The Poetics of Aging

It seems the topic of our significantly longer life span grabs my attention every couple months.  And here I go again!

Small wonder it intrigues me so much.  A shade over 100 years ago, approximately 100 infants died before age 1.  One of them was my Uncle Willie, who never saw his first birthday.  My grandparents suffered the heartbreak of watching their lactose-intolerant baby waste away, unable to save him.  

Babies weren't the only ones at risk.  For every 1000 live births, six to nine women in the United States died of pregnancy-related complications (2).

By the time my oldest brother graduated from high school, in the mid 1950s, the number of living Americans had increased due to reduced rates of infant & maternal mortality.  By 1970, when his baby sis got my diploma, our life span was increasing due to reduced adult mortality rates, thanks to medical advances & better education. Adults were living longer, soon long past their mid-60s, even their mid-70s.  

Today, the expected life span of a new born has been pegged by some as 100, with articles dangling the "promise" of living to 120.  

All of which leaves us on very unstable ground.  In The Poetics of Aging & Dementia, Nader Rober Shabahangi points out we're inexperienced with the core realities related to living significantly past traditional retirement age.  We've lengthened life expectancy while neglecting to change our dismal attitude against aging.  Old age isn't just as feared as ever, if seems to be feared more than before.

How do we embrace a longer life while holding tight to attitudes that devalue the very value of aging & old age?

An excellent read!