60 today - a milestone or a gravestone?

[shaznay 10]

great post bullerboY enjoyed reading that

[hillsbro 33]

Hi bullerboY - you're absolutely right;it isn't how old you are that matters, it's how you deal with it. A sure-fire way to feel old is, as you say, sit down and vegetate to a slow demise. I used to work with a chap who reluctantly retired at 65, had hardly any interests, made little effort to acquire any - and died at 68. Marion and I have never been busier - yesterday I was gardening and today we leave for a few days at our Sheffield home. We'll meet my brother and his wife for a Wetherspoons lunch, use our bus passes for a day out (Matlock & Bakewell), I'll do some more gardening and we'll begin to paint the front railings with Hammerite. All good fun!.

 

I haven't bought the Harley or BMW yet but working on it.. As for Hillsborough, it's certainly different now. In some ways it has gone downhill but in others it has moved with the times. I still occasionally see people I know when visiting former neighbours in Dykes Hall Road, strolling in the park or shopping for oatcakes - which are unobtainable in Lincolnshire. Come to thnk of it, I have a couple in the freezer - that's breakfast sorted out!.

[bullerboY 10]

either the oatcakes are getting smaller or i will have to visit the opticians soon eheheh

[fleetwood 10]

hillsboro, we have connected a few times over the last few years either by email, P.M. and/or the various threads we have subscribed too, you go further back on the Forum than I, I still call myself a relative newcomer compared to you. You have helped a lot of people regarding their query's in finding family and friends and your knowledge of Sheffield is second to none. Before you start cringing at the accolades, I have to go one step further and laud you for the forthright way you answer questions on a subject that some may describe as personal. Many years of happiness to you and Marion. fleetwood

[hillsbro 33]

Hi fleetwood - well indeed I am cringing a little! But I enjoy the Forum, I enjoy helping people to trace their ancestors or to find living relatives (last year an 87 year-old lady was crying - with happiness - into the telephone as she thanked me for finding her half brother after over 40 years) and of course I enjoy reminiscing about Hillsborough and other areas of Sheffield that I knew 50 or 60 years ago. As for answering "personal" questions forthrightly - well I suppose that this owes something to my nature as a straight-talking Yorkshireman. Marion and I are certainly blissfully happy and I hope that, as you wrote, we will enjoy many more years together. The Forum is certainly a "force for good" and the Sheffield History & Expats section in particular is of great interest to people like you and me. And (as Ms Macbeth of the Admin Team noted in post #53 on Page 3) God willing I fully expect to resurrect this thread in five years' time when I reach 70!.

[harvey19 541]

Hi fleetwood - well indeed I am cringing a little! But I enjoy the Forum, I enjoy helping people to trace their ancestors or to find living relatives (last year an 87 year-old lady was crying - with happiness - into the telephone as she thanked me for finding her half brother after over 40 years) and of course I enjoy reminiscing about Hillsborough and other areas of Sheffield that I knew 50 or 60 years ago. As for answering "personal" questions forthrightly - well I suppose that this owes something to my nature as a straight-talking Yorkshireman. Marion and I are certainly blissfully happy and I hope that, as you wrote, we will enjoy many more years together. The Forum is certainly a "force for good" and the Sheffield History & Expats section in particular is of great interest to people like you and me. And (as Ms Macbeth of the Admin Team noted in post #53 on Page 3) God willing I fully expect to resurrect this thread in five years' time when I reach 70!.

 

Sent you a PM.

[Dreb48 35]

Hi fleetwood - well indeed I am cringing a little! But I enjoy the Forum, I enjoy helping people to trace their ancestors or to find living relatives (last year an 87 year-old lady was crying - with happiness - into the telephone as she thanked me for finding her half brother after over 40 years) and of course I enjoy reminiscing about Hillsborough and other areas of Sheffield that I knew 50 or 60 years ago. As for answering "personal" questions forthrightly - well I suppose that this owes something to my nature as a straight-talking Yorkshireman. Marion and I are certainly blissfully happy and I hope that, as you wrote, we will enjoy many more years together. The Forum is certainly a "force for good" and the Sheffield History & Expats section in particular is of great interest to people like you and me. And (as Ms Macbeth of the Admin Team noted in post #53 on Page 3) God willing I fully expect to resurrect this thread in five years' time when I reach 70!.

