My only true experiences with old age consist of my grandfather, my grandmother and the visiting that I did as a teenager at a local nursing home. When my parents were in their 80s/90s I was far away and only seeing them a couple of times a year so did not really have a glimpse of their aging outside of a large family picture as many people were there whenever I was.
My grandfather was basically a very healthy person although he did on occasion smoke a pipe. But throughout his 70s he continued to work on a very light schedule helping my father in his business. He maintained the supplies keeping them well ordered and ready for use on a daily basis. He read a lot as he borrowed books from the library or purchased them. He walked a lot as he never did learn to drive; it didn't interest him. His stroke was sudden and he passed away about three months later. During that three month period I can remember he slept a lot in a chair during the day. He could still walk about but less capable. His mind still pretty good actually as I can remember him repeating stories he had told me before and they were the same basically. His diet tended towards beef and potatoes and I would have said a high cholesterol diet on his part. This was the early 50s.
My grandmother was similar a very healthy person except for having a slight tendency towards epilepsy which was controlled by drugs which she did not like to take. So a seizure would mean taking them for a bit and then stopping. That did not particularly seem to affect her overall health as I recall. She walked a great deal; she gardened a rather large plot which included tomato plants for her son's store. Her flowers were absolutely beautiful. She was less of a talker with regard to family but occasional stories did slip out. Most of her spare time when she wasn't helping her son with his store was spent knitting and crocheting baby outfits for bales to the North for the Salvation Army. She continued to be very nimble with her fingers pretty much up to the stroke that she had. Again she had a high cholesterol diet that I can remember very well probably because I was not a meat eater as a young person and still only eat what I need to be healthy sticking to chicken and fish which was not the case for either of my grandparents. This was the mid 60s.
The effect of cholesterol on them was perhaps partially controlled by their very active walking life styles.
The nursing homes tended to be younger people in their late 60s and early 70s. People did not live a long time in many cases when I was a teenager. A few years after retirement for many of them. So interesting reflecting on that. I did learn that it is better to eat chicken and fish certainly by noting the effects of red meat on one's health. I also learned that constant exercise is very necessary all of your life. This was the early 60s.
An interesting thought for the day as we made a delicious meatloaf last night consisting of half ground pork and half ground beef. It made a large meatloaf which I will eat sparsely; just a narrow slice but it does taste quite good because it is also full of vegetables (2 cups of diced onion, pepper and carrot cooked in butter and cooled and then added to the meat mixture with 2 eggs, 1 cup of rolled oats, spices, herbs, garlic and hand mixed to produce a lovely loaf in a glass loaf pan. Then cooked at 350 degrees for 1.5 hours along with baked potatoes and baked squash. Overall a very healthy dinner especially if you are light on the meat but a good restorative meal if you are recovering from a bit or dental surgery and a good meat to start with in recovery stages as chicken and fish (other than poached salmon) are not necessarily easy to chew.
Today I am cleaning the top floor and will begin around 10 washing the bathroom first and then vacuuming and dusting and should be finished around 1 hopefully. Yesterday seemed like an enormous task but I did a few extra items so I will keep it easy for this session.
A beautiful sunny day and it is back up to 16 degrees celsius after a low of 10 degrees celsius. I must fertilize the tomato plants today as they are growing very well but fertilizing them is a good plan.
Never a dull moment and solitaire games are next.
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