"Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande

There are more than 40 million people in the US over the age of 50, and that's just one statistic.  There are millions of us Baby Boomers who are hitting retirement age right now.  Millions more will hit that age very soon and many who will be 75 or 80 or 85 in no time. Do you ever think about that?  About what you are going to do when you can no longer live alone?  About the changes your body will be going through and why?  Not just the physical changes but the psychological ones as well, and the changes to your mental capacities and perception and balance and the whole gigantic ball of wax?  It's rather daunting, actually.

Read this book:  "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande.  It's an eye-opener.  He takes a good, hard look at the options of all of us in this age demographic and tells us what's coming up.  Gawande recounts stories of people he meets, their paths into old age, what happens to their bodies, minds, housing situations, all of it.  Surprisingly, it's not the terrible doomsday scenario that you think it might be.  Well, it could be that but he presents things in such a fashion that you feel hopeful, that you might be able to get old and come to a decent end without too much suffering and, more importantly, without too much humiliation.  But it takes some planning and a huge amount of thought.

This book made me think a lot about dying.  Not in the fatalistic way but in the "oh, this is the next Big Thing" sort of way. Dying doesn't scare me.  Not being prepared for a slow descent into death does. But we have the power (and the ability right now) to make sure we are prepared and that it isn't scary. We just need to plan, do some work and think about it a lot.

Just read the book.  Buy it.  Read it and pass it on. Seriously, you will thank me. It's a great meditation on getting old and dealing with it.  Hell, we are all going to die and we are getting closer and closer to it.  Let's go into that dark goodnight confident and unafraid. And prepared.

And get out there and get that blood moving!  It's the only thing that helps the brain not die.  And the heart.  Well, the liver and pancreas and kidneys, too.  And lungs. And the skin.

Anyone want to start the investigation into small communal living?  People are creating small communities of 12 -20 people, small cottages built around a central gathering place, common gardens, sharing meals or living mostly independant.  There are new ways for older folks to live that are much better than moving into a "retirement home" of 100 + people who all eat at the same time and have structured "activities."  Better ways of living are out there. We just need to find them. Now. Not when we are 90.
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