designed to include elders much anymore for a couple generations at least. People who are around families obviously have stronger social support systems as is shown in more traditional cultures where older relatives are still useful for childrearing, cooking, gardening, etc. although this can be idealized & nothing is perfect. Obviously social isolation & lack of activity accelerate physical & mental decline, a death sentence. It's been fifty plus years of separation of families by job relocation, career changes & WWII suburban housing, automobile culture & shopping malls supporting the nuclear family of workers & school age kids & not much else. Community centers & senior centers that once provided social contact & activities are declining from lack of overall support & municipal revenues. Starbucks or McDonald's are the de facto meeting places anymore, or other places that cost $.

When young I worked for a Smithsonian senior outreach program where we presented programs about US history, culture & technology at senior centers, nursing homes & retirement places. Items were displayed & discussed like the phonograph & old fashioned ice cream making. There were great reminiscences. I recall a Russian lady's delight when we showed a tall sugar cone, made from a mold & wrapped in paper, with metal tongs used for breaking off pieces for cooking. She remembered seeing these in her youth. After few outings it was clear that the most interested & active participants were folks still living in their community who went to senior centers. People who lived in senior residential housing even very attractive places were far less engaged with each other & us.

This was in the 1980s when funding & attention to senior citizens were supported more through the National Council on Aging & many other govt. & private groups. Since then this country is all about $ & those who aren't consumers are invisible. It's a sad state & certainly not the case for all elders. Many remain active & alive for sure. But far too many are impacted by the loss of earlier supports, esp. financial resources & family & community connections.

I'm grateful that I grew up in the post war era in a nice city of 100,000 residents with neighborhoods & a downtown, not suburbia, like my parent who also were raised in smaller communities & associated with their grandparents & relatives. We had excellent public schools, a good college, a Carnegie Library & a fine Art Gallery & Museum built by architect Walter Gropius. We walked often, in the town area filled with good stores, businesses, theaters that showed film & ballet & around the lovely college campus. The charming city park had walking paths, a rose garden & a music amphitheater. It was endowed by one of the local families.

Years later my father moved to a suburb of a large city in the 1970s. There were pluses like his garden, malls, nice FL weather, but it was large, impersonal & an automobile dependent lifestyle unlike the smaller town he grew up in with pedestrians, family owned stores, a spirit of community & almost everyone knew each other. I find myself living in a similar way of late & it's contrary to what I know is best.
Thanks for your post, we had many great times. No complaints here, life has been good Heaven knows.

but I find things like this to be bothersome, and I'm struggling to articulate why. First off, I'm 66, so I'm technically a senior, and yeah, I take a couple of prescription meds, and I'm very happy not be be working anymore, but I don't feel as if I'm too old. Not at all.

My fiftieth high school reunion is coming up next year, and a few months ago someone sent out this:

The Class Reunion
by Jo David Stockwell

Every ten years, as summertime nears,
An announcement arrives in the mail.
"A reunion is planned; it'll be really grand,
Make plans to attend without fail".

I'll never forget the first time we met,
We tried so hard to impress.
We drove fancy cars, smoked big cigars,
And wore our most elegant dress.

It was quite an affair; the whole class was there.
It was held at a fancy hotel.
We wined, and we dined, and we acted refined,
And everyone thought it was swell.

The men all conversed about who had been first
To achieve great fortune and fame.
Meanwhile, their spouses described their fine houses
And how beautiful their children became.

The homecoming queen, who once had been lean,
Now weighed in at one-ninety-six.
The jocks who were there had all lost their hair,
And the cheerleaders could no longer do kicks.

No one had heard about the class nerd
Who'd guided a spacecraft to the moon;
Or poor little Jane, who's always been plain,
She married a shipping tycoon.

The boy we'd decreed "most apt to succeed"
Was serving ten years in the pen,
While the one voted "least" now was a priest;
Just shows you can be wrong now and then.

They awarded a prize to one of the guys
Who seemed to have aged the least.
Another was given to the grad who had driven
The farthest to attend the feast.

They took a class picture, a curious mixture
Of beehives, crew cuts and wide ties.
Tall, short, or skinny, the style was the mini,
You never saw so many thighs.

At our next get-together, no one cared whether
They impressed their classmates or not.
The mood was informal, a whole lot more normal,
By this time we'd all gone to pot.

It was held out-of-doors, at the lake shores,
We ate hamburgers, coleslaw, and beans.
Then most of us lay around in the shade,
In our comfortable T-shirts and jeans.

By the fortieth year, it was abundantly clear,
We were definitely over the hill.
Those who weren't dead had to crawl out of bed,
And be home in time for their pill.

And now I can't wait--they've set the date,
Our fiftieth is coming, I'm told.
It should be a ball, they've rented a hall
At the Shady Rest Home for the old.

Repairs have been made on my hearing aid,
My pacemaker's been turned up on high.
My wheelchair is oiled, and my teeth have been boiled,
And I've bought a new wig and glass eye.

I'm feeling quite hearty, and I'm ready to party,
I'm gonna dance 'til dawn's early light.
It'll be lots of fun. but I just hope that there's one
Other person who can make it that night.

Now I know it's intended to be amusing, but jeez. None of us are even 70 yet. Rent a hall at a rest home?? Really?? Yeah, I know that not all of us are in the best of health, and it's shocking to me how many classmates have died already, but it seems as if these days people are eagerly embracing decrepitude, and I don't think that's the right approach to life.

Me? I have plans for my 97th birthday. There's a total eclipse of the sun I plan to see, and my sons both understand that if I'm still around, and if I'm not so gaga I don't know my own name, they're responsible for making sure I see it. And I'll say this: ever since I decided I want to see that eclipse, my sense of my future is much greater than it used to be.