Well, I’m old now. There are some polls showing that people think middle age continues through age 65 or even beyond, but who are they kidding? First, nobody lives to 130. Second, can you be both middle-aged and also Medicare-eligible? Seems like a stretch.
Of course, people may feel that way because folks are having children later, which means grandchildren later. And since older generations live longer, it’s entirely possible to be at an age where you’re both caring for children and for older parents. In the middle, so to speak. I’m spending a fair amount of time, with my siblings, caregiving for my mom, who’s sadly slipping gradually into dementia. (She couldn’t make the Bix festival this year, and it was her sad decision that that’s the case. She did remember my birthday, though!) My daughter is independent and married now, but we do provide some quasi-parental resources to various nieces and nephews whose parents aren’t in a position to, say, buy them a car when their old one dies.
How do I feel about it? I dunno, to be honest. Starting a few years ago, I became aware that I was moving into the final period of my life, when I had to really think about whether a particular project – a book, say – was worth investing some of the limited number of professional years I have left.
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