Many of us believe the late years of retirement will be more like "rewirement," a freshening up, a good powdering of our noses, some sacred space in which to finally contemplate our life's journey. We won't be like the Others, in a vapid nursing home chomping through rubbery chicken on someone's militant schedule. No sir, you won't catch us engaging in less than scintillating conversation over bingo.
After all, we may be bungee jumping. We may be hunting. We'll be anything but dying.
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This is the life force shooting through our veins, or some might say, a good dose of denial. Like a shot of vodka, this thinking numbs us to pain. Or does it? Perhaps it's aspirational in nature. Don't we all have a right to live in a fluid, vibrant room of our own as we age? Can't we raid our nursing home's refrigerator at midnight if we want to? This past week's New York Times piece "Rethinking Old Age" by Atul Gawande tackles these issues, suggesting that while there have been a few brave pioneers who have created such environments (such as geriatrician Bill Thomas who developed the Green House Project), there are still, as Frost whispered, "miles to go before we sleep."
So, as a Gen Xer, this is my rallying cry to baby boomers: won't you ask the marketplace for homes that we'll keep us not just safely diapered, but somewhat blissful in the old-old years? Won't you protest as you did in the 60s for the right that we all have to die gracefully and well? Can't you innovate, create, inaugurate better sanctuaries for these last days? You've done all of this before (and we applauded in our hearts as we reaped the rewards). Now you help us at work, in play, in our personal lives...you're always wising us up.
So, we're just asking for this one last thing, another revolution: better homes and services for all as we reach the end of the journey.
Won't you blaze one more trail for us? We promise we'll follow.
Amanda Sobanet