It takes a lot of courage to grow old.
Ive come to appreciate this after conversations with hundreds of older adults over the past eight years for nearly 200 Navigating Aging columns. About ‘Navigating Aging’
Navigating Agingfocuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping Americas 60 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system.Read More Columns
Time and again, people have described what its like to let go of certainties they once lived with and adjust to new circumstances.
These older adults lives are filled with change. They dont know what the future holds except that the end is nearer than its ever been.
And yet, they find ways to adapt. To move forward. To find meaning in their lives. And I find myself resolving to follow this path as I ready myself for retirement.
Patricia Estess, 85, of the Brooklyn borough of New York City spoke eloquently about the unpredictability of later life when I reached out to her as I reported a series of columns on older adults who live alone, sometimes known as solo agers.
Estess had taken a course on solo aging. You realize that other people are in the same boat as you are, she said when I asked what she had learned. Were all dealing with uncertainty.
Consider the questions that older adults whether living with others or by themselves deal with year in and out: Will my bones break? Will my thinking skills and memory endure? Will I be able to make it up the stairs of my home, where Im trying to age in place?
Will beloved friends and family members remain an ongoing source of support? If not, who will be around to provide help when its needed?
Will I have enough money to support a long and healthy life, if thats in the cards? Will community and government resources be available, if needed?
It takes courage to face these uncertainties and advance into the unknown with a measure of equanimity.
Its a question of attitude, Estess told me. I have honed an attitude of: I am getting older. Things will happen. I will do what I can to plan in advance. I will be more careful. But I will deal with things as they come up. Email Sign-Up
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For many people, becoming old alters their sense of identity. They feel like strangers to themselves. Their bodies and minds arent working as they used to. They dont feel the sense of control they once felt.
That requires a different type of courage the courage to embrace and accept their older selves.
Marna Clarke, a photographer, spent more than a dozen years documenting her changing body and her life with her partner as they grew older. Along the way, she learned to view aging with new eyes.
Now, I think theres a beauty that comes out of people when they accept who they are, she told me in 2022, when she was 70, just before her 93-year-old husband died. As her partner, Igor Sazevich, lay dying, Marna Clarke says, she was talking to him and caressing him. Then I sat with him and held his very swollen hands, she says. Over and over again, I told him I loved him. I know he heard me. (Marna Clarke)
Arthur Kleinman, a Harvard professor whos now 83, gained a deeper sense of soulfulness after caring for his beloved wife, who had dementia and eventually died, leaving him grief-stricken.
We endure, we learn how to endure, how to keep going. Were marked, were injured, were wounded. Were changed, in my case for the better, he told me when I interviewed him in 2019. He was referring to a newfound sense of vulnerability and empathy he gained as a caregiver.
Herbert Brown, 68, who lives in one of Chicagos poorest neighborhoods, was philosophical when I met him at his apartment buildings annual barbecue in June.
I was a very wild person in my youth. Im surprised Ive lived this long, he said. I never planned on being a senior. I thought Id die before that happened.
Truthfully, no one is ever prepared to grow old, including me. (Im turning 70 in February.)
Chalk it up to denial or the limits of imagination. As May Sarton, a writer who thought deeply about aging, put it so well: Old age is a foreign country with an unknown language. I, along with all my similarly aged friends, are surprised weve arrived at this destination.
For me, 2025 is a turning point. Im retiring after four decades as a journalist. Most of that time, Ive written about our nations enormously complex health care system. For the past eight years, Ive focused on the unprecedented growth of the older population the most significant demographic trend of our time and its many implications.
In some ways, Im ready for the challenges that lie ahead. In many ways, Im not. Herbert Brown of Chicago says, I never planned on being a senior. I thought Id die before that happened. (Judith Graham/KFF Health News) Patricia Estess of Brooklyn, New York, says, You realize that other people are in the same boat as you are. Were all dealing with uncertainty. (Patricia Estess)
The biggest unknown is what will happen to my vision. I have moderate macular degeneration in both eyes. Last year, I lost central vision in my right eye. How long will my left eye pick up the slack? What will happen when that eye deteriorates?
Like many people, Im hoping scientific advances outpace the progression of my condition. But Im not counting on it. Realistically, I have to plan for a future in which I might become partially blind.
Itll take courage to deal with that.
Then, theres the matter of my four-story Denver house, where Ive lived for 33 years. Climbing the stairs has helped keep me in shape. But that wont be possible if my vision becomes worse.
So my husband and I are taking a leap into the unknown. Were renovating the house, installing an elevator, and inviting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson to move in with us. Going intergenerational. Giving up privacy. In exchange, we hope our home will be full of mutual assistance and love.
There are no guarantees this will work. But were giving it a shot.
Without all the conversations Ive had over all these years, I might not have been up for it. But Ive come to see that no guarantees isnt a reason to dig in my heels and resist change.
Thank you to everyone who has taken time to share your experiences and insights about aging. Thank you for your openness, honesty, and courage. These conversations will become even more important in the years ahead, as baby boomers like me make their way through their 70s, 80s, and beyond. May the conversations continue.
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Judith Graham: khn.navigatingaging@gmail.com, @judith_graham Related Topics Aging Navigating Aging Illinois New York Contact Us Submit a Story Tip