By Alexandra Newman
As you’re reading this, I’m on a boat off the coast of Florida sailing toward Mexico. My first time venturing outside of the United States.
My mom, sisters, and I have been planning this trip for over a year, and I am so incredibly excited that it’s finally here. During the cruise, we’ll be celebrating my mom’s 60th birthday – a milestone I hope to celebrate in a similar fashion in 28-odd years.
When we think about aging, birthdays, and getting older, it’s easy to spiral into dread about the changes that come with that. Off the top of my head, I can think of 10 or more “what if” scenarios that are incredibly scary. Like health care and estate planning.
But we don’t have to live in fear of aging if we reframe it. Aging can be a time of creativity, purpose, growth, and learning.
In honor of my mom’s birthday, I want to give some examples of how she’s reframing aging, even if she doesn’t realize she’s doing it.
Sometime last year, my mom decided she wanted colorful bedding. She scoured online and brick and mortar stores for floral pillowcases and zigzag sheets but couldn’t find exactly what she wanted. So, she decided to make them by herself. She found materials she liked at different sales (JoAnn Fabrics going out of business helped too) and she got to work sewing her custom bed clothes. I would consider that creativity and learning because she isn’t necessarily a master on the sewing machine, but she has the determination.
Genealogy is one of my mom’s favorite hobbies. Every weekend, and most nights when she gets home from work, she scours obituaries, vital statistics, census data, and other historical archives to trace our family, and others, back in time. She loves putting the pieces together. She recently had to wait six months for a tiny historical association several states away to send her a marriage certificate. Solving these mysteries, putting these pieces together, and compiling information for people gives her an incredible sense of purpose.
My mom is the Bionic Woman- she has had both knees and both hips replaced due to arthritis. She used to move very slowly but is in much better shape since her surgeries. She was worried about being able to “keep up” on our Girls Trip. So, for the last six months, she’s been walking several miles every day after work to ensure she’ll be able to take full advantage of the trip and our excursions. She’s now spooky fast and sneaks up on us. I call that growth.
When it comes to learning, that’s one of her favorite things. Each day at work she puts a “Fact of the Day” on a communal white board. She loves sharing her knowledge with others and learning new things along the way. It keeps her brain sharp, and those Fun Facts are always great conversation starters, leading to new connections with her coworkers.
As my mom gets older, I don’t have to worry about her losing her verve for life. Her hobbies and love for lifelong learning should allow her to continue to flip the script on aging.
She’d also be very impressed with my use of the word “verve.” Each summer she would assign me weekly vocabulary words to keep my brain engaged while I was out of school. She was instilling that love of lifelong learning in me, and I didn’t even know it.
The Campus for Creative Aging here in Southwest Michigan provides numerous opportunities for creativity, purpose, growth, and learning. From volunteer opportunities to classes and events, connection to aging resources, and so much more, there is a lot to explore. You don’t have to fear aging when places, and movements, like the Campus exist.
If my mom lived closer, she’d be the biggest cheerleader for the Campus. So, for her 60th birthday, visit www.CampusforCreativeAging.org to learn more.
The Generations column appears each weekend in The Herald-Palladium.