Opinion - In your mind - What's "elderly"?

Micheal · #1 07/04/12, 06:39 AM

Is it an age (maybe a lot older than yourself) or a condition that someone progresses to?

When I was alot younger (early teens, 20's) I considered anyone 20-30-40 years older than me as just old - elderly was not a term even thought of.....
As I aged - maybe late 20's early 30's - elderly became those old "retired" people, again age related.
The older I got the more "elderly" became a group of people that were still -ahh yes - old but more frail and maybe needing of care, more so than others that were just humm, older..
Now being in that class of "humm, older" am I also "elderly"?

Other than the dictionary's definition - to you - what's "elderly"???????

fffarmergirl · #2 07/04/12, 06:56 AM

Elderly = not leaving the house, staying indoors, moving as little as possible, mind closed to new ideas. A person can be old but not elderly - or chronologically young and elderly.

ceresone · #3 07/04/12, 08:09 AM

Well, lets see, I live on a farm, do chores every day, have a garden, "run" a house--yet, I live alone (and have 2 cats)hate to go anywhere, am rather--oh heck, very antisocial and in 11 days will be 75--thought I'd be classified as elderly--but maybe I'm just old?

fffarmergirl · #4 07/04/12, 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceresone

Well, lets see, I live on a farm, do chores every day, have a garden, "run" a house--yet, I live alone (and have 2 cats)hate to go anywhere, am rather--oh heck, very antisocial and in 11 days will be 75--thought I'd be classified as elderly--but maybe I'm just old?

hmmmmm . . . . . "wisened" and perhaps a bit "eccentric," but not "elderly.

fffarmergirl · #5 07/04/12, 09:11 AM

Plus you know how to use the internet, ceresone - so you can't be old.

Big Dave · #6 07/04/12, 09:26 AM

Getting discounts at Hotels and resturants. When your old enough for your hair to turn color on its own. When you are not asked for your id when the forty year olds in front of you are asked for theirs. When you put tennis balls on your walker. When you start to wear diapers and need help to change them. Your screaming at the fact your phone will not work and it turns out to be the tv remote. Yep this is elderly

pancho · #7 07/04/12, 09:27 AM

Hard to put an age on elderly. It is more a state of mind than a physical age.
Some people are elderly in their 30s and some people are young in their 80s.

zong · #8 07/04/12, 09:34 AM

over a hundred

BFFhiredman · #9 07/04/12, 11:11 AM

My Mom is 88 and lives in the independent living section of a retirement facility. She's involved in the wii bowling league and recently scored a 298 in a tournament. She just returned from 5 weeks visiting with my Sis in Seattle. She sends lots of e-mails and is onn Facebook. She frequently refers to some of the "old people" who reside in the same facility. She would refer to herself as elderly but not old yet. I really believe it's more a state of mind than a chronological thing. I'm 64 and pretty healthy. Have been riding my bike 8 - 10 miles a day and sometimes have to stop and think about how old I am.

tallpines · #10 07/04/12, 12:23 PM

I'm old! (66)

My mother is elderly (85) ---- but still mows her own 1/2 acre lawn with a walk behind mower.....and still climbs a ladder to clean out her eavetroughs.

katlupe · #11 07/04/12, 05:49 PM

Elderly is ten years older than me! Seriously, I have trouble walking but I don't feel elderly yet.

My father is 93 and looks elderly, but does a lot of work for a man that age. He has a big garden and puts up pickles every year. He fixes his lawn mower, rototiller, snow blower, car. Every morning if the weather is nice, he is outside. He says he is too busy to sit around in the house.

Old Swampgirl · #12 07/05/12, 07:17 AM

Felt elderly this past Tues. when, due to my "bad" back, I needed help to get up & down from the examining table at the doctor's office. I'm 67 & believe elderly is when you need help. Other than that, I'm just like ceresone & take care of my little farm all by myself. But when I'm "down" with back problems, I'm elderly!

RedDirt Cowgirl · #13 07/05/12, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fffarmergirl

Elderly = not leaving the house, staying indoors, moving as little as possible, mind closed to new ideas. A person can be old but not elderly - or chronologically young and elderly.

Don't mean to be snotty, but I think the reverse is true. To me, an elder is one who's experienced more than the generation currently in charge of running things. A person can be elderly but not old, and even a young person can be old, as in old and stale...

Big Dave · #14 07/05/12, 08:45 PM

WHOOO HOO I like that RDC

ceresone · #15 07/06/12, 07:43 AM

What I hate, is when I realize I'm walking like a "elderly" person-Dont take me long to change THAT, anyhow!!

pancho · #16 07/06/12, 09:41 AM

Elderly would be the women the same age as myself.

