We are getting older and we experience signs of decline. Quite a list of good friends have died, nearly all of them men. Nearly all of my friends my age experience memory problems where they know a name, know the person with that name but can't make the name come to mind. This sort of recall problem is often called a 'senior moment' and its peculiar nature is that the person knows the name "should" be recallable, knows that name has been known. When we experience a senior moment, we have learned to try to be patient. Within 2 or 3 minutes, the name comes to mind most of the time.
We both experience less stamina and an earlier need to breathe faster. My hearing isn't good. I can usually detect sound but much less often know what was said. I have been wearing hearing aids for several years.
I feel that I understand quite a bit more clearly what aging is and does. We are reading "The New Woman" by Jon Hassler. Hassler has several novels set in Staggerford, a small Minnesota town. They often feature Agatha McGee, who is now 87 years old and was a well-known elementary teacher who had many citizens in her class as children. Agatha is 'the new woman' in Sunset Senior Center. The book and my personal situation and that of many friends helps me grasp what my advancing age means to me and others.
