AGING

Life Stage Age of 60-69 Years of Age

Life Stage Age of 60-69 Years of Age

Introduction

The term Life Stage Age indicates a common logic of our performance from our birth till our death. The age between 60-69 years of age is called as "Independent Elder". Men are reticent to share with others the slow realization that with age they begin to confront a world that they had not expected. They had not expected to grow old. Now that this is happening, men have few relationships that permit them to share their thoughts and moments of recognition. The story that men share are revealing in that they demonstrate basic human uncertainties about the later part of life's cycle.

The material available describing men and their personal experiences of aging is limited and lacking the intimacy that women have produced for each other and for purposes of understanding. Discourse on aging has provided very little on the experiences of older men. Therefore, we have initiated this effort to look at the particular take some men have on their own aging process. (Lefrancois, Leclerc & Poulin, 1998) This is a qualitative search for men's reflections on their lives at a certain age. The one guiding focus has been to engage men to share their personal reflections on what it means to be aging. It is the experiential process mar has been the focus of our listening to men as they have shared stories both funny and thoughtful. The age "sixty" was chosen as the point of departure because it appears to be the new marker for men and aging. With greater longevity, age "sixty" has taken the place of "turning 70".

The inspiration, in part, for this research was an incident experienced by the researcher. As a friend and I engaged in a conversation typical of most male relationships little was revealed about our internal life. Yet, one day, my friend startled me by a comment he made. As our talk drifted from work and other matters related to work, my friend revealed that his 60th birthday was close at hand. In that moment, he turned toward me with a look on his face I had never before seen. He said, there is something different about this birthday. My 50th didn't phase me, but there is something different about turning 60. He sounded both puzzled and revealing in this moment of openness, crammed with a sense of uncertainty that was unlike him. In an instant the moment was gone. The conversation quickly moved back to the outer world of being removed from the inner life. Strangely, shortly after our conversation, I recalled a conversation between Bilbo Baggons, the Hobbit, as he talked with the wizard Gandalf in the Fellowship of The Rings. Bilbo says to his old friend, I am old Gandalf. Even though I don't look it, I am beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel thin and stretched, like butter spread over too much ...