Ten ,no five ,no three years ago I didn’t feel my age and tho I was slower because of a damaged spine I can honestly say I never took a nap during the day and sometimes didn’t even feel tired out when I went to bed. I read about these men and women in their nineties and think …but what kind of life do they lead ? Do they all have family attending them?What if they don’t, like me , have family ? A friend says " you get people in to do things for you " I’m not one who would want to be dependent on someone I don’t know and what if you don’t have finances to do this ?
At say… you manage to reach your mid eighties … do you ever wonder if you’ll be able to run your home exactly as you do now ? This weighs heavily on my mind . We all worry about different things I suppose ?
I hope I Ieave my little house feet first . If I can’t get upstairs to the bathroom and loo I will have a portable toilet under the stairs hidden by a curtain . I will put my bed in the lounge and I will order groceries online . My house is small so I can keep costs low .
Yes I’m staying put no matter what …unless I can’t!
That#s my attitude too Susan but it’s not just a nmatter pf the physical body is it ? Will we still be able to do the internet ? I do online banking as well as online groceries , so wonder if my mental faculties will stay strong .
I don’t have a cleaner at the moment but my days of pulling the vacuum along are getting numbered.
I’m not a wait and see person , like to be prepared as much as I can.
The physical side of things bothers me too Zuleika (not so much the mental side - yet). I am finding it difficult now to manage this house and getting about is more of a struggle every day. Although he won’t admit it my husband who is 84 does struggles with the garden. He just gets more cross and irritable. A smaller easy to manage place would be good, but he puts his blinkers on and refuses to even think about moving - or pay anyone to do it. This year has been more noticeable than ever and I see things slipping and getting left instead of done. If I could I would pay someone, but it doesn’t alter the fact that through infirmity in older age, our independence diminishes as the years roll on. Hate it, I really hate it - acceptance is very hard to swallow.
We’re just waiting for a couple of things to come into pass, and then we’ll move ideally into a bungalow somewhere. Am sick to death of stairs. Ideally I’d like to get a stena stairlift put into it, minus the stairs obviously, so that i can get up in the morning and be trundled around to the relevant parts of the house and garden before being returned to the bedroom.
As long as you can hang on to your marbles ,eat sensibly and keep warm you stand a good chance of reaching a independent 80+
We all age and get older. The rate slows. I suppose. A few things are constraints for me. Heights is one one of them. Memory is another. What was the other…?
Coincidentally my window cleaner has said he’s past going up ladders , only 55 but I’ve always looked on him as nimble although some of his customers are third floor height .
Yes of course but I’m looking at people who were here around me . We’re all over 50 going along the same pathway tho some are couples .
One widowed chap in his eighties a couple of doors away was going a bit strange and I worried in case he left the cooker hobs on but the people who had him on their books told me not to , they had something in place if that happened .
I wonder what ? Surely not just the smoke alarm ? It’s a concern of mine .
I am sure we will all need some help as we get older, but please don’t worry about it.
If I worry it makes me find minor faults with things I do , but when I am in a good mood I am surprised by what I still can do. I find that having a routine for things that need to be done helps.
I have become stiff in the lower back it makes it difficult to pull trousers on without sitting down .
Hope this will get better !
Yes I do think about the future and moving neared my son one is in Australia so can’t go there .
One thing that would worry me is giving up driving and the lose of independence not for many years yet I hope .
God this is depressing, whilst all I worry about is people being/saying sad when I die.
It was the Snowman thread that got me thinking about it.
Hi Zuleika
If i was in the same situation as you I would ask his help/company to explain what safety measures are in place .
It’s all very well being told not to worry …you need a explanation.
Reincarnation is the key. After all, it has been known 
Thanks Ripple but the man went into a care home and is now no more .
There are some arrangements where you can have your house wired up to the local fire station in case of fire. A single elderly lady on our street had this set up.
THis isnt about dying tho its about being able to fend for yourself as you grow older .
Reincarnation ? Or maybe this ? A wonderful uplifting film
? * Cocoon is a 1985 American science fiction comedy-drama film directed by Ron Howard and written by Tom Benedek from a story by David Saperstein.[6] The film stars Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Brian Dennehy, Jack Gilford, Steve Guttenberg, Maureen Stapleton, JBut this isnt about dying ,its about being able to do for yourself still in advancing years . essica Tandy, Gwen Verdon, Herta Ware, Tahnee Welch, and Linda Harrison, and follows a group of elderly people rejuvenated by aliens*
I’m 82 still run my own home ,cook, clean and manage a patio garden. I belong to u3a which gives me opportunities to mingle with others as I am alone . I have 3 replacement joints,suffer with the usual aches and pains but keep going and embrace life and whatever it throws at me. I moved into an over 60’s apartment with 24 hour care line just in case, but hopefully will manage to call for any help myself if needed.
Keeping the brain and body active and knowing when to slow down is what keeps me on my toes . I refuse to worry about what might lie ahead as life would end up depressing me so onwards and upwards 
A single colleague who was then maybe just turning 50 bought a bungalow several years ago. She had watched her mother struggle with motor neurone in a normal house. I thought it was a very practical decision. Many don’t think about mobility issues until it’s too late to move. It’s a very good idea to plan ahead even if it’s sad to leave a place you love. You won’t be able to enjoy parts of it when you become less mobile. Your world just shrinks into what you can and can’t reach. A bungalow and an indoor and outdoor mobility scooter are on a future to do list. Moving somewhere where it’s easy to get to shops with just a powered wheelchair, nice flat wide pavements etc. Forget buying any place that has a bath. Walk in showers that you can wheel to are the way to go.
I am hoping that by the time I am in any such situation they will have personal robots that will look after the old and infirm, do their cleaning, shopping and feed and wash etc.
All well and good Octogen but you;re forgetting perhaps that you had to have three joints replaced enabling you to live the life you’re living now ?