Age is a matter of feelings,not of years!

[Anam]

Age is a matter of feelings,not of years!

[Karen]

Anam wrote: "Age is a matter of feelings,not of years!"

Unless you just turned 57, like me. Lol. However, I plan on being more immature and wearing "young" clothes.

[Judith]

If there's one thing none of us can control it's our age - however you CAN control how you feel about it and how to react to it. It's only a number, not something that defines you.

I have reached an age where I can be as outrageous as I want and people put it down to eccentricity; I have no wish to impress other people and couldn't care less what they think of me - it's SO liberating!

Be outrageous and grow old disgracefully is my motto!

[Renee E]

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

~Jenny Joseph


Remember, you're never too young to be old enough to wear purple.

Oops. I'm out of brandy.

[Karen]

Mary wrote: "Joodith, I've noticed too that the older I get, the less I care about what people think. There's nothing we can do about it anyway LOL!"

I feel that way too, it's a good feeling

[Brenda]

Analyzing JE with our 21st century expectations is a little dangerous. A May-December union was much, much more OK in that time. Since women weren't supposed to work, the man had to support his wife and any children. And that meant that he had to advance enough in his profession to get that kind of money. Which meant that men couldn't usually marry young, unless they were inheriting wealth. Regular men didn't get married until their late 20s or 30s. Meanwhile, women were supposed to get married young -- early 20s. If you were unmarried by the time you were 30, you were stale, 'on the shelf.' Furthermore, your peak childbearing years were gone by. So there were lots of weddings with 30 or 40-year-old grooms and 20-year-old brides.

[Karen]

Brenda wrote: "Analyzing JE with our 21st century expectations is a little dangerous. A May-December union was much, much more OK in that time. Since women weren't supposed to work, the man had to support his wif..."

That is absolutely true, and is still somewhat true today. My mother-in-law was 20 years younger than her husband.

[Brenda]

I wrote a novel with a 35 year old hero and a 20 year old heroine, and the complaint was he was too old for her. We're much more picky now about it.

[Karen]

Brenda wrote: "I wrote a novel with a 35 year old hero and a 20 year old heroine, and the complaint was he was too old for her. We're much more picky now about it."

OMG- narrowmindedness reigns!

[Renee E]

Brenda wrote: "I wrote a novel with a 35 year old hero and a 20 year old heroine, and the complaint was he was too old for her. We're much more picky now about it."

That's one of the scarier things I've read lately.

[CeeCee]

We are more picky about it now. Age is just a number for sure. I remember when I first realized that, I was 23ish, and it totally freaked me out!

[Renee E]

It's FICTION.

If fiction is all nice and pretty and non-controversial there's no point to it whatsoever and we might as well not read.

I wonder, Brenda, how many of the people who complained read Twatlight and never even blinked at Edward and Bella. Now THERE'S an age difference.

[Brenda]

Dunno, but it was annoying. The novel is SPEAK TO OUR DESIRES, and it is set in 1969, so the age gap was by no means unusual for the period. In fact it isn't all that unusual now, but only one direction. Ageing male movie stars are okay to marry girls in their twenties, but heaven help the 60 year old cougar who dates a handsome young man.

[Judith]

Brenda wrote: "Dunno, but it was annoying. The novel is SPEAK TO OUR DESIRES, and it is set in 1969, so the age gap was by no means unusual for the period. In fact it isn't all that unusual now, but only one dire..."

Back in the late 60's, when I was still a teenager, working in an office, two colleagues married. One was my friend, a girl of 20, and he was 49, a confirmed bachelor with a false leg! Honestly - you couldn't make it up. This was treated like the Scandal of the Year, especially by the much older women. That happy marriage lasted until he died more than 30 years later.

I have to disagree with you about the age gap in the 60's not being unusual - it certainly was in my part of the world. It's more widely accepted now, but still raises a few eyebrows. Why this sort of thing is anyone else's business is beyond me; human beings are so judgmental about each other.

[Linton]

Age is a matter of life experiences. If one has lived in a coma, then that time doesn't count.