Well, they look like you, all of you who have reached this numerical milepost.
Maybe all you really have in common is that number 8 and a question: How could I have reached my 80s so quickly?
It must seem like only yesterday that you were a schoolgirl, or a new wife and mother.
Life has a way of fast forwarding. As gospel singer Cora Harvey Armstrong once said: “Inside every older woman is a young girl wondering what the hell happened.”
You’ve got a lot of company. There are millions of you wondering.
But the passing of so much time has not brought you to a standstill. Some of you are still employed; others are enjoying life without the imposition of schedules, unless you count volunteering, going to religious functions or taking classes.
Now more than ever, each day is a gift to be appreciated wholeheartedly, and you do, in spite of creaky joints and more frequent doctor visits. Even if you’ve moved to a retirement home to make life a little easier, you adjust. You’ve spent decades navigating the vicissitudes of time.
For some of you, poor health is now a constant companion. Nevertheless, reaching the 80s is a badge of survival. In 1914, the year the oldest of you were born, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Mother’s Day proclamation, and World War I had begun. One of the year’s most popular songs was the show tune “When You Wore a Tulip.”
Through your many years of living, you have witnessed vast change in the world, and you have become a fount of the pithy, practical wisdom born of longevity. You would be our village elders–if we still had villages.
You have raised your children, perhaps even grandchildren. Chances are you have buried your parents, perhaps a spouse, a sibling or even a child. You’ve lived through hard times, prosperous times, sickness and health. And here you are.
Take a bow.
