Musings on Turning 65 and becoming a SENIOR. YIKES!

            I’m 65 years old today. I’m on Medicare. I’m suppose I’m now officially a senior. I ignored AARP when they started contacting me at age 50. I’ve taken advantage of all the senior discounts at movie theaters and everywhere else they are offered but since the ages vary so much, I’ve pretended that it didn’t really apply to me. Now I can no longer ignore it. Now I’ll be watching to MAKE SURE I get my discounts.

            I was fine with turning thirty. I was terribly depressed when I turned forty. Fifty was great. I even had a big birthday party for myself to celebrate fifty. I made sure I had colorful flowers, balloons, table cloths, and nothing black was allowed. None of those silly “you’re over the hill” decorations entered my house. It was lots of fun. Sixty was a very bad year because my father had just passed away a couple of weeks before my birthday. I ignored that birthday as much as I could. My family and best friends wouldn’t let me ignore it completely, though. Bless them. Sixty four was bad, too. My mom passed away that year just before my birthday. I ignored it, too.

            This year I’m celebrating again. I’m healthy and life is good. What’s not to celebrate? I’ve noticed people seem to be nicer to me as I’m getting older. Is that my imagination? I hope not. Or, maybe I’ve gotten nicer since I’ve gotten older, so it’s coming back to me. Whatever: I hope it continues.

            I did have one encounter this past week that ticked me off. Signing up for Medicare and switching from my primary insurance has been confusing and I’ve had a lot of questions. I received a letter from Social Security with a telephone number for the Brea, California office if I had questions. I called one day about a month ago and a very nice woman talked to me and answered my questions completely. Then I got another confusing letter from Medicare so I called again. This time I got a really impatient little twit that talked to me like I’d lost all my marbles. I had to get very stern and parental with her before she finally stopped talking to me like I was an idiot and answered my question. I wanted to tell her my years of experience and college education trumped hers any day, but I held back. I remained nice and patient even though she wasn’t. I hope she doesn’t talk to all the seniors like that.

            Anyway, I’m now on to a new stage of life. I’m a SENIOR! I guess I’ll have to embrace it. I don’t have much choice, do I?