Fielder’s Choice

Saturday morning I went to the mailbox, and there was a direct mail piece from an assisted living facility in an nearby city.

My first thought was, “Why am I receiving this?”

Then I noticed it was addressed to my wife Pam.

I will be turning 60 this week. So I walked back into the house and said, “Hey, look what you got in the mail today.”

She’s a lot younger than me, so I figured she was looking at pushing me out the door.

We, of course, enjoyed a laugh when I mentioned that to her.

Then I sent a text to our three children with a copy of the assisted living facility advertisement.

“Note who this is addressed to. Your mom is thinking about putting me in assisted living as I prepare to hit 60.”

And they got a kick out of that, too, to start their weekend.

I choose to go with the common statement ­ “age is just a number.” I’ve told a few folks around town that I will be hitting 60 this week. They quickly responded, “You don’t look it.” I appreciated that immensely.

And I’m pretty sure they’re good folks ­ not ones who would just be telling me that to make me feel good.

I could certainly do some things to look and feel better ­ like give up all the soft drinks and start exercising more.

I walk a mile or so maybe twice a week. I need to do more.

That was obvious to me Friday night about 10:15 p.m. When I got home from my first high school football game of the season. It was muddy on the sideline, and it made the walking back and forth that much tougher. I was actually sore Saturday morning.

Thank goodness for community journalism and high school football. I was walking the sidelines at age 20, and I’m still walking them 40 years later.

It started raining some during the game Friday night, and someone said I might want to just go to the press box.

I’ve only done that once in 40 years, and that was in a strong thunderstorm and gully washer back in the late 1980s when covering an Itawamba Community College football game at Mississippi Delta in Moorhead.

I was wondering later in the weekend ­ what age is actually considered old? Twenty years ago, when I hit 40, the staff here at the newspaper threw me an “over the hill” party.

I read where the World Health Organization says old age starts in the 60s, around 65. I guess they’re kind of locking that in with possible retirement.

In America, one researcher found that you are considered old at 71 years of age for men and 73 for women.

It’s pretty obvious to me that you’re only as old as you feel.

I don’t plan on slowing down at age 60, that’s for sure.

A couple of weeks ago, I met with our financial advisor about retirement plans and so forth.

The basic result was, “Barry, you don’t have enough money to retire.” “Well, when then?” I asked. “Maybe 70,” she said. I admit; I look forward to retirement, whether it’s 62, 65 or 70. But I really don’t have any plans to stop working. I want to stay busy, and I know I will need the income, too.