Annie Mary Robertson aka Grandma Moses
Many people are either required to retire from their jobs at about age 65 or voluntarily elect to do so. If one is in good health at that age, the odds are reasonably good that they will still have approximately another three decades to live, which is far longer than any previous generation experienced. As such, it is important for this demographic to reflect on how they can reinvent themselves during this stage of their lives — to experience happiness, enjoy new activities, maintain a sense of purpose, make new friends, and to feel creatively, emotionally and intellectually fulfilled and inspired.
Thirty or more years after retirement is far too long a time for a person to be static. The implications of this new reality include the fact that many extended families may even have five generations alive at the same time. The famous artist Anna May Robertson Moses (1860–1961), popularly known as Grandma Moses, lived to be 101 years old, but did not start painting until she was age 78. Although she was not from our modern-day era, she stands as an historic role model for future centenarians — an example of how to reinvent oneself during the last decades of life. She is proof that there is always more for us to discover about ourselves and the world around us.
The more people engage, the less they will experience depression, isolation, and loneliness. New friends, new hobbies, and a keen desire to learn new things should be part of one’s focus as life moves forward.
I am keenly aware that this new reality of extended longevity may be fleeting. My generation of retirees has the privilege to take advantage of a life stage that affords us time to reinvent. Future generations may not be so fortunate.
The poet Robert Browning, who died at age 77 in 1889, wrote a famous poem that was inspired by Jewish mysticism. These few lines below are from the dramatic monologue poem “Rabbi Ben Ezra” published by Browning in 1864. I believe these are some of the best-known lines on old age in the history of the English language:
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life,
For which the first was made.
Our times are in his hand
Who saith: "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half, Trust God: see all, nor be afraid!
Even more than 160 years ago, Robert Browning was wise enough to appreciate the realities of becoming old. But today a couple of more decades of life expectancy have been added to the mix!
Dr. Hugh Winig is a retired psychiatrist and a longtime OLLI @Berkeley member and volunteer.