Sonshine · #17 07/06/12, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Getting discounts at Hotels and resturants. When your old enough for your hair to turn color on its own. When you are not asked for your id when the forty year olds in front of you are asked for theirs. When you put tennis balls on your walker. When you start to wear diapers and need help to change them. Your screaming at the fact your phone will not work and it turns out to be the tv remote. Yep this is elderly

My DH's hair was white by the time he was 30.

I'm 54 and only have a bit of grey at the temple.

Sonshine · #18 07/06/12, 11:00 AM

I think elderly is a state of mind. I'm still fairly young at 54, but with my health issues there are times I could probably be considered elderly. Yet there are other days I act like a teen, just depends on the weather mainly. My mom is 80 and still teaches children's church and acts like someone in her 20's when working with kids, but other times she doesn't get out of bed all day because of health issues. We have a neighbor that is 82 who up until about 5 years ago still flew his private plane, was very young at heart, playing with the neighborhood kids and a regular social butterfly. Then 5 years ago he was picking up his new plane and something went wrong. The plane had some issues that the company supposedly fixed, but when he took it up for the second time to make sure they worked out the problems he crashed and his face went through the window of the cockpit. Now he's elderly. He gets confused easily, is always cold and due to the injuries to his face he can't close his mouth so he drools. So, from basically over night he became what I would consider elderly.

**Karen** · #19 07/06/12, 07:28 PM

My medical dictionary says:

1. Individuals over 65 years old who have functional impairments; or
2. Any adult over 75 years old

Micheal · #20 07/07/12, 05:54 AM

"Other than the dictionary's definition - to you - what's "elderly"?????"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karen

My medical dictionary says:

1. Individuals over 65 years old who have functional impairments; or
2. Any adult over 75 years old

So come on Karen, what do you really think "elderly" is!

ceresone · #21 07/07/12, 07:44 AM

Oh, My Karen-that means I only have a week left to be simply "old"!!!

SageLady · #22 07/08/12, 03:54 AM

When I hear the word elderly I think of an older person that is frail, sickly, and needs help to function on a daily basis. Now I have an uncle that is almost 90. He is active and in good shape, both physically and mentally. I could never think of him as elderly, just old....

There are some days with my spinal condition that I'm sure I appear elderly to others when I can barely walk and have to use my crutches or wheelchair....

Wolf mom · #23 07/08/12, 03:30 PM

I really dislike the words "old folk" and the "elderly"

I prefer "elder" as, to me, that gives a sense of wisdom gained through living.
Now, if we younger folk were to give elders the recognition and respect they deserve rather than warehousing them we as a nation might, just might, be on a more stable path.

Grouping them into elderly, old, and whatever just makes for another subset that we define and loose the uniqueness of individualism like teenagers, mexicans, etc.

**Shrek** · #24 07/10/12, 05:43 AM

If you have that funny smell about you and it takes more than an hour and three cups of coffee to do the morning bathroom rituals that used to take you 25 minutes or less___your elderly, dead or gaining fast on it.

defenestrate · #25 07/10/12, 08:42 AM

I don't consider "elder" and "elderly" to be congruent words. To me an elder is a source of wisdom, but "elderly" has more to do with age causing a certain diminished capacity in some major area of function. Not everyone becomes "elderly" (and not all elderly folks are especially old), but anyone with sufficient life experience can potentially be an "elder".

dancingfatcat · #26 07/27/12, 01:53 AM

My mother became "old" in her late 30's. Stopped driving, stayed indoors and basically stopped doing all of the things she used to do because she said she felt old. Plus she remarried and didn't "have" to do anything. This year she turned 70 and at this point cant stand for long periods of time much less walk much. She reads but refuses to try anything new like use a digital camera or computer.The TV is pretty much her only friend. She is and has been much older than my granny who will be turning 100 in 2 weeks and still lives on her own. My granny never learned to drive a car but walked morning and night most every day of her adult life. Not to mention walking to work, the market, etc. My granny was a single mother of 4 after her husband ran out on her during the depression. She worked hard, always had a good outlook on life even when things were tough. My granny is old but I consider my mom elderly, I guess mainly due to health issues and the difference in their outlook and the way they both lived their lives.

arnie · #27 07/28/12, 06:43 PM

Any one older than I :-) :-) .but. really after about 50 your age is more or less governed by what you are able to do .many 60 year olds are better off phisikly than 30 year olds .think of a car that was driven 100 mph. Every day and never greased is ready for the junk yard much earlyer than one that was driven at the speed limit with regular oil changes. Hard drinking jackhammer men usally wear out long before high school pe teachers .coal miners trade life for grocerys