What Does Being a Senior Mean to Gen Xers?

In our 20s a fellow reporter and I talked about how it would look when we were in the Old Folks Home. How the fiddles would be replaced with Kick-A$$ sound systems and two steps would be replaced with floating on a sea of hands.

So I guess to me being a Senior means I can eat cheaper at some restaurants, and can get discounts I wasn’t eligible to before.

But to be honest – I don’t think I want Senior’s Benefit. I don’t want the label.

To me …. Senior is OLD. To me … Senior is Grandpa Simpson.

My parents are in their 70s and my Dad will be 80 this year. They have slowed down some but I honestly don’t think of them as old… as Seniors.

Honestly, my Dad especially is much more physically fit than the average 20 year old and that is no exaggeration.

They are Boomers and they, like many of that generation, are Zoomers.

They are healthy. They are engaged. They are very actively learning new things all the time. They keep busy and fit and they are a role-model of aging to me.

So here I am, about to be 55, raising a 15 year old son.

We rock out. He plays electric guitar and with feedback effects and I LOVE it! We both love Metallica and I play my music WAY too loud and don’t tell the cops, but I drive way too fast.

My friend and I are the same age and we either fling hay and feed horses or go for 6 km walks even in this cold. I am an active snowshoer.

I… I… I… I am none of the things I think of when I think of Senior.

So, maybe we need to re-define what Senior means.

Even this is tricky.

To some Senior is 50, or 55 or 65 and on.

Certainly as we age – there are more health concerns and so to have Senior’s Care type of programs is good. There are certain issues that apply more to people in older age groups. There are issues that affect many as they age such as loneliness as children grow up and move from home, which can bring about depression, which can also bring about the lack of initiative to get out into the community and keep on keeping on.

Therefore Senior’s programming is so beneficial to make sure no one falls through the cracks as they age. And remember there are many years and two generations clumped into this category of Senior.

So here I am looking across the river to the banks of the Senior territory – not sure I want to cross.

But the thing is – I am lucky I get to cross. I have already lost friends who won’t be able to go over with me.

So, I guess, it is all about attitude.

Us Gen Xers can cross to Seniorland with more enthusiasm because of the example of coolness of the Boomers who went there ahead of us.

They took away the shuffleboards and brought in rock bands. The Boomers put away the arm chairs – and built ski trails and interactive learning opportunities.

And the Boomers, by and large, are less focussed on the past than the future.

The Boomers are Tweeting and on Facebook and Instagram – negotiating the web. They text. They Google and research.

My Dad has worked physically hard, long days most of his life and now he has more time to still work but in different ways.

He is enjoying more things.

He built a house for crying out loud. He built a house from scratch in his 70s….cabinets and everything.

He is researching solar and wind power and has become passionate about new ways of creating energy.

My parents and so many of this generation are COOL.

So I will leave Grandpa Simpson wayyyyyyy ahead of me – and cross over to Seniorland with enthusiasm, with plans for the future, and new goals, with a renewed sense of importance in taking care of my physical, spiritual and mental body.

Not all are so lucky to get to be a Senior.

And I can still complain that the kids today don’t make real music! (While appreciating the great new music still being made).

Karen Cay is the Community Editor for paNOW, northeastNOW, larongeNOW, meadowlakeNOW and battlefordsNOW with the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

This column is sponsored by MacKenzie Funeral Chapel and Crematorium – Compassionate care and impeccable service.

130 9th St. E, Prince Albert, SK

Phone: (306) 763-8488

https://mackenziechapel.ca/

by Karen Cay

What Does Being a Senior Mean to Gen Xers?

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