, I had major surgery and was in the hospital for eleven days. Besides the obvious physical awareness of the event, other aspects of life became manifest. I was prodded into a more elder consciousness, with aspects subtle and nuanced, and yet profound. I evolved to an unabashed, grateful elder, crossing a threshold with humble reverence, from adulthood to Elderhood.
I had always avoided the “age is just a number” cliche not really knowing why. Now I do. Age is far more than a number.
And isn’t it amazing how “ things” matter less and less as connection to people loved matters more….
I always look forward to reading your blog and carrying the
Insights and observations around in my head for consideration.
From one grateful elder to another grateful elder…I celebrate
your life of vision, of wisdom and of friendship !