What Does 77 Look Like?

By Erica and Karen

What does any age look like? Well, we have a pretty good grip on the early years, and to some extent the middle years. (We consider 50 to be the actual middle.) But the older years don’t look like they used to.

A long long time ago, when dinosaurs ruled the earth and most people had to catch and kill their dinner, it may be that people over 65 looked old. (In cave drawings they are constantly aiming spears at moving meals. Tiring.) Their life expectancy was not so different from ours today—if they survived childhood and puberty—but they probably looked, and felt, a lot more weary than a person of the same age would look today. Why? Life was physically harder, and more dangerous, and lots of contributions to health and welfare were far in the future.

We, happily, are now benefiting from those contributions. Advances in public health made after World War II, information about diet and health, and environmental changes like clean water and clean air, have given us all the ability to live longer, but more importantly, to live healthier. And we are encouraged to do so. We are told we can have muscles at any age—and we should. We are told we can keep learning at any age—and the kids might want to talk to us. We are told if we stay connected—to people, to purpose—and are lucky as far as our health is concerned, we can stay intellectually strong.

So what does 77 look like? Now? Like the woman in the picture. Fabulous.

So don’t accept prevailing views that there is nowhere to go but down once you hit 50 or 60 or 70 or 80. If you stay healthy, and you can finally get your hair done—we are all challenged on both fronts while we live in Covidland—you will look just as fabulous whatever your age as you look today.

And you know, when you look fabulous, you can do anything.