Revisit 2006 before your New Year's Eve toast. Read about celebrities, birthdays, senior issues, blogging and headlines for older people like us.
Here are some of the things we were reading and writing about during 2006. It’s great to be part of a majority, isn’t it?
Story #10. The oldest Baby Boomers turned 60 this year. We, as a generation, are a goldmine of statistics, trends, medical research subjects, commentary and a huge target for advertising messages. Together, we can create positive change – or negative. Remember the 60s?
9. This year, for some reason, stories of grandparents who are now parenting their grandkids flooded the media. Grandfamilies aren't a new concept, though it appears to be a growing trend. There is little help for the grandparents, but many states are working on the problem.
8. Major companies, and minor ones, too are putting more trust in older workers. Seniors in metropolitan job markets are finding it easier than it once was to find work as employees or consultants after age 50. That’s spurring a trend for retirees to “quit” retirement and go back to work – for the love of an endeavor. The oldest worker this year? Waldo McBurney, age 104.
7. ABC News began the year with a report on how we have changed the complexion of retirement and aging. They said,
“Jan. 10, 2006 — Think retirement still means long days at the golf course or leisurely strolls along the beach? Think again.
Baby boomers have reshaped what it means to grow older. Compared with their parents, boomers are healthier, better educated and living well into their 80s and beyond. The increasing lifespan has given boomers the chance to reinvent themselves and pursue new passions at any age.”
And here’s what 94 year-old Art Linkletter says about being old.
6. Drivers older than 80 are becoming a problem and will be more so as time goes on and seniors become the largest segment of our populations. Canada, the U.S. and other countries are considering options now for new laws and new auto designs.
5. Seattle Times writer Darlene Superville reported that George Bush made the top of AP-AOL list of villains chosen by public vote. He also made the top of the same organization’s heroes list. America’s identity crisis, I guess. Oprah and Michael J. Fox ranked high as best role models – Britney Spears and Paris Hilton didn’t. Maybe by the time they're seniors....
4. Celebs’ age milestones – Ray Liota, 50; Eli Wallach, 90; Kirk Douglas, 90; Patty Duke, 60; Diane Keaton, 60; Dolly Parton, 60; Albert Finney, 70; Alan Alda, 70; John Coltrane, 80; Bea Arthur, 80; Beverly Cleary, 90; Walter Cronkite, 90; Olivia De Havilland, 90 and actor Bruce Bennet and scientist Albert Hofman are 100.
3. We lost former President Gerald Ford, making George Bush, the elder, our oldest living president. I won’t run through notable deaths here – aren’t they all?
2. Execution of Saddam Hussein. There is nothing to say about this except that a man who was gleefully, directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people has left this earth. May God have mercy on his victims.
1. Blogging becomes the medium of today and seniors are rapidly becoming the CNN of the common people – that’s us. Because there are so many of us older people, it’s not hard for us to become the “fastest growing segment” of almost anything, but we’re truly making an impact on the Bloggosphere. You can Google for “senior blog” and find major news stories across the nation about our writing and reporting. You can visit sites that catalog us, like The Ageless Project http://jenett.org/ageless/. We’re good. Damn good.
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