Now that I’m a senior advocate and activist, I find that many things that used to be funny are now insulting.
Recently, Julie Andrews did a performance to benefit AARP at Radio City Music Hall. It was her 79th birthday. To be funny she rewrote the words to My Favorite Things. Here is one of the four verses: “Cadillacs and cataracts, hearing aids and glasses, Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses, Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings…these are a few of my favorite things”
Is this funny? Not to me.
Yet, she received a four-minute standing ovation and several encore requests. Apparently, I’m in the minority.
However, I think the truth lies in the difference between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers. Ms. Andrews is part of the Greatest Generation and I suspect her audience was as well.
First, Cadillacs are no longer and “old peoples car,” secondly cataracts now mean that if you have them and remove them — there is a lens placed in your eye so you no longer need glasses. Hearing aids? I’m confident that one day I might need them and with any luck Bose will have them for $500 instead of $5,000. I don’t need Polident or Fixodent and neither did my mother and she was 88 when she died. If you go to my dentist, Dr. Friedman. you won’t need them either.
More importantly, let’s think of how lucky we are. In today’s world of “we know how to fix things” — falling thighs, exercise.
Cataracts — Medicare pays to have them removed and new lens inserted which means no more glasses. (Or at a minimum, only for reading tiny print.) For our teeth, we have implants. And, if you want to tuck in the chin, eyes, tummy, face — well, there is my doctor, John Martin, and others — all who are proficient plastic surgeons.
Bottom line: Yes, growing older takes its toll but in today’s world we can fight against it. We’re all aware of exercise and diet. We know, if we simply walk three or four times a week, we live longer, and, yes, fried foods are a guilty pleasure which, from time to time, we should indulge. But, for the most part, let’s celebrate those lines, and if you don’t like them, get rid of them.
Frances Reaves, Esq., a graduate of the University of Miami Law School, spent 10 years as a litigator/lobbyist. Today, she Is an accomplished business woman who, when her parents could no longer take care of themselves, learned the ins and outs of senior care (or the lack thereof). She founded Parent Your Parents to assist seniors and their children through the myriad pitfalls and options of “senior care” in the 21st Century. If you have any questions or comments contact Frances at hfrancesr@parentyourparents.com.
