Old Age Sucks

[Hook]

Guess I'll add my two cents worth on getting old. I was a heavy equipment operator (mostly cranes) for over 20 years & then worked for a power company building transmission power lines all over Florida for over 20 years. I have survived a few car crashes & a plane crash (belly landing) in a C-123 cargo plane in the air force. I had a 22 foot boat for 32 years & fished in the Atlantic Ocean in the Keys every chance I got. (That could be a challenge at times). I am now almost 78 & have had both knees replaced, have arthritis in almost all my bones, & have hurts on top of hurts, but I still get out there & climb up a 20 foot ladder stand. I use a 4-wheeler to get in & out of the woods (actually swamps here in Florida where I hunt). So as long as I can walk or crawl i will continue to hunt with my crossbow and muzzleloader (50 cal Thompson Center Omega). Yall take care now & keep knocking them down.

 

[brownisdown]

Well I made it to 70 today.And with barretts esophgas,hiatal hernia,stage 3 kidney failure and a few other things not worth getting into,I have almost given up on medications.When my doctor prescribes anything the first thing I do is look up the side effects.Ane they seem to have 4-6 things that are worse than the ailment.So I just don't fool with it.My younger brother (65) and I go out hunting every chance we get.I feel it is better sitting in a ground blind or 18 foot tree stand than witherung away sitting on the couch or chair.I feel keeping moving is the best prescription that works for me. to me.

 

[MrTom]

Indeed Happy Birthday Brown! My lungs are shot and I have chronic a-fib, semi-controlled with meds. I walk daily to keep things working plus I fish any chance I can get as long as its open water and above 10 degrees. I'm down to deer hunting now but still manage the mega-hill I have to climb....kinda like the hare maybe but I git'r done.

I turned 70 on November 28th. I'm on 4 meds and hear you on the contradictions. I have to take them though or I don't function so smoothly. I've had people ask me what 70 felt like and I told them I earned it and feel 70. Then I tell them they'd better give up living in a shell and soft or they won't see 70.

 

[FredB]

I'm 58, and have noticed that the damn mountains get taller and steeper every year. I used to know a guy in Star Valley, Wyoming, who must have been +90, and only had one leg. He showed me pictures of himself with the cow elk he had harvested the season before. He is my inspiration, and my hero. I pray to God that I can hunt until I meet Him face to face, whatever age that is. My mother went to see God last spring, after several years of serious dementia. I made my wife promise that if I ever got dementia that bad, she would lie to me, and never tell me I couldn't hunt anymore. Just let me go camping with the guys, and tell me I'm hunting. I would prefer to die after "spending quality time" with my beautiful wife. Second choice would be out hunting.

 

[Cent540]

When I was young I fished and hunted every chance I got then one morning I woke up and I was 84 The worst part of old age is you have all those memories and even worse you can no longer do them. My breathing has worsened the doctor put me on oxygen 24/7 Damn asbestos I can thank the navy for that So my advise do all you can while you can Cause if you are lucky you will make it too 84 but in better shape than me Well I still have T.V, computer and arguing with the wife of 60 years and oh I forgot eating and that damn doctor all he says loose some weight. Lou

"When I was young"
Sounds like a song title!
Hey, we were all beautiful once!
I want that inscribed on my ash box!
Im 62. Married 40 years, two kids. The most awesome part of living this long is I did alot of fun (albeit stupid) shlt in my life. Launched bicycles through the air, Jumped out of planes, crashed cars, bounced and been bounced in bars, hunted, fished, back pack camped, camped with a knife, a canteen and a poncho, raced motorcycles, crashed motorcycles, stood atop an ancient Man temple and dove from a cliff into a Senote underground, did a 2000 mile solo motorcycle camping trip through Canada when I was 60, should have died for sure three times, maybe more! LOL. Been stabbed, shot at, nearly run over and those weren't even the close calls. Despite all of that, raised two remarkably well adjusted and intelligent sons who are both successful. I backed my Mrs up while she went after a degree and successfully launched her career. I always worked. Sometimes two jobs, sometimes three. Whatever it took. Some of this sounds reckless and foolhardy and I agree, it was but I have lived! I have laughed, I have cried, and I have stood with my chest puffed out as far as it could go at the achievements my family have made. I have lived a life "Well lived" my bucket list would be bone dry if I couldn't replenish it. I still have things I want to do and I think I could have as much as 25 more years to do those things but I gotta fix some stuff up. On Jan 19th I'm having both knees replaced so I can be back in the saddle by May. I'm hoping to rent a bike in LA, ride to the southern tip of BAJA mexico then fly to Hawaii and ride to the top of a volcano.
I'll be happy with any part of that I finish. I also want to ride to Nova Scotia and ride the whole province. Then maybe next winter I can get my neck fixed and come up with another pile of senseless things to do before my ride is over on the big blue ball.
Neil

 

[gman57]

I so identify with all who shared in this thread ,spine bolted together, both shoulders worked on fractured pelvis broken wrists and ankles its a wonder some of us are still here. Im a 2 mos shy of 74 and Im still dumb enough to think I can do what I could 50 yrs ago, until I try. But I do try because I quit drinking 33 yrs ago and and have been able to see and feel all I have been blessed with especially when Im in my climber up a tree or fishing on the creek. I hope to keep on wanting to be out there for as long as i can..

 

[brownisdown]

At just turning 70,my mind says I can do now what I did at 50.Guess what,the body will tell you quick enough,NO NO!!

 

[michiganmuzzy]

im only 55. I have a hang nail and need to go lay down and take some aspirin. Maybe call off work for a few days.

 

[Nit Wit]

67, pretty good shape survived cancer a couple of years ago. Now every day is a blessing! I was in the Coast Guard and worked with some asbestos, the VA wanted to do a chest x-Ray and I said I did not want to know! Still hunting and enjoying life. It seems like it was just yesterday. Keep smiling my friends! We are all in the same boat and the damn thing is sinking!
Nit Wit

 

[Amudgett]

My dad is 70 and still hammering!!! Not many 40 year olds can keep up to him. I hope I follow in his footsteps.To him aging gives him more pride by keeping up and still leading the boys!!

 

[dbowling]

59 but have the body of a 75yr old according to doc(bone spurs on spine, osteoarthritis and bulging discs,bad shoulder and bad knees etc) too many years of manual labor and concrete.So I feel your pain every day Really looking forward to getting older, not. But as said better then the alternative.

 

[deermanok]

I'm 67, I have aches and pains every day. Open heart surgery about 15 years ago. Still hit the woods every chance I get. I use a climbing stand for bow hunting but I don't go as high or walk as far as I used to. For me, hunting has been such a big part of my life and it's a part of who I am.
Until I get to the end of the trail, I'll be there.

 

[deerlessbob]

Me, too!

 

[Danny Ross]

Annoys me to no end when I read somewhere that an "elderly" this or that 68-year-old had this or that happen to him or her. Written, I'd guess, by someone in their 20's. Age runs a wide spectrum, with some people falling out in their 40's, others carrying on for many years longer. I do pretty much what I want, though sometimes the next day I wish I hadn't...

It's amazing how much mature wisdom resembles being too tired.
Robert A. Heinlein

I'm still waiting for that wisdom.