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M
ILLIONS
have been believing
a myth tha t has brought on
one of modern civi liza tion's
greatest tragedies.
l saw a pitiful example of this one
day in Miami. A few o f my traveling
tea
m
decided to take a dri ve over on
Miami Beach. We crossed over near
the southern end, then drove no rth
to and through the luxury hotel
area. But driving up from the south–
ern end we passed first through a
district of economy-class re tirement
hotels.
As we drove slowly by, our atten–
tion was a rrested by the sight of
many retired "elderly" - probably
between the ages of 60 a nd 70 -
sitting idly on front verandas pass–
ing away the time. lt was the des–
ponden t, hopeless, bea ten look on
their faces that caught our atlention
and fi ll ed us with dismay. Plainly,
they had nothing to look forward
LO.
There was just a tired , uninterested ,
hopeless stare on their faces. They
were j ust eking out a n exis tence un–
ti! finally death would deliver them
from hopeless monotony .
l
had to wonder : WHY should
people believe in a myth that cheats
millions ou t of one o f the happi est
times of life? WHY shou ld the
MIL–
LIONS
believe a myth that makes
them old befo re their time and robs
them of usefulness, vigor, sparkling
interest in life, a nd rea l accomplish–
ment?
l
remember when
1
was a boy still
growing up. My two grandfathers
were dead , but my grandmoth ers,
one in her late 50s, the o ther
in
her
ea rly 60s. we re still living. Not th a t
my ancestors died young. 1 remem–
be r, between ages 3 and 5, a grea t
grandfa ther in his 90s and a great
uncle, a lso in his 90s. My mo ther
lived to age
95 Y2,
and she ha d broth–
ers and sisters who li ved into their
la te 80s and 90s.
But my g randmothers, after about
age 50 o r 55, had changed their al–
tire to dress like "old fo lks." It has
seemed to me tha t it must have be–
come custom for people to think
they are "growing old ."
1
have no–
ticed that many young meo, reach–
ing somewhere arou nd 25, begin to
culti va te a changed personality, put
on a facial expression, a nd adopt a
manner of speech of one "more
MA–
TURE. "
As they reach the later 40s
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976
Personal from .. .
THE WESTERN WORLD'S
GROWING TRAGEDY-
GROWING OLD BEFORE OUR TIME
a nd turn 50, they seem to fee l they
must talk, look, and act like they
suppose the "middle-aged" ought to
appear. And by or before 60, they
seem to feel they have now become
"old. " They a ppear to fee l their use–
fu lness is now over, and they must
" re tire."
This fee ling is so uni versal tha t
many corpora tions have re tirement
programs timed
lO
age 60 or 65.
Somehow,
l
never could qui te un–
derstand tha t type of outlook on
life.
1
have never reached "middle
age," at least not consciously - not
in my mind and manner of thinking
and acting. After age 83,
1
have en–
joyed joking a bout being "37, going
on 36." l have simply been
TOO
BUSY to think of "growing old" or
ever " retiring."
One o f our employees carne to me
at age 55. He wanted to retire. True,
he had been on our pay roll fo r sorne
25 or 30 yea rs. He had been di–
vo rced a nd had married a widow
~ho
had a camper. She had a small
mcome.
"We can travel very cheaply," he
said, "and l wa nt to get to travel
and see sorne of the United States
before 1 have to meet my Maker."
he sa id. He had already "grown
old" - in his mind . Well, "as he
thinketh in his heart, so is he," said
Solomon.
T here is a new book j ust o tr the
press,
Love in the Later Years,
a u–
thored by Dr. James A. Pete rson
and Dr. Barbara Payne, ge rontolo–
gists. T he book reports a wealt h of
research on one of the Western
world's most senseless growi ng trag–
ed ies a nd quotes sorne astonishi ng
statist ics, unrealized.
1
think, by
m
os t.
For example, it is stated tba t
so rne 70 years ago, the average li fe
span was only 47 yea rs. Few ma r–
riages !as ted until all the children
had grown to maturity and left
home. Mos t marriages ]asted only
un t il middle age and usua lly ended
by the dea th of one. Now, fo r the
first time, a t least in modero history,
many ma rriages are lasting into
what has been called "old age" - 60
and past.
Such facts actually seem rat her
shocking to me when 1 think of how
my marriage !asted 50 yea rs, lacking
31h months to the day, and l still
thought of the "wife o f my youth"
as "young," though she died at age
75\12. To me she was still only 25.
(We were both 25 when we were
ma rried .) And l have seriously
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