Aging in America
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There is an excellent story in the Boston Globe profiling a retirement community with a model markedly different from “move to Florida and wait to die”. However the thought of living exclusively among people of my own age still scares me.
For most first generation immigrants in the US, one of the norms that scares them the most is the thought of growing old here. I have talked to a few who, after more than 30 years in the US, have expressed the desire to move back to India soon, despite living close to their children and grandchildren. For the most part they fear the distance from their children and grand-children (despite their proximity) and dread the isolation that comes with it.
Interesting story.
A (supposedly) good book on aging published recently is Dr. Andrew Weil’s latest called Healthy Aging. I read excerpts on Time magazine recently. He touches upon both mental and physical well-being.
Yes I had read the Time article too (most of it anyway). For some reason I always thought Weil was a crackpot (must have been his appearance), but his advice seemed sound. The part that amused me most was he advocates ’self stimulation’ as part of a healthy life style. Now instead of telling kids ‘You’ll go blind’, we’ll have to say ‘You’ll have a long life”.
The Globe article was really good. Though with the way things are going right now, I wonder when most of us will be able to retire. Perhaps the whole concept of aging and retirement will be different 30 years from now.
I also was initially skeptical of Weil but have since changed my mind. The book is very well written - I skimmed through it at a bookstore and seems to have some useful advice.
I am surprised that people are skeptical about Dr. Weil. I have been reading and following ’some’of his advise for the past 6-8 years. I heard him speak once and I was very impressed that he was not dismissive of ‘Homeopathic’ and ‘Auyrvedic’ medicine. I remember him narrating an anecdote where a woman who had gone through multiple rotator cuff surgeries came to him seeking help. He apparently responded ‘You seem to have done everything, but why don’t you try something the Indians try for such things - include a bit of turmeric in your diet”. Voila - a few months later she reported that her condition had substantially improved.
Dr. Weil has indeed he has taught himself ancient Chinese medicine and South American medicine. It was his idea to create the “Integrative medicine” department which he continues to chair.