Ageing Sucks
Friday morning and the sun’s out. Me and Mary had a brew. And now I’m typing out a thought or two.
Ageing, right? It’s shit. Definitely sucks. I know, right? Some bloke moaning about getting old. It happens to all of us. Yep, true. But it happens in different ways. Some folk do better than others. Health-wise and with money. A bloody big slap on the back if you get our age and have plenty of dosh. And your health.
We’ve both had cancer. We’re still here. Result, of course it is. But we’ve both got a collection of other health woes. Nothing unusual for our age. That’s the point. If you hit your sixties with a clean bill of health? You’ve done well, like I said.
Next, money. We’ve worked all our lives. Like loads of people. Can’t afford to retire though. No chance. Need to keep working full-tilt for another few years. How come? Bills. Kids. Need I say more? It’s the same for loads of people.
How did that happen? Some folk retire by the time they hit 60. I reckon because they had the money to set up a decent pension. Something like that. I didn’t pay into a private pension. We needed the wages in the bank to pay the bills. Bad move. It meant we’d still be working into our old age.
I suppose there’s the career to consider. I’ve been in the same field of work for years. And I do alright. But the years gone by? Ah. They were the problem. Loads of graft. Shit wages. Puts us where we are now. Doing alright, but not able to retire.
We lived and worked in Ireland for 12 years. Great country, no problems there. Then trouble started when we came home. Mortgages were rare as rocking horse shit. We had to rent for a while. Meaning, I’ve still got a mortgage today.
Why Ireland? Work. Simple as. The company I worked for in the Midlands decided to move its operations back down south. And through Mary’s family we heard of the opportunity for work in Ireland. Off we went. Stayed until our son got lined up for college.
There it is. Like loads of people, we muddled through. Doing our best. Making decisions as best we could.
Then? You wake up one day in your sixties. Knackered, ready to rest, take it easy. No chance. We’ve still got to crack on. It reminds me of something Professor Steve Peters said. Three things that are true in life.
- Life is not fair.
- There are no guarantees.
- The goalposts will move.
Well said, that man. Spot bloody on. It’s as true when you’re 20 as it is when you’re sixty-odd. Ageing still sucks, though.
One more thing. In my mind I can do things. Carry heavy boxes up into the attic, reach up and trim thick branches in our hedgerow. Run around the place. Walk up big hills stay up half the night writing. The upper management (my brain) has something to say about that. It instructs my body to act its age.
That means, I ache, get knackered and need a nap now and then. It’s shite.
Ah, but, there is one thing. We are grandparents. And that is ace. We love it. Our granddaughter is brilliant, we love being with her. That’s a win.
Right, I’m going to make another brew. Before I forget what I was doing…