Getting Old is Just Hail

Late in his life my granddaddy Diser Allen was contacted by a niece he never knew due to some family circumstances in the 1920's and from that point forward our family received a real blessing in the guise of a 4'11" true Texas belle.

Pansy was almost 70 when we first met her and her husband, "Jelly". After my grandparents died, my mother and Pansy visited frequently by phone or letter. As they both aged, the talk would eventually get around to the various aches and pains they were both experiencing until around age 90, Pansy drawled "Dawris June, getting old is just hail." We have laughed about that and used that phrase many times over the years.

In fact, the older I get, the more it rings true. This morning as I was headed out the door I realized that the hem of my dress was coming undone and I thought a quick stitch or two would be easier than changing clothes -- until I couldn't see well enough to thread the needle and finally decided the heck with it and taped my hem with scotch tape. A minor detail in the scheme of things, but all these little minor details with my eyes, neck, back and every other darn part of me are starting to add up.

It is the same with our community. We are aging, and all of what at one time were minor details is starting to add up. In 2011, the first of 80 million Baby Boomers will turn 65. In the next few years we will see our workforce turn over drastically while the expenses of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security increase substantially. Our demographics are rapidly changing and we can choose to change with them or be left behind.

As with our personal age, our demographic age can bring opportunities. Boomers are an independent, hard-working and demanding lot. This is a group that will not go quietly into the night. Boomers continue to seek employment, education, health care and recreation and our community can benefit by sustaining an environment which supplies what Boomers demand. By answering the call of the Baby Boomers, we can also connect with the next most powerful demographic group, the 76 million known as Millennials, born between 1977 and 1994, who command 25 percent of the market compared to the Boomers 25.4. We can embrace our diversity, learn from each other and bring opportunities for all.

So, Pansy was right -- getting old can be hail, but by supporting each other and our community we can find a little bit of heaven along the way.