I've been coming on the Forum for maybe a couple of years now and what I find is that History and Expats is probably the only section you can post on without somebody wanting to disagree with you or become 'bolshy'

What you get here are people who are happy to reminisce together and share their experiences.

I dare say that's because most of the posters are of a certain age where respect and good manners still matter.

I know hillsboro from schooldays and they were certainly the things that were drilled into us though in those days it was already second nature.

Sorry if it sounds like a bit of a rant but it's been bugging me for awhile. Although I still look at discussion sections I've given up posting on there

[ssbenson 10]

Hi, although not a lively reply, I would just like to say that my husband & I have spent 15 happy years sitogether since the kids have grown up & left home, however 6 weeks ago one of our daughters was murdered & her husband charged , now on remand for muurder, at the ages of 61 (him) & 56 (me) We are now parents again , and what a roller coaster it is, the elder giirl (7) is just like her mum and the younger one is the double of her mum's younger broother it's like turning the clock back 30 years, But I think we are young enough at heart to get through this .

 

---------- Post added 16-04-2013 at 20:31 ----------

 

my husband and I have just become parents again to the grandaughters age 5 & 7, daddy is on remand for mummys murder, and we have become parents again aged 62 (him), 56 (me). What a roller coaster & certainlly what we didn't expect at our age!!!!

'

[Kidorry 189]

" ... a bit of a curmudgeon". Indeed, there are times when I begin to feel as if I am bordering on the curmudgeonly. But all I can say is that getting married at 59 worked wonders, and maybe by the time I'm 65 and get my "retirement pension" (to use the official euphemism for the O.A.P.) all traces of curmudgeonliness will have gone, I hope. But as you say I'm entitled, so what the hell...

 

I got married at 65,for the second time and it is great.

[hillsbro 33]

Hi Kidorry - well, first or second time, sharing your life with someone is far better than living a lonely existence. As Marion says "I never thought I'd get married twice" to which my reply is "I never thought I'd get married once"..

[King-29 10]

I'm 60 today. And I feel pretty awful. I never thought I would bother much about getting older. It's true that when I was 40 and 50 I hardly gave it a thought. But the awful thought now is that I only have "old" age to look forward to. What do forummers, especially those over 60, think about this milestone? Does it make any difference, or is the old adage "you're only as old as you feel" apply?

 

Physically, I feel quite good. Despite the odd twinge I am in good health, and things have certainly improved of late. Although I lost my much-loved mum in 2006, things also improved around that time. And in March last year, this erstwhile bachelor married his childhood sweetheart after 37 years apart (FriendsReunited works!) Marion and I are blissfully happy, and this takes the edge off any feelings of misery today. And of course, I get my bus pass and my £200 winter heating allowance. I can get my (remaining) hair cut more cheaply. I qualify as a "senior citizen" and so pay less to visit some stately homes, tourist sites etc.

 

But I don't feel like a "senior citizen". Mentally, if not physically, I feel like an old man. Naturally, I have been reminiscing about old times - my wonderful parents, who in the difficult post-war period did their very best for my brother, sister and me. Weekend trips with dad's motorbike + sidecar into Derbyshire. The Dial House seaside day out each year. Dear old Uncle Joe taking us fishing. Whitsuntide gatherings in Hillsborough Park. Paddling in the river at Malin Bridge. Family units that stayed together through thick and thin. Friendly corner shops kept by local people who would serve you at the back door after hours. But I feel as if I should be looking forward, not back.

 

All commiserations or suggestions welcome...

I was 60 in Febuary 2012 and applied for my bus pass the day after my birthday,, I was informed the rules have changed and i can't have my pass till Jan 2014,, What a joke. Oh well only 9 months to go.

Edited April 16, 2013 by King-29

[soft ayperth 11]

I'm going to be 70 tomorrow. Yikes.