A little anecdote here.  The perceptions of an 18 year old.

I was stationed at Camp Pendleton and my unit was scheduled to sail to Korea on the next Friday.  So this weekend we were all given 3-day passes.  It would be our last weekend in the United States for quite some time.

My buddy and I took the train from Oceanside to Los Angeles and then the streetcar to the Pike at Long Beach.  The Pike was a large amusement park with a roller coaster and lots of other rides.  A few of the rides were free for servicemen in uniform.

My buddy and I passed this shack with a woman dressed like a Gypsie standing in front of it.  She invited us to have out palms read for a quarter.

My buddy went in first and came out about ten minutes later.

Then I went in.  The Gypsie lady read my palm and traced one line with her finger.  Very seriously she told me I would die of a heart attack when I was 50 years old.

I came out of that shack grinning from ear to ear.  Of course neither my buddy nor I placed any credence in what she told us but never-the-less I said, "Guess what!  I'm going to come back from Korea and live to be an old man."

Today I wish I was still a young man in my 50s or 60s or even 70s.  Perceptions.  We all look at our own ages differently...from different perspectives.  Some are actually old in their 50s.  Others don't feel old until they reach their 80s.  I was 83 when Betty and I took our last hike in the Sacramento Mountains.  That's when I turned old.

Noel

 

7 hours ago, birdguy said:

I was 83 when Betty and I took our last hike in the Sacramento Mountains.  That's when I turned old.

I hope that you are grateful to have made it to your late 80s in good health.  The average life expectancy for men in the USA is 77.  My dad died at 64, and my grandfathers at 68 and 79.

You're very lucky.

Dave