I turn 65 in a couple of weeks’ time and I honestly can’t understand how it’s come around so quickly. One minute I was dancing to “When I’m 64”, the next minute I was! This milestone birthday, plus participating in the ‘40 over 40’ project has given me cause to reflect on my life so far.
The thing about aging is that if you’re lucky then your brain and heart doesn’t age as quickly as your body. So in your head you still feel 35 but your external shell reflects something different and I think the secret to aging happily is to keep that younger brain showing in your eyes, your spirit and your actions. I really enjoy the company of young people and I still love loud music, dancing and being silly. However, my older years have made me a better person. I am kinder, more empathetic, less selfish. As the lovely David Bowie famously said “”Ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been”.
I was born in the UK, brought up in South Africa and came to Australia with my husband and two children 20 years ago. My mother alternated between being smothering and abusive so I forged an independent life for myself as soon as I left school. Mum married three times and whilst this caused stress and trauma to my younger self, each man was good to me and contributed something positive to my life. I was restless and travelled a lot in my 20’s, so only married and had children in my 30’s. I recently became a grandmother for the first time and it is bringing me immeasurable joy.
My working life has been varied and interesting even though in my haste to leave home I didn’t get a tertiary education. I have been a computer programmer, a trader on the Johannesburg stock exchange, a marketing and communications manager and now an editor for a university research centre.
As I enter the third trimester of my life a whole new world of opportunities lies ahead, with time to support the causes that matter to me, to travel and to learn new skills and hobbies. I have absolutely no intention of retiring, withdrawing or becoming invisible anytime soon.